Senate Passes Cirino's Landmark Higher Education Legislation

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Senate passed passed landmark legislation today sponsored by State Senator Jerry C. Cirino (R-Kirtland) 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.

Senate Bill 1 will restore free speech on campus and ban all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, courses, and mandatory training. "My bill will return our public universities and colleges to their rightful mission of education rather than indoctrination," said Cirino. "We also must return to teaching students how to think rather than what to think, and how to listen to opposing views with a respectful but critical ear."

"Every student in Ohio deserves a quality education, regardless of race, gender, or religion," added Cirino. "But DEI programs hinder that goal because they are inherently discriminatory, and should not be supported by taxpayers.”
 
Senate Bill 1 will guarantee First Amendment rights by ensuring free expression on campus and in the classroom for both students and professors. Senator Cirino has repeatedly emphasized his conviction that 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.

Senator Cirino spent more than three years consulting with academic leaders and experts in drafting this bill. He also visited many campuses to meet with students, faculty, administrators and trustees to talk about the need for reforms. He found a strong silent majority firmly in favor of these reforms.
 
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 1 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.”

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.
 
Senator Cirino said lawmakers incorporated many changes made during testimony by members of the public and education officials, including:Reinstating a provision allowing university presidents to exempts students from the American civics course requirement if a student has completed either a college credit pus course or an AP course that meets the same requirements.
Delaying the requirement for institutions to make syllabi publicly available until the 2026-2027 academic year.
Clarifying that syllabi are not required to include the physical location and class meeting time.

Senator Cirino believes SB1 is a much needed course correction for our institutions of higher learning. He wants to ensure we do not end up with institutions that are more focused on social engineering than the teaching of useful analytical skills. He believes the mandatory adherence to DEI requirements hinders those goals.
 
"With the Passage of SB1 and the five established civic centers, Ohio is at the top of the heap of higher education reform nationally," concluded Cirino.