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HB 59: Main Operating Budget of Ohio's 130th General Assembly

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Background

House Bill 59 (HB 59) is the legislation for Ohio’s state budget for the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years. It represents Gov. John Kasich’s proposed state budget for the next two years.

It was introduced on Feb. 12, 2013.

The legislation is more than 4,000 pages long and includes a host of changes affecting all areas of state government. In terms of education, the legislation lays out the details of Kasich’s new, proposed funding plan for Ohio schools and of a proposed expansion of private-school vouchers.

HB 59 also includes big changes like requiring low-performing schools to turn some state money over to outside providers to educate students, expanding the state’s existing parent trigger law that allows parents vote to transform low-performing schools and giving charter schools money to pay for school buildings.

It also includes smaller changes like eliminating elected boards for regional educational service centers, making it easier for charter schools to apply for state and federal grants and adjusting school financial reporting requirements.

Key Stories

February 14, 2013

Click here for complete coverage of Kasich's school funding plan.

What’s Inside Kasich’s Budget Bill: The Education Stuff

Latest Posts

May 3, 2013

Helping Out-of-State Students Vote Could Cost Ohio Colleges

A provision added into the state budget passed by the House – and now being considered in the Senate – would prohibit Ohio colleges and universities from charging students out-of-state tuition if they help them vote in the state. Out-of-state students attending school in Ohio are allowed to vote if they’ve lived in the state [...]

April 29, 2013

Online Charter Schools Could Split in Two, Avoiding State Cap on New Schools

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Dan Honda / Contra Costa Times/Landov This fall Ohio will lift a moratorium on the creation of new online schools, allowing up to five new online schools to open. But a provision inserted into the House version of the state budget earlier this month could expand online education in Ohio even further. Under the provision, Ohio’s existing online schools could [...]

Ohio Charter Schools Could Enroll Out-Of-State Students

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Brian McKechnie / Flickr Ohio charter schools could enroll out-of-state students — and charge them tuition — under a provision inserted into the House version of the state budget earlier this month, giving the publicly funded schools another source of revenue. Traditional public schools can already allow students from other states to enroll. Out-of-state tuition rates [...]

April 17, 2013

Let’s (Not) Talk About Gateway Sexual Activity, Baby

Mister Asta / Flickr An amendment added to the state budget bill yesterday prohibits teachers from talking about any “gateway sexual activity” and directs them to emphasize abstinence in sex education. Teachers who don’t comply could be fined up to $5,000 if the measure passes. So just what is “gateway sexual activity?” House members deferred to [...]

Columbus School District Could Face State Takeover For Data Scrubbing

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The Columbus school district could face state takeover because it improperly altered student records, if a provision inserted into the state budget is approved. The amendment (starting on p. 248) allows the state superintendent to “establish an academic distress commission for any school district that is found by the Auditor of State to have knowingly manipulated [...]

April 11, 2013

How the House’s School Funding Plan is Different, and What People are Saying About It

Yesterday, Ohio House Republicans dealt several blows to Gov. John Kasich’s budget proposal, including some significant changes to his school funding plan. The biggest difference between Kasich’s proposal and the House’s is how school districts’ base levels are calculated. Kasich’s plan aimed to equalize funding between poor and rich districts by basing school funding on local property [...]

April 2, 2013

Ohio House May Ditch Kasich School Funding Formula

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State lawmakers are likely to replace the school funding formula proposed by Gov. John Kasich with a different way of distributing state money among Ohio’s K-12 schools, Gongwer News Service reports. The new funding formula proposed by legislators may be similar to the “Building Blocks” model instituted in 2005 under former Gov. Bob Taft. That [...]

March 26, 2013

Ohio Lawmakers to Spend Spring Break Dyeing Easter Eggs, Fixing School Funding

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Carolyn / Flickr Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler reports that state lawmakers are spending this week working through changes to a new school funding plan behind closed doors: House Speaker Bill Batchelder, who leads a super-majority caucus of 60 Republicans, says he plans to spend a lot of spring break looking into the formula, which he [...]

February 25, 2013

Kasich Budget Would Cut Back State-Funded College Internship Program

Last year, the Ohio Board of Regents announced $11 million in funding for a program to provide internships for Ohio college students: The investment is part of Governor John Kasich’s workforce development efforts to continue to align Ohio’s higher education curriculum with skills that are in demand by Ohio’s businesses. Next year, Kasich’s proposed budget would [...]

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