Cirino Introduces Landmark Higher Education Legislation

COLUMBUS - State Senator Jerry C. Cirino (R-Kirtland) introduced landmark legislation today designed to lead the nation in higher education reform. Senate Bill 1 is the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act. It will help ensure academic excellence at Ohio’s public colleges and universities for generations to come, as they respond to changing student demographics, workforce demands, and higher costs.
 
Senator Cirino has spent more than three years consulting with academic leaders and experts in drafting this bill. He has also visited many campuses to meet with students, faculty, administrators and trustees to talk about the need for reforms.
 
First and foremost, Senate Bill 1 will guarantee First Amendment rights by ensuring free expression on campus and in the classroom for both students and professors.
 
"No student should ever be ostracized, cancelled, or have to worry about a failing grade for merely daring to have a difference of opinion with classmates or a professor," said Cirino. "It is essential for students to learn how to think rather than what to think, and how to listen to opposing views with a respectful but critical ear."
 
Senate Bill 1 will include the content of Senate Bill 83 (which was passed by the Senate in 2023 but never brought to the floor for a vote in the House) and adds several new features.
 
There were many unfair and blatantly false claims made about SB 83 during the legislative process. Senate Bill 1 not only does NOT limit speech or academic freedom, it actually enhances both, but with a requirement that diversity of thought be promoted. All topics may be discussed as long as intellectual diversity is promoted and allowed on all subjects.
 
The bill does NOT prohibit the discussion of any subjects. “Critics who claim the bill promotes censorship have it exactly backwards,” said Cirino. “Senate Bill 1 will allow students to exercise their right to free speech without threat of reprisal by professors or administrators. It will permit the marketplace of ideas to flourish, which is the ideal environment for any educational institution.”
 
Senate Bill 1 bans Diversity, Equity and Inclusion courses, training, litmus tests, required statements, and spending for any DEI initiatives or programs with the same intent. “We want every student in Ohio, regardless of race, gender, or religion to be able to pursue their choice of post-secondary education,” notes Cirino. “However, DEI programs are inherently discriminatory and cannot be tolerated or paid for by taxpayers.”

This bill reinforces the right of students NOT to have their course of instruction interrupted by faculty labor issues. Students enter into a contract with the institution to provide instruction for which they pay up front. The students come first and there should never be a threat of classes not being conducted or, worse, delaying their graduation.
 
In sum, Senate Bill 1:Ensures intellectual diversity in the classroom and among the faculty.
Provides free speech protections for students, faculty, and staff.
Allows an education of free, open, and rigorous intellectual inquiry to seek the truth.
Eliminates DEI programming, staff, consultants, titles, and all spending.
Requires full syllabus transparency.
Bans political and ideological litmus tests in all hiring, promotion, and admissions decisions.
Installs a number of other worthwhile provisions including eliminating labor strikes by any university or community college faculty, establishing post-tenure periodic review, and requiring full disclosure of any donations made by any affiliate of the People’s Republic of China.
Engages trustees more in governance matters.
Rep. Tom Young (R-Dayton) has been reappointed as Chair of the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee. He strongly supports Senate Bill 1 and plans to introduce a companion bill in the House very soon.
 
“This is transformational legislation that is greatly needed in order for Ohio’s public institutions of higher learning to not only survive, but thrive,” said Young. “While universities face alarming declines in enrollment across the nation, this is a golden opportunity for us to show everyone how to reform the system so that it best serves the students and ensures our graduates a bright future.”
 
Senator Cirino and Rep. Young believe SB 1 and its House companion bill are a much needed course correction for our institutions of higher learning. They want to ensure we do not end up with institutions that are more focused on social engineering than the teaching of useful analytical skills. They believe  the mandatory adherence to DEI requirements hinders those goals.
 
“Our Founders treasured diversity of thought so highly they made free speech our very first guaranteed right,” concluded the senator. “It’s time to bring that right back to campus.”