Your Guide to Ohio's State Board of Education

Background

The Ohio state Board of Education sets education policy for the entire state. The board’s work includes determining Ohio’s academic content standards, adopting rules for state standardized tests and setting teacher licensing requirements, among other items. The board sets administrative rules affecting schools and school districts, rules on school district territory transfers, district transportation decisions and educator license revocations. The board is also responsible for appointing and evaluating Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The board is comprised of 19 members. Eleven are elected to represent districts and eight are at-large members appointed by the governor. The chairs of the education committees of the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate serve as non-voting, ex officio members. The superintendent of public instruction serves as board secretary.

Debe Terhar of the Cincinnati area is the current board president.

The board generally meets on the second Monday and Tuesday of each month.

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January 9, 2013

Former Teacher Darryl Mehaffie Appointed to Ohio State Board of Education

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has appointed retired teacher Darryl Mehaffie to the Ohio state Board of Education. Mehaffie was sworn in privately yesterday in Columbus. Mehaffie will serve the remaining two years on the term of another Kasich appointee, retired superintendent Dennis Shelton. Shelton resigned in September. Among the tasks facing the state board are selecting a [...]

December 7, 2012

Ohio State Board of Education Vote on Seclusion, Restraint Policy Delayed

Gary Knight / Flickr With more than 100 parents, educators and other commenters weighing in on the Ohio state Board of Education’s plan to regulate the use of seclusion rooms and restraint in Ohio schools, the state board has postponed scheduled votes on the proposed regulations. Seclusion rooms are enclosed spaces that are supposed to [...]

December 5, 2012

Sarah Fowler Goes From Egg Farmer to Youngest Ohio Board of Education Member

Sarah Fowler, who will soon become the youngest member of Ohio’s state Board of Education, is profiled by Education Action Group, a Michigan-based conservative advocacy organization. Fowler, 24, was elected to her northeast Ohio district in November, beating lawyer James Collum and scientist John Sans by more than 2-1 margins. Fowler tells EAG one of her [...]

November 7, 2012

Despite New Faces, Not Much Change Expected for State Board of Education

Yesterday, Ohio voters picked members of the State Board of Education in 11 districts. While there are some new faces on the board, there isn’t much change in the board’s political makeup. The 19-member State Board of Education is a non-partisan board. Still, members tend to lean towards one political party or the other. Of [...]

November 6, 2012

Results for Ohio School Levies, State Board of Education and Teachers Running for Statehouse

Early returns show homeschooled 24-year old leading Ohio state Board of Election race.

November 5, 2012

Your Guide to Election Day November 2012: Where to Vote, What’s on the Ballot Besides Obama vs. Romney and What it Means

Hunter Martin / Getty Images Tuesday is Election Day 2012. Today and tomorrow are your last chances to cast your ballot for president, federal offices, state offices and local issues and levies. Seven state Board of Education seats are up for grabs, a dozen teachers are running for the statehouse, and nearly 200 school issues are [...]

November 1, 2012

State Board of Education Candidates Hope to Get Noticed Down Ballot

Sometimes it feels like the only thing Ohoians have to worry about on Election Day is picking the next president. But, in fact, there are a whole bunch of other races further down the ballot. That includes voting on candidates for the State Board of Education, who are finding it tough to get information out [...]

October 24, 2012

Gov. Kasich Delays Filling Open State Board of Ed Seat

Gov. John Kasich has delayed filling a seat on the state Board of Education that has been vacant for more than a month. State law calls for the governor to appoint someone to the vacant seat within 30 days. There’s no particular reason for the delay or timeline for filling the seat, Kasich spokesperson Rob [...]

October 21, 2012

Ohio State Board of Education Voters Guide 2012

This Election Day, once you get past the ballot headliners, you might see the names of folks running for a spot on the state Board of Education. This fall, there are contested races in all seven of the board districts that are up for election. Use this Voters Guide to understand what these candidates stand for and what’s at stake.

October 9, 2012

The Rest of the School Report Card Data is Coming – But It’s Still “Unofficial”

Ohioans who have been trying to figure out how their schools performed this past year finally will have the answers, but they’ll have to dig a bit to find them. At its meeting this week, the State Board of Education decided to go ahead and release the remaining data on its school report cards, including [...]