What is SBI and which side is on track to win?

The Advance Ohio Higher Education Act (SB1) is a bill that the majority party in the State of Ohio Legislature claims will put education over indoctrination at our colleges and universities. Trumpeted as a reform bill, SB1 would ban diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI), topics it deems controversial, and faculty strikes while requiring reviews of tenured professors along with enacting other anti-education measures. In other words, SB1 is designed instead to ensure indoctrination over education thereby, once again, proving that in MAGA world, every accusation is a confession.

Which side will win in the fight over SB1? Truth or deception? Read on.

On Tuesday, February 11, the Ohio Senate’s Higher Education Committee held a hearing for opponent testimony. In what may have been an Ohio record-breaking number of written testimonies, the committee received more than 800 submissions opposing SB1. Among the authors, 210 requested the opportunity to present their testimonies in person and to answer questions from committee members. Further demonstrating overwhelming opposition to SB1 in the state, other Ohioans from across the state flooded into the Statehouse that day, filling to capacity the main hearing room and the overflow room. Wisely, the Chair designated a large public area of the Statehouse, flanked by hallways and wide staircases, as her second overflow space. It, too, hosted large crowds throughout the long day of opponent testimonials.

In contrast, the Committee’s proponent hearing on January 29 yielded a total of just thirteen testimonials.

800+ vs. 13. Which side will prevail at the Ohio Statehouse?

Perhaps democracy is not just a numbers game. Ohioans also may wish to know if those who testified were credible representatives of our state and education system. On the opponents’ side of SB1, the answer is an undeniable “yes.” Students, professors, college and university representatives, educational associations, and concerned citizens submitted the vast majority of statements. In contrast, proponent testimonies included SB1’s sponsor State Senator Jerry Cirino, State Representative Josh Williams, a lobbyist from the Christian Business Partnership, another lobbyist from America First Policy Institute, and three from an entity named Do No Harm Action. Surely these institutions represent someone or some company, but as unfamiliar as their names are, certainly not average citizens of Ohio.

Accounting for the representation factor of the witnesses along with the 800+ vs. 13 testimonies, which side will prevail at the Ohio Statehouse?

Before coming to hasty conclusions, Ohioans should consider the arguments of each side. Here is a summary.

• Opponents of SB1 (often citing their experiences as students, faculty, alum, and community members) describe the priceless value, professionally and personally, of an education system that encourages free thought, critical thinking, and the challenges of controversial topics. In doing so, they applauded diversity in every aspect, from ideas to student and faculty representation in classes to curriculum and programs.
• Proponents of SB1 took a different track. They spoke of educational institutions as businesses that provide specific management-approved products. Seen in this light,  students are consumers of higher education institutions while businesses and taxpayers are major stakeholders seeking the marketable skills these institutions produce and the revenue graduates will soon generate. Proponents of SB1 therefore argued for expanding the role and control of university presidents and trustees, monitoring professors and curriculum, and eliminating any vestige of diversity, equity, and inclusion in Ohio’s colleges and universities.

Given Ohioans’ far greater appreciation of education as a space for free and diverse thought rather than a straight-up business contract, accounting for the representation factor of the witnesses, and recognizing the whopping gap between the 800+ opponent vs. 13 proponent testimonies, which side will prevail at the Ohio Statehouse? For that answer, we need to consider one last factor.

In the MAGA world of the Ohio legislature, where open-mindedness and critical thinking = indoctrination and where diversity + inclusion = exclusion, there is yet another calculation needed for a definitive answer. It is MAGA Math, and here is the breakdown:

13 proponent testimonies

800+ opponent testimonies + hundreds of others against SB1 attending the hearing 

+ 5 MAGA senators

- 2 democratic senators

∴ 13 testimonies > 800 testimonies

Accordingly, on the following day, February 12, the Higher Education Committee passed SB1.

Of course those 13 proponent testimonies carried the day. In MAGA world, how could it be otherwise?