by Nicole Piscitani • April 12, 2024
Gov. Mike DeWine delivered his annual State of the State address on Wednesday, April 10. This year’s address focused solely on children, including initiatives to focus on child care, access to medical services, foster care and education. The education-specific initiatives that DeWine discussed are outlined below.
Science of Reading
The Science of Reading is an initiative that DeWine focused heavily on during his 2023 State of the State. He successfully inserted this policy change into House Bill (HB) 33, the 2024-25 General Operating budget enacted last summer. His comments in this year’s State of State focused on some of the results school districts are seeing as they implement the Science of Reading. However, DeWine is still concerned that institutions of higher education are not preparing teachers in the Science of Reading and encouraged the institutions to align their teacher training programs.
Principal Apprenticeship Program
HB 33 also transferred the majority of the State Board of Education’s responsibilities to a cabinet agency, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW), that is overseen by the governor. A new initiative that DeWine is asking DEW to create is a Principal Apprenticeship Program. The apprenticeship program is an effort to not only address the principal shortage but also create a program that provides hands-on, in-school training that will better prepare aspiring principals for the job.
Career planning
Several years ago, the Ohio General Assembly made significant changes to the graduation requirements for the state’s students. In his State of the State, DeWine highlighted an additional change that he would like the General Assembly to consider: a requirement that students participate in career planning to develop a clear path post-graduation. The method in which students would meet this requirement was not fully outlined in DeWine’s speech but, through conversation with DEW Director Stephen D. Dackin, it may look similar to existing programs that require a parent/guardian meeting with school officials.
The General Assembly has yet to introduce a bill or an amendment that pertains to this proposal and thus hasn’t discussed with interested parties what this proposal would look like or how it would be implemented.
School-based clinical model
School-based health centers provide comprehensive health services in school buildings in communities where residents do not have easy access to basic primary health care. The school-based clinical model has been implemented in several school districts across the state and has proven to be a model that improves not only a student’s physical, mental and emotional needs but also their academic performance, including improved attendance, higher GPAs, grade promotions, better college preparation and reduced rates of suspension.
Recently, additional funding through the Appalachian Children's Health Initiative was awarded to help 20 Ohio counties create or expand community- and school-based health clinics.
DeWine is encouraging school districts across the state to consider the school-based clinical model. To help achieve this call to action, he is directing state agencies to work with school district leaders to provide needed technical assistance on how to use existing resources to build more high-quality and sustainable school-based clinics.
Smartphones in school
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted has conducted roundtable discussions with educators about schools and their cellphone policies. He has focused these discussions on meeting with school leaders who have implemented policies that have eliminated or minimized school phone usage during the school day. The roundtables were an opportunity to learn what occurred before and after a policy was implemented. Many schools have highlighted positive changes in students and the school environment.
In his speech, DeWine announced that a bill is forthcoming that would require that all Ohio schools adopt a smartphone policy that will minimize phone usage by students in the classroom and make those policies available to parents and communities.
Next steps
Most of the initiatives that DeWine included in his speech require legislative action. It remains to be seen how active the Ohio General Assembly will be during the remainder of 2024. If not enacted this year, expect these initiatives, among others, to appear in DeWine’s executive budget, which will be released in January 2025. Click here to watch the 2024 State of the State Address.