Ohio governor and elected education leaders both say they’re in charge

The state passed a law wresting authority over education policy from voters. Several members of the Board of Education have sued to halt the changes.

By Moriah Balingit
October 4, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. EDT

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and Ohio’s elected education board members are battling over who is in charge of the state’s education department — and whether that department exists at all.

In July, DeWine signed into law a bill that would strip the State Board of Education of most of its authority, including its charge to run the Ohio Education Department. It creates a new state agency — the Department of Education and Workforce — that would replace the education department and report to the governor, not the board.

The bill also would also make all of the board’s 19 members governor’s appointees instead of allowing voters to elect 11 of them. The GOP fought for the changes after three candidates aligned with the teacher’s union were elected to the board, displacing conservative members.

Last month, some board members sued to halt the law. They won a temporary restraining order, which was extended this week as the judge asked for more information from both sides while she decides whether to completely halt the law for the duration of the lawsuit. Additional briefs are due Oct. 16, and the restraining order has been extended to Oct. 20.

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By Moriah Balingit
Moriah Balingit is an education reporter for The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2014. She previously covered crime, city hall and crime in city hall at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Twitter https://twitter.com/ByMoriah