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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 191
2025-2026
Representatives Miller, J., Grim
Cosponsors: Representatives
Synenberg, McNally, Denson, Rader, Upchurch, Russo, Mohamed,
Abdullahi, Sigrist, Jarrells, Somani, Cockley, Brewer, Brownlee,
Brent, White, E., Thomas, C., Hall, D.
To
amend sections 3317.14, 4117.10, 5126.24, and 5705.412; to enact new
section 3317.13; and to repeal section 3317.13 of the Revised Code
to
require that all school district and educational service center
teachers be paid a salary of at least $50,000.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 3317.14, 4117.10, 5126.24, and 5705.412 be amended and new
section 3317.13 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
3317.13.
No
city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district
board of education or educational service center governing board
shall pay a teacher a base salary of less than fifty thousand
dollars.
Sec.
3317.14.
Any
school district board of education or educational service center
governing board participating in funds distributed under Chapter
3317. of the Revised Code shall annually adopt a teachers' salary
schedule with provision for increments based upon training and years
of service. Notwithstanding sections 3317.13 and 3319.088 of the
Revised Code, the board may establish its own service requirements
and may grant service credit for such activities as teaching in
public or nonpublic schools in this state or in another state, for
service as an educational assistant other than as a classroom aide
employed in accordance with section 5107.541 of the Revised Code, and
for service in the military or in an appropriate state or federal
governmental agency, provided no teacher receives less than the
amount required to be paid pursuant to section 3317.13 of the Revised
Code
and provided full credit for a minimum of five years of actual
teaching and military experience as defined in division (A) of
section 3317.13 of the Revised Code is given to each teacher
.
Each
teacher who has completed training which would qualify such teacher
for a higher salary bracket pursuant to this section shall file by
the fifteenth day of September with the treasurer of the board of
education or educational service center satisfactory evidence of the
completion of such additional training. The treasurer shall then
immediately place the teacher, pursuant to this section
and section 3317.13 of the Revised Code
,
in the proper salary bracket in accordance with training and years of
service before certifying such salary, training, and years of service
to the department of education and workforce.
No
teacher shall be paid less than the salary to which such teacher is
entitled pursuant to section 3317.13 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
4117.10.
(A)
An agreement between a public employer and an exclusive
representative entered into pursuant to this chapter governs the
wages, hours, and terms and conditions of public employment covered
by the agreement. If the agreement provides for a final and binding
arbitration of grievances, public employers, employees, and employee
organizations are subject solely to that grievance procedure and the
state personnel board of review or civil service commissions have no
jurisdiction to receive and determine any appeals relating to matters
that were the subject of a final and binding grievance procedure.
Where no agreement exists or where an agreement makes no
specification about a matter, the public employer and public
employees are subject to all applicable state or local laws or
ordinances pertaining to the wages, hours, and terms and conditions
of employment for public employees. All of the following prevail over
conflicting provisions of agreements between employee organizations
and public employers:
(1)
Laws pertaining to any of the following subjects:
(a)
Civil rights;
(b)
Affirmative action;
(c)
Unemployment compensation;
(d)
Workers' compensation;
(e)
The retirement of public employees;
(f)
Residency requirements;
(g)
The minimum educational requirements contained in the Revised Code
pertaining to public education including the requirement of a
certificate by the fiscal officer of a school district pursuant to
section 5705.41 of the Revised Code;
(h)
The provisions of division (A) of section 124.34 of the Revised Code
governing the disciplining of officers and employees who have been
convicted of a felony;
(i)
The minimum standards promulgated by the director of education and
workforce pursuant to division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised
Code.
(2)
The law pertaining to the leave of absence and compensation provided
under section 5923.05 of the Revised Code, if the terms of the
agreement contain benefits which are less than those contained in
that section or the agreement contains no such terms and the public
authority is the state or any agency, authority, commission, or board
of the state or if the public authority is another entity listed in
division (B) of section 4117.01 of the Revised Code that elects to
provide leave of absence and compensation as provided in section
5923.05 of the Revised Code;
(3)
The law pertaining to the leave established under section 5906.02 of
the Revised Code, if the terms of the agreement contain benefits that
are less than those contained in section 5906.02 of the Revised Code;
(4)
The law pertaining to excess benefits prohibited under section
3345.311 of the Revised Code with respect to an agreement between an
employee organization and a public employer entered into on or after
September 29, 2015.
(5)
For any collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after the
effective date of this amendment, the law pertaining to compensation
required pursuant to section 3317.13 of the Revised Code, if the
terms of the agreement provide for wages or compensation that are
less than the minimum required under that section.
Except
for sections 306.08, 306.12, 306.35, and 4981.22 of the Revised Code
and arrangements entered into thereunder, and section 4981.21 of the
Revised Code as necessary to comply with section 13(c) of the "Urban
Mass Transportation Act of 1964," 87 Stat. 295, 49 U.S.C.A.
1609(c), as amended, and arrangements entered into thereunder, this
chapter prevails over any and all other conflicting laws,
resolutions, provisions, present or future, except as otherwise
specified in this chapter or as otherwise specified by the general
assembly. Nothing in this section prohibits or shall be construed to
invalidate the provisions of an agreement establishing supplemental
workers' compensation or unemployment compensation benefits or
exceeding minimum requirements contained in the Revised Code
pertaining to public education or the minimum standards promulgated
by the director of education and workforce pursuant to division (D)
of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.
(B)
The public employer shall submit a request for funds necessary to
implement an agreement and for approval of any other matter requiring
the approval of the appropriate legislative body to the legislative
body within fourteen days of the date on which the parties finalize
the agreement, unless otherwise specified, but if the appropriate
legislative body is not in session at the time, then within fourteen
days after it convenes. The legislative body must approve or reject
the submission as a whole, and the submission is deemed approved if
the legislative body fails to act within thirty days after the public
employer submits the agreement. The parties may specify that those
provisions of the agreement not requiring action by a legislative
body are effective and operative in accordance with the terms of the
agreement, provided there has been compliance with division (C) of
this section. If the legislative body rejects the submission of the
public employer, either party may reopen all or part of the entire
agreement.
As
used in this section, "legislative body" includes the
governing board of a municipal corporation, school district, college
or university, village, township, or board of county commissioners or
any other body that has authority to approve the budget of their
public jurisdiction and, with regard to the state, "legislative
body" means the controlling board.
(C)
The chief executive officer, or the chief executive officer's
representative, of each municipal corporation, the designated
representative of the board of education of each school district,
college or university, or any other body that has authority to
approve the budget of their public jurisdiction, the designated
representative of the board of county commissioners and of each
elected officeholder of the county whose employees are covered by the
collective negotiations, and the designated representative of the
village or the board of township trustees of each township is
responsible for negotiations in the collective bargaining process;
except that the legislative body may accept or reject a proposed
collective bargaining agreement. When the matters about which there
is agreement are reduced to writing and approved by the employee
organization and the legislative body, the agreement is binding upon
the legislative body, the employer, and the employee organization and
employees covered by the agreement.
(D)
There is hereby established an office of collective bargaining in the
department of administrative services for the purpose of negotiating
with and entering into written agreements between state agencies,
departments, boards, and commissions and the exclusive representative
on matters of wages, hours, terms and other conditions of employment
and the continuation, modification, or deletion of an existing
provision of a collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in any
provision of law to the contrary shall be interpreted as excluding
the bureau of workers' compensation and the industrial commission
from the preceding sentence. This office shall not negotiate on
behalf of other statewide elected officials or boards of trustees of
state institutions of higher education who shall be considered as
separate public employers for the purposes of this chapter; however,
the office may negotiate on behalf of these officials or trustees
where authorized by the officials or trustees. The staff of the
office of collective bargaining are in the unclassified service. The
director of administrative services shall fix the compensation of the
staff.
The
office of collective bargaining shall:
(1)
Assist the director in formulating management's philosophy for public
collective bargaining as well as planning bargaining strategies;
(2)
Conduct negotiations with the exclusive representatives of each
employee organization;
(3)
Coordinate the state's resources in all mediation, fact-finding, and
arbitration cases as well as in all labor disputes;
(4)
Conduct systematic reviews of collective bargaining agreements for
the purpose of contract negotiations;
(5)
Coordinate the systematic compilation of data by all agencies that is
required for negotiating purposes;
(6)
Prepare and submit an annual report and other reports as requested to
the governor and the general assembly on the implementation of this
chapter and its impact upon state government.
Sec.
5126.24.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"License" means an educator license issued by the state
board of education under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code or a
certificate issued by the department of developmental disabilities.
(2)
"Teacher" means a person employed by a county board of
developmental disabilities in a position that requires a license.
(3)
"Nonteaching employee" means a person employed by a county
board of developmental disabilities in a position that does not
require a license.
(4)
"Years of service" includes
all
service described in division (A) of section 3317.13 of the Revised
Code
the following:
(a)
All years of teaching service in the same school district or
educational service center, regardless of training level, with each
year consisting of at least one hundred twenty days under a teacher's
contract;
(b)
All years of teaching service in a chartered, nonpublic school
located in Ohio as a teacher licensed pursuant to section 3319.22 of
the Revised Code or in another public school, regardless of training
level, with each year consisting of at least one hundred twenty days
under a teacher's contract;
(c)
All years of teaching service in a chartered school or institution or
a school or institution that subsequently became chartered or a
chartered special education program or a special education program
that subsequently became chartered operated by the state or by a
subdivision or other local governmental unit of this state as a
teacher licensed pursuant to section 3319.22 of the Revised Code,
regardless of training level, with each year consisting of at least
one hundred twenty days;
(d)
All years of active military service in the armed forces of the
United States, as defined in section 3307.75 of the Revised Code, to
a maximum of five years. For purposes of this calculation, a partial
year of active military service of eight continuous months or more in
the armed forces shall be counted as a full year
.
(B)
Subject to rules established by the director of developmental
disabilities pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, each
county board of developmental disabilities shall annually adopt
separate salary schedules for teachers and nonteaching employees.
(C)
The teachers' salary schedule shall provide for increments based on
training and years of service. The board may establish its own
service requirements provided no teacher receives less than the
salary the teacher would be paid under section 3317.13 of the Revised
Code if the teacher were employed by a school district board of
education and provided full credit for a minimum of five years of
actual
teaching and military experience as defined in division (A) of such
section
service
is
given to each teacher.
Each
teacher who has completed training that would qualify the teacher for
a higher salary bracket pursuant to this section shall file by the
fifteenth day of September with the fiscal officer of the board,
satisfactory evidence of the completion of such additional training.
The fiscal officer shall then immediately place the teacher, pursuant
to this section, in the proper salary bracket in accordance with
training and years of service. No teacher shall be paid less than the
salary to which the teacher would be entitled under section 3317.13
of the Revised Code if the teacher were employed by a school district
board of education.
The
superintendent of each county board, on or before the fifteenth day
of October of each year, shall certify to the state board of
education and the department of education and workforce the name of
each teacher employed, on an annual salary, in each special education
program operated pursuant to section 3323.09 of the Revised Code
during the first full school week of October. The superintendent
further shall certify, for each teacher, the number of years of
training completed at a recognized college, the degrees earned from a
college recognized by the department of education and workforce, the
type of license held, the number of months employed by the board, the
annual salary, and other information that the department may request.
(D)
The nonteaching employees' salary schedule established by the board
shall be based on training, experience, and qualifications with
initial salaries no less than salaries in effect on July 1, 1985.
Each board shall prepare and may amend from time to time,
specifications descriptive of duties, responsibilities, requirements,
and desirable qualifications of the classifications of employees
required to perform the duties specified in the salary schedule. All
nonteaching employees shall be notified of the position
classification to which they are assigned and the salary for the
classification. The compensation of all nonteaching employees working
for a particular board shall be uniform for like positions except as
compensation would be affected by salary increments based upon length
of service.
On
the fifteenth day of October of each year the nonteaching employees'
salary schedule and list of job classifications and salaries in
effect on that date shall be filed by each board with the
superintendent of public instruction and the department. If such
salary schedule and classification plan is not filed, the director of
education and workforce shall order the board to file such schedule
and list forthwith. If this condition is not corrected within ten
days after receipt of the order from the director, no money shall be
distributed to the board under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code
until the director has satisfactory evidence of the board's full
compliance with such order.
Sec.
5705.412.
(A)
As used in this section, "qualifying contract" means any
agreement for the expenditure of money under which aggregate payments
from the funds included in the school district's five-year forecast
under section 5705.391 of the Revised Code will exceed the lesser of
the following amounts:
(1)
Five hundred thousand dollars;
(2)
One per cent of the total revenue to be credited in the current
fiscal year to the district's general fund, as specified in the
district's most recent certificate of estimated resources certified
under section 5705.36 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1)
Notwithstanding section 5705.41 of the Revised Code, no school
district shall adopt any appropriation measure, make any qualifying
contract, or increase during any school year any wage or salary
schedule unless there is attached thereto a certificate, signed as
required by this section, that the school district has in effect the
authorization to levy taxes including the renewal or replacement of
existing levies which, when combined with the estimated revenue from
all other sources available to the district at the time of
certification, are sufficient to provide the operating revenues
necessary to enable the district to maintain all personnel and
programs for all the days set forth in its adopted school calendars
for the current fiscal year and for a number of days in succeeding
fiscal years equal to the number of days instruction was held or is
scheduled for the current fiscal year, as follows:
(a)
A certificate attached to an appropriation measure under this section
shall cover only the fiscal year in which the appropriation measure
is effective and shall not consider the renewal or replacement of an
existing levy as the authority to levy taxes that are subject to
appropriation in the current fiscal year unless the renewal or
replacement levy has been approved by the electors and is subject to
appropriation in the current fiscal year.
(b)
A certificate attached, in accordance with this section, to any
qualifying contract shall cover the term of the contract.
(c)
A certificate attached under this section to a wage or salary
schedule shall cover the term of the schedule.
If
the board of education has not adopted a school calendar for the
school year beginning on the first day of the fiscal year in which a
certificate is required, the certificate attached to an appropriation
measure shall include the number of days on which instruction was
held in the preceding fiscal year and other certificates required
under this section shall include that number of days for the fiscal
year in which the certificate is required and any succeeding fiscal
years that the certificate must cover.
The
certificate shall be signed by the treasurer and president of the
board of education and the superintendent of the school district,
unless the district is in a state of fiscal emergency declared under
Chapter 3316. of the Revised Code. In that case, the certificate
shall be signed by a member of the district's financial planning and
supervision commission who is designated by the commission for this
purpose.
(2)
In lieu of the certificate required under division (B) of this
section, an alternative certificate stating the following may be
attached:
(a)
The contract is a multi-year contract for materials, equipment, or
nonpayroll services essential to the education program of the
district;
(b)
The multi-year contract demonstrates savings over the duration of the
contract as compared to costs that otherwise would have been
demonstrated in a single year contract, and the terms will allow the
district to reduce the deficit it is currently facing in future years
as demonstrated in its five-year forecast adopted in accordance with
section 5705.391 of the Revised Code.
The
certificate shall be signed by the treasurer and president of the
board of education and the superintendent of the school district,
unless the district is in a state of fiscal emergency declared under
Chapter 3316. of the Revised Code. In that case, the certificate
shall be signed by a member of the district's financial planning and
supervision commission who is designated by the commission for this
purpose.
(C)
Every qualifying contract made or wage or salary schedule adopted or
put into effect without such a certificate shall be void, and no
payment of any amount due thereon shall be made.
(D)
The department of education and workforce and the auditor of state
jointly shall adopt rules governing the methods by which treasurers,
presidents of boards of education, superintendents, and members of
financial planning and supervision commissions shall estimate revenue
and determine whether such revenue is sufficient to provide necessary
operating revenue for the purpose of making certifications required
by this section.
(E)
The auditor of state shall be responsible for determining whether
school districts are in compliance with this section. At the time a
school district is audited pursuant to section 117.11 of the Revised
Code, the auditor of state shall review each certificate issued under
this section since the district's last audit, and the appropriation
measure, contract, or wage and salary schedule to which such
certificate was attached. If the auditor of state determines that a
school district has not complied with this section with respect to
any qualifying contract or wage or salary schedule, the auditor of
state shall notify the prosecuting attorney for the county, the city
director of law, or other chief law officer of the school district.
That officer may file a civil action in any court of appropriate
jurisdiction to seek a declaration that the contract or wage or
salary schedule is void, to recover for the school district from the
payee the amount of payments already made under it, or both, except
that the officer shall not seek to recover payments made under any
collective bargaining agreement entered into under Chapter 4117. of
the Revised Code. If the officer does not file such an action within
one hundred twenty days after receiving notice of noncompliance from
the auditor of state, any taxpayer may institute the action in the
taxpayer's own name on behalf of the school district.
(F)
This section does not apply to any contract or increase in any wage
or salary schedule that is necessary in order to enable a board of
education to comply with
division
(B) of
section
3317.13 of the Revised Code, provided the contract or increase does
not exceed the amount required to be paid to be in compliance with
such
division
that
section
.
(G)
Any officer, employee, or other person who expends or authorizes the
expenditure of any public funds or authorizes or executes any
contract or schedule contrary to this section, expends or authorizes
the expenditure of any public funds on the void contract or schedule,
or issues a certificate under this section which contains any false
statements is liable to the school district for the full amount paid
from the district's funds on the contract or schedule. The officer,
employee, or other person is jointly and severally liable in person
and upon any official bond that the officer, employee, or other
person has given to the school district to the extent of any payments
on the void claim, not to exceed ten thousand dollars. However, no
officer, employee, or other person shall be liable for a mistaken
estimate of available resources made in good faith and based upon
reasonable grounds. If an officer, employee, or other person is found
to have complied with rules jointly adopted by the department of
education and workforce and the auditor of state under this section
governing methods by which revenue shall be estimated and determined
sufficient to provide necessary operating revenue for the purpose of
making certifications required by this section, the officer,
employee, or other person shall not be liable under this section if
the estimates and determinations made according to those rules do
not, in fact, conform with actual revenue. The prosecuting attorney
of the county, the city director of law, or other chief law officer
of the district shall enforce this liability by civil action brought
in any court of appropriate jurisdiction in the name of and on behalf
of the school district. If the prosecuting attorney, city director of
law, or other chief law officer of the district fails, upon the
written request of any taxpayer, to institute action for the
enforcement of the liability, the attorney general, or the taxpayer
in the taxpayer's own name, may institute the action on behalf of the
subdivision.
(H)
This section does not require the attachment of an additional
certificate beyond that required by section 5705.41 of the Revised
Code for current payrolls of, or contracts of employment with, any
employees or officers of the school district.
This
section does not require the attachment of a certificate to a
temporary appropriation measure if all of the following apply:
(1)
The amount appropriated does not exceed twenty-five per cent of the
total amount from all sources available for expenditure from any fund
during the preceding fiscal year;
(2)
The measure will not be in effect on or after the thirtieth day
following the earliest date on which the district may pass an annual
appropriation measure;
(3)
An amended official certificate of estimated resources for the
current year, if required, has not been certified to the board of
education under division (B) of section 5705.36 of the Revised Code.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 3317.14, 4117.10, 5126.24, and 5705.412 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section
3.
That
section 3317.13 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.