Terra Goodnight · March 7, 2018

IO Testimony: Education Policy Fellow Stephen Dyer on HB512

This morning, IO’s Education Policy Fellow, Stephen Dyer, will testify in a House committee about HB512, a sweeping proposal to reorganize the state agencies responsible for education and workforce development. The 2600+ page bill, which we wrote about earlier, would eliminate most of the oversight responsibility of the State Board of Education, a body made up of appointees and regional elected members. The measure would leave that body with few responsibilities other than teacher licensure, a move that seems coincidentally timed in the wake of its role in demanding accountability from ECOT, Ohio’s scandal-plagued online charter school (see our earlier post on that). In Dyer’s words: “it’s hard to see how eliminating 80 percent of the department’s policymaking and accountability functions ensures Ohio’s children are better prepared for the 21st Century workforce.” Read Dyer’s testimony here. All of the testimony for today’s committee hearing can be found on the committee website, listed under “March 7: HB512”.