Senate Bill 83: Bad for students, bad for higher education, bad for Ohio

Introduced in the Ohio statehouse on March 14, 2023, Senate Bill 83 is sweeping legislation that hands down one-size-fits-all mandates to Ohio's colleges and universities that would do real, irreversible damage to the institutions that we rely on to train Ohioans to be productive members of our workforce, if it were passed. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirkland), named SB 83 the Higher Education Enhancement Act, but calling it the Higher Education Destruction Act is a more accurate name. The presidents of YSU-OEA and the Columbus State Education Association join this episode to help explain why SB 83 must be stopped.

LEARN MORE AND TAKE ACTION | Click here to see a summary of all of the provisions of Senate Bill 83 and then click here to send a message to members of the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee asking them to oppose the bill.  

Featured Education Matters guests: 

Mark Vopat, YSU-OEA PresidentDr. Mark Vopat is Professor of Philosophy and the Co-Director of the Dr. James Dale Ethics Center at Youngstown State University. Dr. Vopat received his doctorate from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. His area of specialization is children’s rights. In addition to his work in children’s rights, Dr. Vopat has written and presented papers in a variety of areas of applied ethics including: business ethics, children’s rights, engineering ethics, professional ethics, the ethics of boycotting, moral sensitivity, and the intersection of libertarianism and Christianity. Adam Keller, Columbus State Education Association PresidentA Full Professor in the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences at Columbus State Community College, Dr. Adam Keller is an organic chemist, with a focus on undergraduate education. He is currently the PI on an NSF-funded project to increase the recruitment, retention and success of underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines.

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About us:

The Ohio Education Association represents about 120,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals who work in Ohio’s schools, colleges, and universities to help improve public education and the lives of Ohio’s children. OEA members provide professional services to benefit students, schools, and the public in virtually every position needed to run Ohio’s schools.Education Matters host Katie Olmsted serves as Media Relations Consultant for the Ohio Education Association. She joined OEA in May 2020, after a ten-year career as an Emmy Award winning television reporter, anchor, and producer. Katie comes from a family of educators and is passionate about telling educators' stories and advocating for Ohio's students. She lives in Central Ohio with her husband and two young children.

This episode was recorded on April 4 and April 6, 2023.