Testimony on Senate Bill 1 — Lisa Gray, Ohio Excels, House Economic and Workforce Development Committee

Summary

Testimony on Senate Bill 1 dated March 28, 2023, from Lisa Gray, President of Ohio Excels, to the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee. The testimony is given on behalf of Ohio Excels, the Ohio Business Roundtable and the National Federation of Independent Businesses in Ohio in support of Senate Bill 1. It says that Ohio's state-level education system has lines of authority for policymaking, budget-setting and accountability that are increasingly split among a fractured set of policymakers. The last page describes the organizations and states that the National Federation of Independent Business represents nearly 21,000 governing members.

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“Testimony on Senate Bill 1 — Lisa Gray, Ohio Excels, House Economic and Workforce Development Committee.” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-03-28-econ-workforce-dev-testimony-ohioexcelshouseecondevworkforc-a4c1aa90b0/, SHA-256 e7799005891b1c19862de9835b93c47269f693db52b4ffb9bf9b8987b76fb57a.

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Patrick J. Tiberi, Board Chair
Ohio Business Roundtable House Economic and Workforce Development
Theodore Adams
Committee
Barnes & Thornburg LLP

Beverly Beery
Testimony on Senate Bill 1
Beery Insurance Services, LLC
Lisa Gray, Ohio Excels
Gary Z. Lindgren March 28, 2023
Cincinnati Business Committee

Mary Beth Martin
The Farmer Family Foundation Chair Swearingen, Vice Chair Santucci, Ranking Member Upchurch, and
members of the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee, my
Kenny McDonald name is Lisa Gray, and I am the President of Ohio Excels. I appreciate this
Columbus Partnership opportunity to address your committee on behalf of Ohio Excels and two
other state business organizations in support of Senate Bill 1: the Ohio
Roland Medrano Business Roundtable and the National Federation of Independent Businesses
La Mega Media in Ohio. This testimony represents support from the breadth of Ohio’s
business community, from our smallest to largest employers. You can find
Tim Miller
Insurance Service Agency, Inc.
descriptions of each of our organizations on the last page of my testimony.

Fabian T. Padamadan It is a basic tenet of effective business management that any organization,
JPMorgan Chase whether it is in the public or private sector, must have clear lines of authority,
policymaking, and fiscal responsibility in order to succeed. And those well-
Daniels S. Peters defined governance roles must also result in a clear line of accountability for
Lovett & Ruth Peters Foundation the organization’s success or failure.

Baiju R. Shah Unfortunately, that can’t be said about the way Ohio governs its state-level
Greater Cleveland Partnership
education system, where lines of authority for policymaking, budget-setting,
and accountability are increasingly split among a fractured set of
Margie Wright-McGowan
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
policymakers. It’s a broken system that has not maximized service and efforts
for our students, their teachers, their parents, and all of us who support Ohio
Lisa A. Gray schools with our taxes.
President, Ohio Excels
Sadly, this discontinuity is not a flaw, but a purposeful feature that has been
built into our education system. So, despite the best efforts of students,
parents, teachers, supportive stakeholders, and this legislature, confusion and
misalignment are too often the result.

In Ohio, voters hold their governor and state legislators largely responsible for
the success or failure of their schools, whether that’s measured by graduation
rates, reading scores, or career readiness. But too often, Ohio governors and
legislators bear the public’s blame whenever schools struggle, even though
the current system denies them full oversight to make things better. Too much
of that authority has been shifted elsewhere to a little-known, partly elected, partly appointed body: the State Board
of Education.

Ohio Excels conducted a poll last earlier this year of 1,000 registered voters in Ohio, and we asked them if they could
identify their State Board of Education member – some of whom were just elected a few months ago. Out of 1,000
voters polled only four – just four – correctly selected their board member, less than one percent of voters. But they
know who the governor is. And legislators work hard to ensure that voters know who represents them in Columbus.

It’s long past time to reform our system. This is not an indictment of all those who currently sit on the State Board of
Education or lead the Ohio Department of Education. It is about the best way to govern public education in Ohio,
particularly in light of Ohio’s workforce needs and the ongoing educational challenges we face.

We believe that a new education governance structure for Ohio should be about accountability, responsiveness, and
relevance in today’s world. It should have clear lines of authority, understanding of legislative intent, and
coordination with other arms of government. It should also establish the state’s top education official as a member
of the governor’s cabinet with an opportunity – an obligation, really – to better collaborate with other agencies on
strategically aligned policies. Ultimately, the responsibility for the success of our schools lies with the governor and
General Assembly.

Ohio Excels and our business partners fully support Senate Bill 1 and its efforts to move our system of education
governance in a new direction. This is a plan that keeps the State Board of Education in place, but the bill focuses the
board’s work on the things that it does best. It also creates a critical focus on career education with the new
Department of Education and Workforce (DEW). And perhaps most importantly, allows Ohio’s governors, with the
advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint the director of this new cabinet agency.

We do, however, have one suggestion to improve the proposed legislation. We appreciate the sponsor’s goal of
elevating career education in our schools. In a recent poll we conducted, 90% of public school parents believed that
Ohio should place a higher priority on career education, and 80% of parents would like their children to start on a
career path before they leave high school and enter college or the workforce. However, we are concerned that
creating a separate division within the new agency may unintentionally silo career education at a time when it needs
to be more integrated into the curriculum for all students, starting no later than 5th or 6th grade. We recommend
changing the name of the career-focused division to the Division of Career Education and adding langauge that
requires collaboration across divisions to promote the critical nature of career education for all students.

The issue of how to govern education in Ohio at the state level has been debated for decades under Democratic and
Republican administrations. However, now is the time for urgency. Ohio has been without a permanent leader at the
Department of Education for over a year, and given the timelines and debates occurring, it is unlikely we will have
one soon. This is by no means a criticism of Interim State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Stephanie Siddens
or her team as we believe they have done a terrific job under very difficult circumstances. Not only does she and her
staff deserve an answer about next steps, but more importantly, after coming off the pandemic, our students,
families, and educators deserve the assurance of steadfast leadership now.

After too many years of passing responsibility through an unclear and unworkable chain of command, Ohio Excels,
the Ohio Business Roundtable, and the National Federation of Independent Businesses in Ohio are convinced that it’s
time to head in a new direction. When our schools succeed, we all succeed. This is an opportunity that Ohio, and our
children can’t afford to miss. We encourage you to support the passage of Senate Bill 1.

Thank you, and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Page 2
Description of Organizations Endorsing this Testimony:

Ohio Excels is a non-partisan, non-profit organization created by leaders of Ohio’s business community to engage the
business community more consistently and deeply in efforts to help improve educational outcomes for all Ohio
students. Our focus includes early childhood, K-12, and postsecondary education. And in support of that mission, we
are committed to working with the broader business community, policymakers, educators, and other community
leaders to support our students, educators, and schools.

Ohio Business Roundtable is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization comprised of over 100 presidents and CEOs of
Ohio’s top companies, 75 of which are headquartered in the state and more than one third of which are Fortune
1000 companies. Collectively, the members employ nearly 500,000 Ohioans and generate a revenue exceeding $1.48
trillion.

National Federation of Independent Business represents nearly 21,000 governing members. By way of background,
a typical NFIB member in Ohio employs 20 or fewer and does less than $2 million in annual receipts. Their members
come from all industry types, each of the 88 counties, and range in size from sole proprietors to large operations
employing hundreds.

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