Sen. Jerry Cirino planning Senate Bill 1-style legislation for K-12 schools
A leading state senator plans to introduce an omnibus bill for K-12 reforms, similar in scope to Senate Bill 1, which lawmakers passed in 2025.
State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, said he plans to drop that bill in January, when the state legislature starts a new two-year biennium.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed SB 1, the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, in March 2025. The wide-ranging measure banned DEI programs, bars faculty strikes, and created new guidelines for intellectual diversity.
“…What’s happening is that these colleges are turning out teachers who go into the K-12 environment, and they’re perpetuating what they’ve been exposed to in the K-12 environment,” Cirino told Ohio.News. “You really have to look at it as a continuum that you know that has to be addressed from beginning to end. Otherwise, the problem is not going to go away.”
“There’s a lot of stuff that needs to get fixed in K through 12 — some of them are very different than the issues in higher ed,” Cirino added. “Nonetheless, we need to address both because, as I said, it’s a continuum, and you can’t reform education in Ohio only focusing on higher ed.
The bill also led to Intellectual Diversity Centers at The Ohio State University, University of Toledo, Miami University, Cleveland State University, and Wright State University. Cirino has also introduced Senate Bill 461, the Strengthening Ohio Civics Act, which aims to create consistency and clarity for Ohio’s Civic Centers.
In April, Cirino said he was pleased with compliance with the measure’s mandates so far, but said more work remains on the DEI front.
Ohio.News has highlighted several undercover videos released by Accuracy in Media showing higher education officials, including those at the University of Toledo, Kent State University, and the University of Cincinnati, flouting the anti-DEI provisions of SB 1, also known as the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act.
