Week in Review 12-15-25

Week in Review > Week in Review 12-15-25

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on December 15th, 2025

FY26-27 BUDGET

November tax collections beat estimates by 2.1 percent or $54.1 million, a difference largely attributable to the income tax, according to preliminary data from the Office of Budget and Management (OBM.) The income tax brought in nearly $807 million, versus expectations of $761 million, up $45 million or 4.9 percent compared to the forecast. The sales tax missed estimates by just $5.7 million or half a percent. Non-auto sales tax collections of $1.1 billion were off about $3 million or 0.3 percent, while the auto sales tax collections of about $145 million were off by $2.1 million or 1.5 percent. The Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) brought in $485 million, $17.3 million or 3.7 percent more than expected. For the fiscal year so far, total tax collections of $12.4 billion are ahead of estimates by $456 million or 3.8 percent. The three major tax sources are all at least $100 million ahead of expectations for the year, with the income tax farthest ahead, by $220 million or 5.1 percent.

EDUCATION

The Fordham Institute gathered a panel of education experts this week for a virtual discussion and debate on how states and schools should proceed with science of reading policies. The webinar highlighted some of the submissions from the most recent Fordham “wonk-a-thon,” in which it annually solicits arguments on a selected topic. This year’s prompt was about what should happen next at the state, district and school level for science of reading policies to fulfill their promise and ensure far more children learn to read well. Ohio is among many states recently adopting laws requiring instruction aligned to the science of reading. Gov. Mike DeWine proposed and lawmakers enacted policies to require schools to adopt curriculum aligned to those methods, to require and pay educators to receive additional training on them, to fund literacy coaching, and to audit teacher preparation program alignment, among other initiatives.

While the State Board of Education (SBOE) did not clear its entire backlog of unresolved disciplinary referrals in 2025, Supt. Paul Craft told the board on Monday that he is excited about the progress staff made in bringing the number of open investigations down during the year. The SBOE Office for Professional Conduct (OPC) reports 1,599 current cases in ‘unresolved’ status, down from 2,191 at the end of 2024. The number of those unresolved cases that have been open for two years or longer fell to 323 at the end of 2025, down from 386 at the end of 2024; only 93 of those cases involve active educators. Craft said he had originally hoped to lower the number of unresolved cases to zero during 2025, but as new referrals continually come to OPC, he doesn’t know if the number will ever disappear completely.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

The Senate Tuesday in a short session voted along party lines 22-7 to agree to the conference committee report on marijuana and hemp bill SB56 (Huffman), sending it to Gov. Mike DeWine after the House similarly approved the measure before Thanksgiving. Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City), sponsor of the bill, outlined a number of the conference committee provisions including releasing the tax funds to local jurisdictions that have marijuana businesses, saying that should occur in short order and calling it a “pretty good Christmas” present for those jurisdictions.

The Legislature Tuesday forwarded 17 bills to Gov. Mike DeWine for his consideration. Among them are the five property tax bills: HB124 (D. Thomas-T. Hall), HB129 (D. Thomas), HB186 (Hoops-D. Thomas), HB309 (D. Thomas) and HB335 (D. Thomas). Other notable bills now on his desk include the elections bill, SB293 (Gavarone-Brenner); the bill addressing access to feminine hygiene products in correctional facilities, HB29 (Humphrey-John); legislation regulating imitation meat and egg products, HB10 (Klopfenstein-Daniels); budget correction bill HB184 (Stewart-T. Mathews); and legislation addressing vicious dogs, HB247 (K. Miller-Lawson-Rowe).

Visitors will be welcomed to holiday events at the Ohio Statehouse, the Capital Square Review and Advisory Board (CSRAB) announced, saying that on weekdays now through Dec. 19, choirs from across Ohio will perform at noon. Visitors attending the performances are allowed to bring their own lunch or purchase one from the Capitol Cafe, CSRAB added. The concerts will be streamed each day at noon on the Ohio Channel, which can be found HERE. Performances will be archived HERE.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Eligible students in Franklin and Delaware counties will be offered free tuition beginning with first year students enrolling in fall 2026 under the Columbus College of Art and Design’s (CCAD) Creative Pathway Initiative, a program to make the college more affordable, CCAD recently announced. Calling the program one of the college’s most significant access initiatives in decades, CCAD said the program demonstrates its commitment to creating a “clear, affordable” pathway for young artists, designers and innovators.

PENSIONS

Members of the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC) were told Thursday that the Ohio Police & Fire (OP&F) Pension Fund remains under the 30-year Ohio funding period due to “stellar market returns” and “positive payroll growth,” according to OP&F Executive Director Mary Beth Foley. She said as part of her actuarial valuation report that the Health Care Stabilization Fund is solvent to 2042, beyond a target date of 15 years. There were little other changes, as the retirement age for police remains around 54.2 years old and it is around 55 years old for firefighters. The DROP fund remains neutral as well, Foley added.

The State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board of Trustees met Thursday and agreed that a sustainable benefit plan (SBP) would be a helpful framework moving forward but presented varying perspectives on how to balance STRS goals in light of the proposed SBP plan. The board was presented with a SBP framework matrix which detailed the specifics in regard to advancing STRS priority goals to establish eligibility permanency, consistent cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) pay and a strengthened, protected pension fund. Members pinned the SBP strategy as a “roadmap” for the future and long-term sustainability of the fund. The board used the analogy of a road trip in their discussion, to illustrate the process of balancing simultaneous efforts to make eligibility permanent, COLAs consistent and reach 100 percent of funding.

TAXATION

The past year of study, committee deliberations, votes, vetoes and overrides are poised to bring Ohio’s property tax system to a substantially different place, with new limits on how quickly bills can rise, credits to offset recent years’ spikes in some places and a re-ordering of how the state will offset property owners’ liability, among other changes. The price tag on these changes is substantial, and their effects in some cases will be felt gradually or unevenly. Gov. Mike DeWine has yet to sign several bills into law. Opinions vary on how much more needs to be done. “None of us in the General Assembly today created how we tax property for our political subdivisions, most of it going to the schools. So what we did, we had to work within that parameter as best we could. I’m really pleased with the last four or five bills that we did, because we do address some of the major concerns,” said Sen. Sandra O’Brien (R-Rome), chair of the Senate Local Government Committee, which considered the five bills passing before Thanksgiving.