Lawsuit to Stop the State Takeover of Public Education
On September 19, 2023, seven members of the State Board of Education, Democracy Forward Foundation, and Ulmer & Berne LLP filed a lawsuit to stop the state takeover of the State Board of Education. The takeover, shifting significant roles and duties of the State Board and the Ohio Department of Education to the newly created Department of Education and Workforce, was adopted into the 2024-2025 State Operating Budget (House Bill 33) in July this year.
The seven State Board members include:
- Dr. Christina Collins, District 7
- Senator Teresa Fedor, District 2
- Katie Hofmann, District 4
- Tom Jackson, District 10
- Meryl Johnson, District 11
- Dr. Antoinette Miranda, District 6
- Michelle Newman, District 8
From a Democracy Forward Foundation press statement:
The complaint, filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County, alleges that by shifting core responsibility for education governance and oversight in Ohio away from the Board, the “Education Takeover Rider” violates Article VI, Section 4 of the Ohio Constitution. The suit seeks to obtain a temporary restraining order to stop the changes from going into effect, and then preliminarily and permanently enjoin enforcement of, and declare facially unconstitutional and void, the Education Takeover Rider.
Additionally, plaintiffs argue that Education Takeover Rider violates two additional constitutional provisions– the single subject rule and the three-reading rule. The Ohio Constitution contains various safeguards to ensure that the legislative process is transparent and democratic – including prohibiting any single bill from addressing more than one subject so legislators are unable to sneak unpopular pieces of legislation into unrelated, must-pass bills. Even though it had almost no impact on the budget, and after it was unable to pass the Ohio House on its own, the Education Takeover Rider was unconstitutionally attached to the budget bill and rammed through at the last moment to ensure it would pass.A Temporary restraining order has been granted for 14 days.
