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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 H. B. No. 191 Page 2 As Introduced 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, 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 H. B. No. 191 Page 3 As Introduced 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 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 H. B. No. 191 Page 4 As Introduced 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 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 H. B. No. 191 Page 5 As Introduced 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 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 H. B. No. 191 Page 6 As Introduced 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 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 H. B. No. 191 Page 7 As Introduced 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. 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 H. B. No. 191 Page 8 As Introduced 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 3319.22 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 H. B. No. 191 Page 9 As Introduced 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 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 H. B. No. 191 Page 10 As Introduced 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. 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 H. B. No. 191 Page 11 As Introduced 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 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 H. B. No. 191 Page 12 As Introduced 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. 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 H. B. No. 191 Page 13 As Introduced 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 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 H. B. No. 191 Page 14 As Introduced 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 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 H. B. No. 191 Page 15 As Introduced 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 divisionthat 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 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 H. B. No. 191 Page 16 As Introduced 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. 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 H. B. No. 191 Page 17 As Introduced 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. 464 465 466 467