June 8, 2026 · Education Committee · 12,338 words · 18 speakers · 112 segments
Thank you for sticking with us. We are still on Substitute Senate Bill 328. We are in the middle of its second hearing, and our next witness is Evan Calicoat with the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. Welcome to committee. You will have three minutes, and may begin when you're ready.
Awesome. Chairwoman Fowler-Arthur, Vice Chair Odioso, Ranking Member Brennan, and Honorable Members of the House Education Committee, thank you for the opportunity to offer proponent testimony for Senate Bill 328. Senate Bill 328 will allow students to be earlier and better prepared for their careers and ensure the programs serving our students are the best they can be through increased data collection and better cross-agency cooperation. Ohio Farm Bureau believes that the better we can prepare our students for the workforce, the better off those students and our state will be in the future. Exposing students to career opportunities in school is critical to accomplishing this goal. We have seen tremendous success in middle school career tech programs and getting students interested in future careers in agriculture. More and more middle school FFA chapters are being established across the state and exposing students to animal science, environmental studies, welding, and even zoology. While obviously not every student will join the agricultural industry or FFA, Ohio Farm Bureau believes a robust education system that focuses on career-connected learning allows our students the greatest opportunity to reach their full potential. This bill reinforces Ohio's commitment to career-connected learning in various ways. It ensures that every Ohio student is exposed to potential careers in middle school and provides them with career coaching to help chart their path through high school and beyond. Starting with eighth-grade students in 2027, this bill would create personalized academic and career plans for each student that allows them and their parents to view progress in real time and make individualized decisions that help them reach success in their future careers. Lastly, the bill allows the Department of Education and Workforce to collaborate more closely with other state agencies to review data and create reports that show we are spending taxpayer dollars on programs that deliver the best ROI for our students and our state. I would not be standing in front of you today if it was not for career tech education and the investment that was made in me. My FFA advisor was the first one who taught me how to write a speech, how to weld, how to market a product, and how to care for the community I live in. They prepared me not only for my career, but to also be a better person in life. This is not an uncommon story that you would hear when asking students who are involved in ag education and all other types of career tech. Ohio Farm Bureau appreciates being a part of the Career Connected Learning Coalition, which has devoted many hours of robust discussion, debate, and research, resulting in the piece of legislation before you. Investing in our students and their future now will ensure that our state and its workforce will prosper in the next generation. Thank you to Senator Kaler for introducing this bill, and thank you to the committee for the opportunity to testify.
I'd be happy to answer any questions next time. Thank you very much for your testimony. Ranking member, did you have a question?
Yes.
Ranking member, Brendan is recognized for a question.
Thank you. I saved this one for you, Evan. Thanks for coming in. And the question is, you know, this is great, obviously, but I'm particularly concerned about our rural students and what types of opportunities will be available for them. Is there anything, any suggestions you have regarding the legislation to ensure that they are exposed to the same type of, you know, career-connected learning opportunities as kids in suburban and urban districts?
Through the chair to the representative, I think that's a great question. And I think the bill before you does set a good job allowing those rural communities to be able to find things that make sense for them. I think something that we really learned through our coalition work is that there is a lot of private industry that wants to I would say help educate these children It does not have to be just done by the Department of Education and I think if we allowing again those private people to help try to connect our kids to careers I think that is a great way for rural communities that may have not as many resources at the school level to hire, so to speak, school employees to do this. I think this bill is a great way to try to help those rural communities get their kids connected to their careers.
Thank you. Thank you.
Do we have any further questions from the committee? Seeing none, thank you very much for your testimony. Next, I'd like to invite Nick Rhodes with the Ohio Business Roundtable to offer proponent testimony. You have three minutes.
Awesome. Chairwoman Fowler-Arthur, Ranking Member Brennan, and members of the House Education Committee. My name is Nick Rhodes, and I am the Director of Policy and Special Projects at the Ohio Business Roundtable. I will say me and my colleague at the Farm Bureau have been sitting in the Data Center Committee all day long, so it's nice to come over here and talk about this issue, bipartisan issue, passing unanimously out of the Senate, you know, a broad coalition of proponents from every facet of the education industry as well as the business community. And, you know, for the business roundtable perspective, you have my full testimony for the record. But, you know, for employers, you know, Senate Bill, substitute Senate Bill 328 isn't just an education policy. It's a talent pipeline policy. Our employers consistently talk about it, of trying to find the next wave of kind of their workers, their workforce. And this bill does a really good job of kind of getting us to that point in a preach of way. And Representative Miller, I was kind of piggyback off your question earlier, kind of about how schools are going to do this. I think it's a valid question, especially on the funding thing. I will say from our members' perspective, you know, private industry wants to be involved. They want to be at the table and they want to help because it's their future as well. And they love getting into whether it's at the middle school level, the high school level, queer tech. That's what they want to see. We appreciate Senator Kaliff for his leadership on this issue and welcome your support. So with that, I will address any questions.
Thank you very much. Do we have any questions? Representative Miller?
Thank you. Thanks, Nick. Do you believe this bill has that flexibility written into it to where if, say, a certain manufacturer in a community, in a smaller community, for example, is the main, and they get together and they say, hey, I can supply somebody to come into the schools and do that aspect of it. Is it flexible enough to allow them to come in so that maybe the school does not have either burden to retrain, somebody to be that career person, or a counselor maybe moving out of a counseling position to do this, assistant principal, what have you. Do you think there's enough flexibility in that bill to allow that? Because I think that's a good, I think what you said was very profound in that if both sides really want this, we can make it work. Do you believe the bill is flexible enough, I guess, to be short?
Through the chair to the representative, I'm not an expert in this field, so I will default to some of the people who testified before me. I think it does. I know there were some changes in the Senate education committee that were made to make it a little bit more flexible. So I think it's there. I think from our perspective it is, but obviously I'm sure the senator would be welcome to any suggestions on making it more flexible.
All right. Thanks.
Thank you. Do we have any further questions? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Next, I'd like to invite Prince Garuba. I hope I pronounced that correctly. Welcome to the committee, and you'll have three minutes.
All right. Good afternoon. Chairwoman Fowler, Arthur, Vice Chair Odioso, and Ranking Member Brennan, and members of the House Education Committee, My name is Prince Garuba and I serve as the Executive Director of the Ohio Association of Goodwill Industries Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide proponent testimony on Senate Bill 328 the Education and Workforce Return on Investment Initiative The Ohio Association of Goodwill Industries represents member Goodwill organizations serving communities across Ohio. Through partnerships with employers, educators, and public agencies, Goodwill connects individuals to job training, industry-recognized credentials, and career pathways that lead to stable, family-sustaining employment. Beyond workforce training and job placement, Goodwill provides critical supports, including re-entry services, child care, transportation, housing, and food assistance to help individuals enter, remain, and advance within the workforce. As the largest nonprofit workforce provider in North America, Goodwill helps Ohioans build skills, earn credentials, secure employment, and in high-demand industries, delivering workforce solutions in all 88 counties of our great state. O-Aggie supports Senate Bill 328 because it strengthens alignment between Ohio's education and workforce systems through more effective use of data and outcome measurements. Establishing the Education and Workforce Return on Investment Institute will improve cross-agency data sharing, reduce duplicative reporting requirements, and ensure programs are evaluated based on meaningful outcomes such as job placement, wage growth, and career advancement. But most importantly, the initiative will provide policymakers, educators, workforce providers, and employers with better information about which programs are truly moving the needle for Ohio students and workers. By measuring outcomes across systems, the state can make more informed decisions about which programs should be expanded and funded at scale. Senate Bill 328 also moves Ohio closer to a skills-based talent pipeline. While credentials and technical training remain critical, employers consistently report that professional skills are just as important to workplace success. By requiring the Department of Educational Workforce to develop professional skills standards aligned with employer needs, The bill helps to ensure students build a workplace readiness skills such as communication, reliability, and teamwork and professionalism that our employers are seeking. For the interest of time, just to kind of answer Representative Miller's questions on a few of the other folks who have came and spoke, one of the best things about Goodwill is that we're in all 88 counties of the state, and we do work with some of our local community schools to fill that gap of capacity I think that you were getting at as well. We have great examples in our Dayton Goodwill as well as our South Central Ohio Goodwill as well. So thank you for your time, and I'd be open to answer any questions.
Thank you for your testimony. Do we have any questions from the committee? Seeing none, I guess you answered them all already. Awesome. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next, I would like to invite Terry Bennett with future plans to offer testimony. Welcome to committee, and you may begin when you are ready.
Chairwoman Fowler-Arthur, Ranking Member Brennan, members of the House Education Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony in support of Senate Bill 328. My name is Terry Bennett. I serve as the Executive Vice President of Knowledge and Capacity Building at Future Plans. I'm a former K-12 and CTC educator and administrator, as well as a coach. And with that I like to start with a sport that near and dear to many of us in Ohio football And thanks to back in my day Boomer Esiason and now Joe Burrow many of us wanted to be a quarterback That is what we saw That is what we knew We didn know the demands of the position We didn't know if our abilities aligned. And for career choice, too many students are making important decisions based on what they see, what they're familiar with, not on a clear understanding of their strengths and interests and what the career actually entails. In football, there's not just any coach. It's a trained coach with tools to evaluate and develop talent, to connect players' strengths to the right positions. With assessment and coaching, the conversation then becomes, you have some qualities to play quarterback, but this is where you need to grow to succeed. But your strengths do align naturally to these other positions. Just like football, we see the same pattern in the future plans data. Students overwhelmingly select favorite careers in the health science cluster, where nursing is the quarterback. But with trained coaching, students see if their strengths align and other careers that might also be a fit, as well as what the careers entail. Future Plans offers Ohio a real-time preview of successful Senate Bill 328 implementation. Our five-step process and data, we are already showing that this works. This model has served over 30,000 students with evidence of what happens when assessment is paired with trained coaching and intentional career exploration. Our data shows that over 60% of students shift their interests to align with strengths after trained coaching. By empowering students to discover their strengths and align their interests, they become engaged in curating their own career path. Senate bill 328 does not ask Ohio schools to invent something new it creates the opportunity to scale and standardize a model already working in more than 120 schools in over 50 counties in Ohio future plans have shown that when this work is structured trained and informed by data students make better choices Senate bill 328 would make that opportunity more consistent and accessible across Ohio. Thank you and I invite any questions. Thank you very much for your testimony. Do we have any questions for Ms. Bennett? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Next I would like to invite Morgan Holman to offer testimony. Welcome to committee. You'll have three minutes.
Thank you.
and public service. At the same time, many students graduate without a clear understanding of career pathways, workforce opportunities, or the credentials available to them here in Ohio. Senate Bill 328 presents an important opportunity to strengthen prepare students not only for graduation but for successful futures. Career exploration must begin early. Research consistently shows that students who engage in career awareness and pathway exploration during middle school and early high school are more likely to graduate with a plan, pursue credentials or post-secondary education and enter the workforce with confidence and purpose. Equally important is helping students develop soft skills early and often. Communication, teamwork, responsibility, professionalism, attendance and problem solving are critical workplace skills employers are consistently identifying as workforce needs. These habits should begin developing as early as preschool and reinforced throughout a student's educational experience. In New Lexington Schools, we have worked to make workforce readiness and career-connected learning a priority beginning at an early age. Through our emergent program, students in grades three through five are introduced to hands-on career pathway experiences that help them connect to classroom and learning environment to future opportunities. Elementary students are exposed to pathways including welding, culinary arts, building trades, healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing, and technology. These experiences help students build awareness, confidence, and excitement about future careers long before they enter high school. As students continue through our district, those opportunities expand through career tech education, career advising, industry partnerships, and workforce readiness programming. Because of these intentional efforts, New Lexington Schools has achieved 100% graduation rate this year. We have also seen reductions in chronic absenteeism, student behavior issues, as students become more engaged and connected to their meaningful futures. Our students are not only graduating, they are graduating with experiences and credentials that directly impact Ohio's workforce. New Lexington students now earn more than 1,000 industry-recognized credentials annually. Additionally, we have experienced an 18% increase in college credit plus participation embedded directly within our career tech education pathways. This allows students to earn college credit industry credentials and hands-on learning while embedded into that career tech programming. Most importantly, we're seeing our students transition into career wage opportunities that allow them to remain in Ohio, contribute to their communities, and help workforce demands across our state. These outcomes are a direct result of intentional career exploration, workforce development programming, and strong partnerships between schools, higher ed, and industry. Workforce development is no longer separate from education. It's essential to education and essential to Ohio's future. Thank you for your time and consideration. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you for your testimony. I do have one question and that is what was your graduation rate previously?
So eight years ago, oh sorry, through the chair, our graduation rate eight years ago was 72%.
Very impressive, very impressive. Does anyone else have a question for the witness? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Congratulations on the improvement.
Thank you.
Next, I'd like to invite Keith Pomeroy with Delaware City Schools to offer proponent testimony.
Chair Fowler, author, ranking member Brennan, and members of the House Education Committee, thank you for the opportunity to share my support for Senate Bill 328. My name is Keith Pomeroy, and it is my pleasure to serve as the superintendent of Delaware City Schools. As the superintendent of Delaware City Schools, I work every day alongside educators who care deeply about preparing students not just for the next grade level, but for life. Senate Bill 328 speaks directly to that mission. The research is compelling. When students understand their strengths early and have structured opportunities to explore career pathways, the results are transformative. For individual young people and for the communities that they will one day serve Data from programs already operating across Ohio show that when students receive aptitude coaching nearly two shift their interests to better align with their natural strengths That kind of intentional guidance is not a luxury. It is foundational. This bill's flexibility is meaningful to districts like mine. The option to embed 60 hours of career exploration instruction into existing CTE coursework partner with community organizations, and develop a locally approved plan allows us to meet this goal in a way that reflects our community's strengths and resources. The 20-27-2028 implementation timeline also gives us room to do this right. We are accomplishing many of these aims in small pockets of success today. Career exploration done well requires trained staff, quality tools, and strong partnerships. I'm encouraged that this committee recognizes the resource implications for the future. Our students in Delaware and across the state deserve to enter high school knowing who they are, what they are good at, and what possibilities lie ahead of them. Senate Bill 328 helps make that possible. I'm proud to support this bill and look forward to seeing it move forward. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I'm open to any questions.
Thank you for your testimony. Do we have any questions for Mr. Pomeroy? Seeing none, thank you for your time. Next, I would like to invite Eric McLaughlin, if he is in the room. All right. He may have had to step away. And I believe we have Nicole Piscitani going to offer testimony on behalf of BASA, OHQE, which I don't know what that stands for, OSBA and OSBO. The Alliance is the... I apologize. I forgot your alphabet credentialed there. Thank you.
Chair Fowler, Arthur, Vice Chair Odioso, Ranking Member Brennan, and members of the House Education Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on Senate Bill 328. My name is Nicola Piscatani with the Ohio School Boards Association. Joining me in support of this testimony but unable to attend today's hearing is Paul Imhoff with the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, Tony Potagel with the Alliance for High Quality Education, and Katie Johnson with the Ohio Association of School Business Officials. On our behalf of our members, we are here today to provide proponent testimony on Senate Bill 328. We would like to begin by thanking Senator Kaler, the Senate, and the stakeholders who have worked collaboratively on this legislation over the past year. This bill has undergone many changes over the past few months, and the current version of the bill addresses many of the concerns our organizations previously raised particularly regarding flexibility staffing and timelines for example rather than being required to provide one half unit course the current version of the bill required school districts to provide 60 hours of instruction in the study of career exploration to students during grades six through eight through one of three options offering a standalone career exploration course embedding the instruction into qualifying career technical education course and implementing a locally developed state approved career exploration plan. The bill also allows school districts to partner with outside organizations and assign appropriate staff to provide the required career exploration instruction and planning. Finally, the bill adjusts the implementation timeline to begin with the 27-28 school year, allowing adequate time for a meaningful and effective rollout of the bill. As we stated in our testimony to the Senate Senate Bill 328 establishes new goals and expectations for schools to support students with career exploration and our organization strongly support those efforts We also share the goal of helping students understand the many opportunities available to them after high school At the same time successfully implementing these new provisions requires additional resources, staff capacity, and professional development at the local level. As these career awareness and exploration initiatives continue to expand, our members look forward to working with policy makers to ensure schools have the resources and tools necessary to implement these programs successfully for students across Ohio. In closing, the changes made to the bill have been thoughtful and directly addressed the concerns our organizations previously raised about implementation, flexibility, and timelines. Because of these changes, our organizations are pleased to support Senate Bill 328. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I would be
happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you very much for your testimony. Do we have any questions for the witness? Seeing none. Thank you very much. I believe that we have covered everyone that said they were wishing to testify in person on 328. If you submitted testimony through the portal and you thought you were testifying in person but didn't get called, if you'd raise your hand now, we would momentarily consider your request. All right. Seeing none, there are written testimonies, and I would encourage members to review those. This will conclude the second hearing of Senate Bill 328. I would now like to call up House Bill 594 for its second hearing, and I'd like to invite Rick Carfagna with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce to offer proponent testimony. Welcome to committee, and you'll have three minutes. I may begin when you are ready.
Chair Fowler-Arthur, Vice Chair Odeoso, Ranking Member Brennan, members of the House Education Committee. I'm Rick Garfani, Ohio Chamber of Commerce. I'm here in strong support of House Bill 594. So expanding access to computer science education in Ohio's K-12 system is one of our top policy priorities to this General Assembly as in years past. We commend representatives Odeoso and Thomas Hall and their co-sponsors for leading this effort. We've been building towards this moment. Eight years ago, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 170, which gave students the option to take computer science. House Bill 594 is the next logical step, ensuring every school must offer it and every student must complete it. This bill is thoughtfully designed. Computer science can count towards existing math, science, elective, or foreign language requirements. Schools with capacity challenges have a structured pathway, and we think that this is a reasonable, flexible mandate. Despite the progress, the data tells a sobering story. So according to Code AI that you'll be hearing from shortly, only 61% of our public high schools offer computer science. That means 4 in 10 schools have zero offerings. Zero. And we're not talking about how to teach kids to use a keyboard or build a spreadsheet. We're talking about things like coding, web design, cybersecurity, AI, app development, the competencies that drive today's economy. From the perspective of Ohio's employers, this is not a niche workforce issue. Every industry, manufacturing, insurance, health care, agriculture, has a growing need for workers with computer science skills. Computer science jobs pay an average of $30,000 more than the median Ohio household income. And again this isn just about cultivating workers for the technology companies like Meta and Intel and Anduril You know we talking about Scott Miracle Procter Gamble Nationwide Insurance Kroger and Ohio employers who increasingly need workers who can apply technology in their daily roles. So until we build our own pipeline, our own farm team of talent, Ohio companies are going to keep recruiting out-of-state or filing H-1B visa applications to import talent from overseas. That is not a sustainable solution. The solution starts in our classrooms. House Bill 594 also requires that qualifying courses include instruction and artificial intelligence, what it is, how it works, what's its impact on society. That forward-looking provision ensures this requirement evolves with the economy and is not frozen in time. So my message to this committee is one I've carried in this building for nearly a decade, and that is our competitiveness as a state depends on a workforce that is prepared for jobs that haven't even been invented yet. Computer science is foundational. It's not vocational. The Ohio Chamber strongly urges this committee to pass House Bill 594. Thank you.
Happy to answer any questions. Thank you very much for your testimony. Do we have any questions?
Ranking Member Brennan. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for coming in, Mr. Carfagna. I appreciate it. Thank you. So I've done a lot of reading on this the last several months since it was introduced, and I'm reading a lot about how Google and Meta and Amazon have been literally laying off tens of thousands of computer programmers, folks with computer science degrees. I think the New York Fed, I don't think I read it, the New York Fed put out a list of the most unemployed majors in the country right now. among the top ten are computer science with about a 7.4% unemployment rate and computer engineering with about a 6.1% unemployment rate, or maybe it was the other way around. So given that, is it wise to add, you know, this many more potential folks to that population of what seems to be an already overpopulated computer science degree population?
Chair Fowler-Arthur, Ranking Member Brennan, well, you're right. I mean, well, we do trail neighboring states in computer science access. Only 3% or excuse me, I'm sorry. We rank 44th in the country for growth in computer science degree production. So I know you're talking about people that major in computer science. What we are talking about is exposing children to technology courses. And I'll share an anecdote. I was asked to speak up at Ohio Northern University, Hardin County, 8, Ohio. And it was a state and local government class, and I was kind of giving a general economic update. And I brought up this situation. I said, you know, there's 40% of our public high schools don't have a computer science class. And a lot of hands shot up in the room like, you know, we're from wherever, northwest Ohio. I'm not trying to pick on any specific demographic. But one student said, we didn't have anything like this. in my school. And she said, now, it's not something that I really would have been interested in taking, but I know a lot of my friends that would have really liked to have taken a computer science class if we had had it. So, ranking member Brennan, I hear you about the majors, but really, it's about having some proficiency in technology, learning how to design a web page. If we believe that AI is going to handle coding down the road. I mean, there's other things like cybersecurity and other measures that I really think that we need to expose our kids to. And again, it's not just the job openings right now. It's not just the jobs in the pipeline. But take a look at the jobs in the pipeline. All the mega projects that have been announced are in a manufacturing. I mean, even if you're going to go work at Honda and work on crafting an EV, you're going to have to have some proficiency in some degree with technology. And for our high schools to not even carry a course in it, to me, is astounding. All due respect.
Follow-up? Continue. Thanks. The superintendents I've talked to and principals I've talked to about this, I asked them, you know, what would be doable? What would be a happy medium? And generally speaking, I think what their suggestion is is that, you know, give us the money to implement a course in our course of study so that students that are interested in it can be exposed to the opportunity. But to require every one of our kids, there's not enough computer science teachers. It's going to be, we're adding again another program, which is going to come with a great big expense. So what do you say to a state-funded program that would fund a computer science course as an elective in all of our high schools in Ohio?
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Madam Chair, Fellow Arthur, and Ranking Member Brennan. So a couple of responses to that. We've been setting the table for years with this. For the last couple of budgets now, this legislature has funded what's known as the Teach Computer Science Program, It's $8 million per biennium, and that is meant to help fund coursework, materials, and exams to professionally develop more computer science teachers. This past budget, thankfully, there was a provision of an ongoing computer science teacher licensure waiver to allow people with valid educator licenses in K-12 to teach a computer science course. So how do we cross-train a math teacher to teach a coding class and make it easier to, again, grow that professional development, have the faculty? There is a program that is known as Computer Science Promise that has been around for a few years now that allows for, at no cost to a student, they can take at least one approved course for the academic year, and that counts towards their graduation requirements. It kind of fulfills this. This bill allows for partnerships with community colleges. It allows for partnerships with the ESC to bridge what you're talking about. If they are under-resourced, if they just simply don't have the boots on the ground to teach this class physically, We're giving them all the opportunities to do it. And then at the end of the day, if they can't do this, they have the ability to have a virtual offering. So if you want to convene a classroom of kids that want to take an AI course, I'm just making it up, you can put them in a computer lab and they can teach a virtual class that is taught through any number of different partners, maybe out of Columbus or somewhere else. So I do feel like they're giving a lot of pathways to meet this requirement. It is understood that not everybody has the wherewithal to add them. Maybe they want to add them, they just simply can't. And I think that there are adequate measures here.
Thank you. Representative Ritter is recognized for a question.
Thanks very much for being here. Good afternoon. So much of what we seem to do today in education is geared toward trying to prepare students with specific skills needed for a specific job. And you said something in your testimony. You talked about jobs that don't yet exist. I'm curious how we prepare kids for those jobs.
Chair Fowler Arthur, Representative Ritter, by equipping them with skill sets that weren even around when I was in high school And you know I 49 years old I age myself I took personal typing on a typewriter They don't even do that anymore. I mean, we know that technology is the wave of the future. We know that coding is, you know, the backbone of so many different programming anymore. We know that, you know, AI is certainly here to stay. and it's not necessarily making them proficient in any of these things. It's exposing them to these different classes. That's all. That's what we're asking here, one unit of computer science for a year.
Quick follow-up. Please continue.
The distinction I'm trying to make is this. I think we're very good at training kids for specific jobs. I question whether or not we've given the same thought to educating them for the future, teaching kids how to think, in other words. And I appreciate you exploring this idea with me. There's really no question there. I just want to make sure that there's an understanding. There's a distinction between training for a specific job and educating kids to think.
Yeah, thank you.
Chair Fallow, Arthur, Representative Ritter, I appreciate that. It's computational thinking. and it's showing them that working on a computer doesn't have to be intimidating either. It's at least, again, giving them some exposure to these things. I mean, all of our schools are teaching keyboarding. Like I said, they're teaching kids how to use Google Docs. They're teaching them how to make spreadsheets, and that's great, all well and good. But we're talking about some of the more advanced offerings, at least having them available, and then having the child take one unit of it.
Thank you.
I just would like to follow up on what you just said. Yes. When you mentioned having it available, and it seems like there's a wide array of options for students to take classes in computer coding or in various aspects of computer sciences, maybe not as part of their high school course, but maybe as an extracurricular or through a local club at the library or other means. You know, what is your perspective on it being an a la carte menu where the student could choose to participate,
schools could voluntarily participate, as opposed to having yet another mandate coming down on what you must teach? Sure. Well, Madam Chair, I mean, this is what we have right now. We have a system where a child can take computer science if that is of interest to them, and they can count that towards one of their requirements in math or in science or as an elective. But there's really no impetus for the school to actually add the program. And I think sometimes it can be intimidating for a student or a child to, I mean, they don't know what they don't know. They don't know that computer science promise program exists. They don't know how to seek these things out. and so and I don't know that there's much of an incentive for an individual school if they don't have the offering to have the offering other than what what the state will come and tell them to do so I mean if it's going to I think nudge people along and get us get us away from that 61 percent
mark and get us closer to 100 percent mark we're all for it thank you seeing no further questions I appreciate your time Next we have Ms Julia Wynn with Code AI here to offer testimony Welcome to committee and you may begin when you ready Thank you Chair Fowler Ranking Member Brennan and members of the committee My name is Julia Nguyen I Senior Director of State Government Affairs at CodeAI formerly Code
a nonprofit focused on ensuring every student has the digital fluency to succeed in an AI-powered world. No one can deny that AI is rapidly reshaping our world. 66% of employers say they would not hire someone without AI skills. Eighty-eight percent of organizations now report regular AI use in at least one business function. But the question is, to Representative Ritter's point, how do we prepare students with the skills and competencies they need to be successful in this changing world? While no one can say for certain what the workforce of the next decade will demand, it's clear that those who can understand, direct question, and create with AI will be best positioned for success. Beyond the value for career readiness, we have a responsibility to empower every student with an agency over the technology that is increasingly making its own decisions. That agency can only come from a thorough understanding of how AI works under the hood, not just how to use a tool, but how AI systems work, the data they're trained on, the algorithms they are built on, the computational thinking and problem solving to work with them, and responsible and ethical computing. That's AI and computer science education. This level of digital fluency will soon be a baseline expectation, not a specialized skill. Just like we teach students about the natural world through science, it's past time we taught them about the technological world that is already at their fingertips on a daily basis. This knowledge should not be confined to future software engineers. Future cosmetologists and plumbers alike deserve a comprehensive education aligned with the world that we live in. By establishing a computer science graduation requirement that includes AI fundamentals, Ohio can ensure every student, regardless of background or career path, gains the digital skills they need to be successful in our modern world. Today only 3% of higher students are taking computer science, which is lower than most surrounding states. Even globally, countries like China and Japan with the highest GDPs per capita, who are also leaders in technology, require computer science for all K-12 students. House Bill 594 is necessary not only for Ohio's economic competitiveness, but to ensure Ohio students don't fall behind their peers in the race for in-demand talent. Understanding that this is an additional requirement,
I want to emphasize that the sponsors have built significant flexibility in the language so schools can implement the requirement with fidelity. You can count the course towards required math or science, foreign language, or elective credit. They have a seven-year implementation runway. The credit can be taken in any of grades 8 through 12, and schools can offer it virtually or through a partnership with an ESC. The bill explicitly allows CCP courses and programs provided by community colleges to count towards the requirement. And there's also the Teach CS program that was mentioned. I want to conclude by recognizing that a graduation requirement change is not a small shift, but neither is the impact AI is having on our world and education system. This impact demands a rethinking of what students need to be successful. This bill has been thoughtfully crafted to cater to what schools would need to implement this successfully, but the risk of our students being unprepared for a quickly moving AI-powered world is too great not to act. I urge you to support House Bill 594. Thank you. Thank you. Representative Miller is recognized for a question.
Thank you, Chair. Julia, good to see you. We've had so many conversations about this. AI is something that I think many of us utilize in ways that we don't even know. So you said quick and adapting seven runway I first think about learning basic and Pascal and never touching it again even within four years of learning it I mean I was already not even through college and it already had gone its way and we moved into different So my question to you is, how do we have to create model curriculum that we see in today's AI and generative learning where the computer is learning itself? Before we code it, it's coding itself. So if we were teaching coding, not many are going to use it. What do you foresee as to how this would play out, this language and this bill would play out to provide, do with kind of a framework of what exactly that curriculum would look like? Because we're now mandating courses, so therefore we've got to have model curriculum. Where does that come from?
Yes, thank you. Through the chair to Representative Miller. First of all, the language of the bill does say that the course list that is in the State Committee on Computer Sciences report from 2022 should be the starting point for ODEW in creating the possible course list. But the language also says that any course that meets the computer science standards can count. So there's a lot of flexibility in terms of what students can take and what courses school can offer. but I think what you're also getting at is kind of this evolving, changing nature of the technology and how do we keep pace with it, right, in curriculum. I will say, so we offer free computer science curriculum. We're a curriculum provider, and we're constantly adapting our curriculum to try to make sure that it's relevant. So that work happens on the curriculum provider level. But also there's just fundamental concepts of computer science education that are not going to change. The fact that data is something you learn about. The fact that you learn about algorithms, the problem-solving process, computational thinking, you know, decomposition, breaking down a problem into smaller pieces. Those kinds of things are still going to be relevant regardless of, you know, whether AI is doing A, B, or C. Hello? Please continue.
So I'm hoping that the coursework across the high school level is doing that, what you just said, in a English and in sciences, in the math, in the history and the humanities, that that type of breaking down and understanding and critically thinking through a problem, this would mean that it has to be based around computer science. And that is changing so fast. Who's going to be the overseer of what this is going to look like?
So through the chair to the representative, Ohio has state computer science standards. Ohio actually was the first state to include AI competencies in its state standards back in 2022. So that standards revision process will continue to happen, and usually it's about every seven years. And that standards revision process basically encapsulates any advances in the subject or the field that are necessary to incorporate back into curriculum. Thank you.
Ranking Member Brennan is recognized for a question. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for coming forth. So again, we've talked to several folks about this over the last couple of months. Why do you think there are districts that are currently not offering it?
Thank you. Through the chair to the representative. I think it's because they haven't yet made it a priority. And I think a lot of people still think of computer science as like just coding, and they don't realize that it's, you know, like I said, about data, problem solving about algorithms cyber security which is a increasingly relevant field and ever important so i think that You know, it hasn't been a priority because it hasn't been a statewide requirement. So as they should, you know, they're focusing on literacy, they're focusing on math and other things. But we need to be talking about computer science as a subject just like math or science, especially in the world that we live in today. It is equally important for every single student to be learning about this, the bones and the structure of AI systems and the technology around them. So it has to become a statewide priority. And that's really the purpose of this bill, making sure that, you know, all administrators and principals are considering this a core part of education.
Follow-up? Please continue.
Thank you.
So there were a couple of folks I talked to, an educational leader and another student, and they indicated to me that, you know, the kids today are digital natives. I mean, they literally grew up with a laptop on their lap, unlike me, you know, that we didn't even know computers would be as accessible as they are today back in the 70s. And that, you know, AI and using computers is integrated throughout the curriculum rather than in a specific course. and that in their mind that leads to more critical and creative thinking and understanding how you can apply the skills that you learn in this type of course to all of the subject areas. Thoughts on that?
Yeah, through the chair to the ranking member. We do support integrating AI learning into all subjects, but computer science is the only subject, like I mentioned in my testimony, where you're actually understanding how it works. how to create with it, how to question with it. And that is increasingly important because we're in an agentic AI world, you know, where it's going to become standard practice for employees to have to be orchestrating and managing, you know, agent systems. So we have to go beyond just tool use, and we have to really investigate what these systems are and understand them so we can adapt them, you know, when they go wrong and make sure that they are producing the outputs that we want. I will also mention ODEW has done a great job. They just released an integration, a variety of resources on AI integration that can be embedded into every subject. So I think it's a yes and on that. Do we have any further questions from the committee? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. Next we have Kelly Gare Evans. I'm thinking I missed a vowel there, so if you wouldn't mind repeating it for the record and from Battelle Education.
Kelly Geier-Evans, thank you. Chair Fowler-Arthur, Vice Chair Odioso, Ranking Member Brennan, and members of the House Education Committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify. My name is Kelly Geier-Evans. I'm a program manager with Battelle's Education and Philanthropy team. Battelle is the world's largest independent nonprofit applied science and technology organization, and our mission is to solve our nation's greatest scientific challenges and support the next generation of scientists and engineers. We manage eight U.S. Department of Energy, Homeland, and Homeland Security national labs, and as a nonprofit, we invest more than $14 million each year in support of STEM education. I respectfully urge you to pass House Bill 594, which would require every Ohio high school to offer a computer science and AI course by 2028, and every student beginning with the class of 2033 to complete one unit of computer science to graduate. Artificial intelligence is already reshaping every sector Battelle touches health national security infrastructure and the environment The Department of Energy recently called for training 100 American scientists and engineers with dual competencies in AI and their core disciplines. The message is very clear. Every job now requires a baseline in computing and data literacy. Yet only 3% of Ohio high school students take a computer science and AI course, and 39% of our high schools do not offer one at all. The Ohio General Assembly has already taken important steps to prepare this state for the moment. Adding a standalone computer science course is the next step and will help ensure our students are prepared for their futures. We value integrating computer science across subject areas, and we support educators in doing this really important work. Yet at the same time, meaningful integration requires students to first develop foundational knowledge. Today, most students have not had the opportunity to build that fundamental knowledge. A single dedicated course ensures every student gains that basic understanding of computing, data, and algorithms needed to participate in an AI-driven world. With that foundation in place, deeper and more meaningful integration across subjects, including math, science, career technical education, and beyond, can follow. A statewide computer science requirement can transform a student's trajectory. A colleague's son attends a school that required computer science for the very first time last year, and at the beginning of the course, neither him nor his mother imagined a course related to computing. By the end, he had discovered both an interest and confidence in the field. One required course changed his future aspirations, career aspirations. House Bill 594 can create this opportunity for students across the state of Ohio. We can't afford for only 3% of our students to be fluent in the language of the AI era. We have to equip the class of 2033 and beyond to lead in tomorrow's economy. I respectfully ask you to vote yes on House Bill 594. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you for your testimony. Do we have any questions from committee members? Representative Miller?
Hi there. So Gemini says, because 2029 is exact seven years after 2022, the bill perfectly synchronizes the rollout of the new graduation requirement with the state's natural timeline for a total standards overhaul. Due will be forced to rewrite the generation of CS standards with this universal mandate specifically in mind. Why I bring this up is, is it going to be the due that's going to do it, or is it going to be the computer science? let me get this term right, computer science, teachers associate, who's going to be the group that's going to get together and decide how to continue to keep that flexibility locally?
Through the chair to the representative, I think if I understand you correct, and please like correct me. You wouldn't be the first one to have trouble today. I'm not at my best today. In terms of like rewriting standards and those sorts of things, it's a collaboration. The Department of Education and Workforce works very closely with the education community, which includes, like, the Ohio chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association. Sometimes. But that's a whole other argument.
Do you have a follow-up representative?
Yes. Thank you. So do you believe, like further or previous witnesses, do you believe that the bill is in the right place to allow local flexibility, provide a new opportunity for our future generation of leaders to have a good understanding of how AI is gonna be implemented into their different roles and different industries that they going to step into Through the chair to the representative we talking about building the fundamental building blocks for students One foundational course.
And so like the other said, building a foundational knowledge on computational thinking, problem solving, design thinking around computing and AI will equip kids with those skills. I think the other pieces of the system that are already in place to make sure that we're continuously re-evaluating the standards, to upgrade them to whatever's happening in the world, give us the confidence that this will be flexible enough to continue to evolve with computer science education and AI education and data literacy and all of those elements.
So you're happy with the five components. Okay, thank you.
Do we have any other questions for the witness? Yes, ma'am.
Oh, ranking member Brennan is recognized. Thank you. Thanks for being here today. So just reading through your testimony again, it says Battelle, you represent Battelle's education philanthropy team. It looks like you're pretty generous. So would Battelle Education Philanthropy be willing to provide free resources to all the public schools that will have to implement this if the bill were to pass?
through the chair to the representative. We, I think, as we look at the philanthropic giving that Battelle does, we're already supporting and giving grants to schools to support them based on what they have identified that they need. We also operate a public-private partnership between the state and Battelle called the Ohio STEM Learning Network, where we were able to take both state funding, private funding, and Battelle funding to advance various STEM education initiatives, including computer science and artificial intelligence education.
Thank you for that. Follow-up? Please continue. So what types of professional development programs, teacher training, educational materials would Battelle be wanting to sell to our public schools if this bill were to pass?
Through the chair to the representative, we work really hard to make sure that the opportunities that we're providing to schools and to educators are offered at no cost to them. No cost, there might be travel, things like that, but essentially not to pay for the professional development. Currently we're working to support teachers and schools with things like how do we support a teacher that is interested in teaching computer science, that has done some exploration, to equip them with the content to be able to take it back to their classroom. We're also supporting teachers who have been teaching computer science on the waiver with moving from teaching on a waiver to being able to advance to a license in computer science. And we've equipped, I think, as of the fall during our last course, we had 45 teachers who had taken the Ohio assessment exam for computer science and were able to pass that and move on to the supplemental teaching license.
Quick follow-up. So is it your, is the point you're trying to make is that Battelle, the corporation, will in no way benefit financially through the passage of this bill?
Through the chair to the representative, when we are looking at, you know, we're, as a nonprofit, we're always trying to find ways that we can continue to expand access, right? And so we do write grants to different folks to be able to do that. I think we have done that and will continue to do that regardless of the passage of this bill Thank you Do we have any further questions for this witness Seeing none thank you for your testimony
Thank you.
Next, I would like to invite Shanti Koston. Shanti.
Shanti. Yes, ma'am. All right.
If you would please state the organization you're representing and the proper pronunciation of your name for the record.
Good afternoon. My name is Shanti Koston. I'm representing I'm the vice president of the computer science teachers association and I'm also a computer science teacher at Westlake City Schools in northeast Ohio so chair Fowler author and ranking member Brennan and members of the house education committee I'm speaking as a computer science teacher for over the past 10 years and representing the Ohio chapter of CSTA to express my support for the Ohio bill 594 in its unamended form and its inclusion of computer science as a high school graduation requirement. Expanding access to CS is an important step forward for Ohio students. Computer science develops critical skills in problem solving, computational thinking, and understanding the technologies that are shaping our world. I especially appreciate that House Bill 594 maintains a full credit computer science requirement which allows students the time needed to build meaningful understanding while then receiving only brief exposure. As HB 594 moves through the legislative process, I strongly encourage you to maintain this full credit requirement and avoid reducing it to a half credit model in any compromise with the Senate. A reduced requirement will limit students' ability to engage deeply with foundational concepts because there is not enough time in an 18-week course. Next, risk turning computer science into a minimal checkbox style requirement. and it also undermines the goal of providing meaningful, high-quality learning experiences for all students. As an educator that has taught computer science in not only a suburban, but also an urban setting, I have seen the difference that a semester versus an entire year makes. Students have an increased respect and understanding for concepts, as well as wanting to learn more. The half credit is just an introduction, and it's not enough time to solidify the knowledge. Currently in my semester course, I'm literally doing two weeks at a time. So they just get just enough to know about it, but they're not really getting the in-depth in things like game. They get two weeks of game design, two weeks of web design, two weeks of AI, two weeks of cyber, two weeks of critical thinking, computational thinking, but that's not nearly enough to what they need that I can provide in a year. And examples of having a one-year course includes students wanting to take more advanced courses like the AP CSP course we provide, CSA, and we're also adding an AP Cyber next year. And if not, they obviously transition into engineering courses that we have as well. Students end up majoring in CS-focused courses. I have former students that actually use these transferable skills. There's a student that's right now, she's a data analyst for Progressive Insurance. I have a student that took a few game design and Python courses. He's now an air traffic controller with the Marines, as well as a student who just messaged me today and stated that she is working on a computer model created by a Purdue graduate student, and that as part of the research, she was assistant in debugging the software using Python. I also have students that just won the RAC drone competition in coding, as well as my own daughter, who's now a senior in college, who actually decided to build her own app and website for her business. So that being said, thank you very much, and I'm accepting any questions. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony.
Representative Manning is recognized for a question. Thank you, Chair, and thank you for coming to get in. I really don't have a question, but I do want to give Westlake City Schools a shout-out, especially Superintendent Goggin has been doing a wonderful job.
Yes, he is excellent. Say hi to him for me. I definitely will. Thank you.
Okay. Do we have any other questions?
Ranking Member Brennan. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for coming in. I'm a fellow Cuyahoga County guy, so thanks for coming all this way. And my question is, have you talked to your superintendent about the implementation of this bill? I doubt that every student in Westlake is currently taking computer science.
Maybe they are. But if they're not, what is his plan for implementation should the bill pass? Well, through the chair to Representative Brendan, Basically right now we have a requirement, a technology credit requirement, and just a half, it's a half credit, which is a semester. So right now all the students are taking a technology course. They're not all computer science, but I would say 60% of the students are taking a computer science course. If not, they're taking what we call like a Google applications course. But I have spoken with my principal about it, not directly Dr. Goggin, But he is aware that I do come down here and I do talk about computer science and having it a mandate. So specifically to that question, have I spoken to him about having a requirement just for computer science? No, I have not. But it's something I don't think he'd have too much of a problem with. But I will definitely ask him.
Do you have any further questions? Okay. I just have one. I'm curious if you've ever had any students in your class maybe that have had transferable skills in, maybe more from an economics or engineering or logic or student debate kind of background, and whether you're finding that those types of skills are perhaps an alternative pathway that could create some of those critical thinking skills that we've been discussing today.
To the chair, I would say that the computational skills and the critical thinking skills in computer science can go anywhere. And I've seen it, especially like with students that are taking like AP stats and economics. I do see the cross, I want to say referencing, of being able to think deeper. also students that have taken calculus I've seen that the mindset they use in calculus has transferred over to students taking my Java course I've also seen it used when students are just trying to figure out just life problems in general I've had a student many years ago she had an interview and the interviewer asked her what was the most difficult thing you've ever done and she said taking a computer science class and having to figure out what was wrong with my code but you know and my teacher wouldn't help me I had to figure it out but I was able to figure it out and work through it and she's getting a job because of that because they saw that okay this student knows how to think and that's the biggest thing now as you know we have a lot of kids that don't want to think so using computer science we give them the steps and a lot of the steps actually match I mean the five steps of problem solving actually correlate with science and you know doing research and labs as well so I would say you can use across any subject, any life skills, because that's something we need to do all day. And like I said, my own daughter, who took computer science, I mean she couldn wait for me to build a website so she went and did it herself so Yeah I just was wondering if you see that as some of those other areas potentially creating that same skill and capability.
I think there's been a lot of emphasis on the computer science part, which is the focus of the bill, but I would push back a little bit on the idea that computer science is the only class or the only extracurricular activity that students are doing that would necessarily enable them to develop those critical thinking skills. And I'm just wondering whether you had students maybe come into your class who've participated in some of those speech and debate opportunities or an economics class with the honorable ranking member over here, and whether you're seeing some of those mindsets come on the front end as well.
Yes, through the chair. Yes, I have seen that, but that's with our students that I would say are more higher achieving students have that. But when you're looking at, when we look at computer science, we're looking at computer science for everybody. Not everybody has that skill walking in the door, especially in the introductory classes. So do I see that in our, you know, students that are focused on college and the AP routes? Absolutely. But for students that may not have that drive to be on the AP route, that drive to do college route, no, I don't see that.
Thank you for that clarification.
You're welcome.
I don't believe we have any further questions. Thank you for your time and for coming down today.
All right. Thank you.
Next, I'd like to invite John Dutton. And are you also with the Computer Science Teacher Association?
Yes, I am. Chair Fowler, Arthur Ranking Member, Brennan, and members of the House Education Committee. My name is John Dutton. I am speaking as the president of the Computer Science Teachers Association for Ohio and as a computer science and science teacher in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. I am also a very proud Case Western Reserve University graduate and I have been a public school educator for 19 years. I would like to express my support for HB 594 in its current unamended form and its inclusion of a full year of computer science as a high school graduation requirement. I don't want to repeat everything that everyone else has said, my colleagues here, but I would like to draw your attention to several specific points and also hopefully respond to some of the questions in more depth that have already been asked. I strongly encourage you to maintain this full credit requirement and avoid reducing it through amendment to a half credit as has happened in the Senate bill. The reduced requirement would limit students' ability to engage because it limits their ability to gain these transferable skills that keep coming up again and again like critical thinking skills. It would also, reducing from a full year to a half year, force high-need schools and districts to reassign faculty, resulting in schools dropping their full-year computer science opportunities like advanced placement opportunities, second-year courses, and so on. It is true that computer science jobs are on a slight decline, but that's mostly, and this is something I just looked up as a result of the question from the representative, jobs are going down slightly, but AI jobs are increasing. AI jobs that specifically require computer science as a fundamental component. With further training, based on that computer science fundamentals, folks are actually graduates are getting a lot of those jobs as data engineers machine learning data scientists data analysts And so computer science still forms the foundation of those jobs They require further hands experience specialized training but they do exist Also, teaching kids how to think, right? It's about breaking big problems down, right? Procedural decomposition is how we often call it, but it is this fundamental skill that translates across all different disciplines. And I also wanted to say that our superintendent, our CEO in Cleveland Metro Schools, has stated that he supports computer science for all students
and that there are other areas that can create these critical thinking skills, but computer science has been uniquely positioned in the state of Ohio through continued funding and other opportunities in order to provide that pathway. So thank you for your support of Ohio students, and thank you for your attention to this important issue. I welcome your questions. Thank you for your testimony. Ranking Member Brennan is recognized for a question.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks, Mr. Dutton, for coming in. I'm an alum of Cleveland State, and I represent the Cleveland Municipal School District as a state rep. I represent Parma, Parma Heights, and old Brooklyn, Brooklyn Center, Clark Fulton. And so I was speaking to, again, some students recently about the bill, and a couple of them said, Mr. Brennan, this would be a total waste of my time. I could teach this course. So why would the state require me to take a course in which I know more in my pinky than most people know in their whole body? And then other students said, how am I going to fit that in my schedule? I'm already having a tough time building my schedule and getting the courses I want. Now you're going to require me to take another course, which is going to box me out of some of the electives that I'd rather take. So their suggestion in our conversation was maybe allowing for an opt-out or a test-out of the course should this bill move forward. Thoughts on that?
Through the chair to the representative, you brought up a few points. I think that there are a lot of students who do feel that maybe they already have the skills, and a lot of those are in districts where the resources are already there for them to be successful in computer science and all those fields beyond. I am concerned, and Computer Science Teachers Association for Ohio is concerned, about all those districts with those low-income students, high-need schools, where computer science isn't even an offer, right? We have talked about exemptions. We have talked about alternatives so that if there are actual courses that the student is taking that could replace this requirement, they could receive credit for those alternatives. But we're also concerned about the fidelity of those alternatives. And so that exemption requirement has to be more than just a student is involved in the robotics team and therefore they're going to get credit. That's not going to teach them the skills that they need. And one more thing is that the computer science course can take the place of not just an elective, but math and science or foreign language. I don't like that, but okay.
I'm sorry, do you have a follow-up?
No, ma'am.
Okay.
Excuse me. Do we have any further questions for this witness? Seeing none, thank you for your testimony. All right I going to make the same offer just to make sure because we had some technical difficulties We believe we've gotten through the list of everyone that was intending to testify in person on House Bill 594. Is there anyone else that's here today that thought they submitted testimony for in-person testimony? All right. Seeing none, there are a number of written testimonies in the tablet, and this will conclude the second hearing of House Bill 594. Next, I'd like to call up Substitute Senate Bill 19 for its sixth hearing, and it's my understanding that we have one in-person testimony. Is Ms. Angie Fugate with the Ohio Association of Gifted Children here? Welcome. Thank you for coming down, and you may begin your testimony when ready.
Okay, thank you Chair Fowler-Arthur, Ranking Member Brennan, and members of the House Education Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony today. My name is Angie Fugate, and I am the current president of the Ohio Association for Gifted Children, OAGC. With nearly 1,000 members, OAGC advocates for the identification and appropriate development of gifted students across Ohio. Gifted students as defined in Ohio revised code are those who perform or show potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of their age, experience, or environment. As this committee knows, Ohio has a gifted identification mandate, but no gifted service mandate. As a result, students may be identified as gifted, but their access to appropriate instruction and programming varies widely across the state. In my role, I am focused on ensuring that equitable identification is paired with meaningful educational opportunities that allow students to fully develop their potential. Sub-Senate Bill 19 will have a direct impact on gifted students and services in Ohio. First, I want to thank the committee for adopting the amendment, removing the prohibition on using diagnostic assessments for gifted identification. These assessments are expensive and time-consuming, and allowing districts to use efficient screening tools helps improve both access and consistency in identification. I also appreciate the amendment clarifying that students who score at the accomplished level will not be automatically enrolled in advanced mathematics courses, establishing an opt-in model instead. This bill in many ways functions as a form of talent development and helps identify students who are on the cusp of advanced performance and may, with appropriate support, reach higher levels of achievement. Students develop at different rates and effective mathematics instruction must be responsive to readiness rather than driven by rigid timelines. Prioritizing speed over understanding risks as the bill had previously been written would have undermined both the equity and excellence at the heart of the bill. However, I am concerned about potential unintended consequences of sub-Senate Bill 19 for gifted services across Ohio. I urge the committee to consider the risk of reduced enrichment and extension opportunities, decreased use of gifted specialists, and the gradual erosion of dedicated gifted programming in some districts. The growth of advanced learning opportunities should in no way detract from, take the place of, or be utilized as gifted services. While some well-resourced districts may expand both gifted services and advanced mathematics offerings, many districts are already operating under significant financial constraints. In those cases, there is a risk that gifted services will be reduced or eliminated in favor of advanced coursework alone, narrowing rather than expanding opportunities for advanced learners. For these reasons I encourage the committee to carefully monitor the impact of this legislation on gifted education and ensure that all advanced learners continue to have access to appropriate challenge and Thank you for your time and consideration, and I'm happy to answer any questions at this time.
Thank you very much for your testimony and for your patience through the day. Do we have any questions from committee? Ranking Member Brennan.
Thanks, Madam Chair. Thanks for coming in. Have you had an opportunity to look at the latest sub-bill for SB19, and if so, any thoughts on... Does what you just said reflect the most recent version, and if not, anything that you want to add or change.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Okay.
Through the Chair to the Representative, yes. As far as I'm aware, this represents the most recent version of the bill.
Yes.
The prohibition on using diagnostic assessments for identifying gifted students is still in the bill. Removing it is still in the bill. Removing the prohibition.
Sorry. What she said.
Do we have any other questions from members of the committee? All right. Seeing none, thank you very much for your testimony. At this time, the committee is going to recess until 8.45 a.m. Tuesday. We will reconvene in room 115.