HB 191: Require school district, ESC teachers be paid at least $50,000

As Introduced

136th General Assembly Regular Session 2025-2026

H. B. No. 191

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 1
5705.412; to enact new section 3317.13; and to 2
repeal section 3317.13 of the Revised Code to 3
require that all school district and educational 4
service center teachers be paid a salary of at 5
least \$50,000. 6

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 3317.14, 4117.10, 5126.24, and 7
5705.412 be amended and new section 3317.13 of the Revised Code 8
be enacted to read as follows: 9
Sec. 3317.13. No city, local, exempted village, 0r joint 10
vocational school district board of education or educational 11
service center governing board shall pay a teacher a base salary 12
of less than fifty thousand dollars. 13
Sec. 3317.14. Any school district board of education or 14
educational service center governing board participating in 15
funds distributed under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code shall 16
annually adopt a teachers' salary schedule with provision for 17
increments based upon training and years of service. 18

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

Notwithstanding sections 3317.13 and 3319.088 of the Revised 19
Code, the board may establish its own service requirements and 20
may grant service credit for such activities as teaching in 21
public or nonpublic schools in this state or in another state, 22
for service as an educational assistant other than as a 23
classroom aide employed in accordance with section 5107.541 of 24
the Revised Code, and for service in the military or in an 25
appropriate state or federal governmental agency, provided no 26
teacher receives less than the amount required to be paid 27
pursuant to section 3317.13 of the Revised Code and provided 28
full credit for a minimum of five years of actual teaching and 29
military experience as defined in division (A) of section 30
3317.13 of the Revised Code is given to each teacher. 31
Each teacher who has completed training which would 32
qualify such teacher for a higher salary bracket pursuant to 33
this section shall file by the fifteenth day of September with 34
the treasurer of the board of education or educational service 35
center satisfactory evidence of the completion of such 36
additional training. The treasurer shall then immediately place 37
the teacher, pursuant to this section and section 3317.13 of the 38
Revised Code, in the proper salary bracket in accordance with 39
training and years of service before certifying such salary, 40
training, and years of service to the department of education 41
and workforce. No teacher shall be paid less than the salary to 42
which such teacher is entitled pursuant to section 3317.13 of 43
the Revised Code. 44
Sec. 4117.10. (A) An agreement between a public employer 45
and an exclusive representative entered into pursuant to this 46
chapter governs the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of 47
public employment covered by the agreement. If the agreement 48
provides for a final and binding arbitration of grievances, 49

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

public employers, employees, and employee organizations are 50
subject solely to that grievance procedure and the state 51
personnel board of review or civil service commissions have no 52
jurisdiction to receive and determine any appeals relating to 53
matters that were the subject of a final and binding grievance 54
procedure. Where no agreement exists or where an agreement makes 55
no specification about a matter, the public employer and public 56
employees are subject to all applicable state or local laws or 57
ordinances pertaining to the wages, hours, and terms and 58
conditions of employment for public employees. All of the 59
following prevail over conflicting provisions of agreements 60
between employee organizations and public employers: 61
(1) Laws pertaining to any of the following subjects: 62
(a) Civil rights; 63
(b) Affirmative action; 64
(c) Unemployment compensation; 65
(d) Workers' compensation; 66
(e) The retirement of public employees; 67
(f) Residency requirements; 68
(g) The minimum educational requirements contained in the 69
evised Code pertaining to public education including the 70
equirement of a certificate by the fiscal officer of a school 71
istrict pursuant to section 5705.41 of the Revised Code; 72
(h) The provisions of division (A) of section 124.34 of 73
he Revised Code governing the disciplining of officers and 74

employees who have been convicted of a felony; 75 (i) The minimum standards promulgated by the director of

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

education and workforce pursuant to division (D) of section 77
3301.07 of the Revised Code. 78
(2) The law pertaining to the leave of absence and 79
compensation provided under section 5923.05 of the Revised Code, 80
if the terms of the agreement contain benefits which are less 81
than those contained in that section or the agreement contains 82
no such terms and the public authority is the state or any 83
agency, authority, commission, or board of the state or if the 84
public authority is another entity listed in division (B) of 85
section 4117.01 of the Revised Code that elects to provide leave 86
of absence and compensation as provided in section 5923.05 of 87
the Revised Code; 88
(3) The law pertaining to the leave established under 89
section 5906.02 of the Revised Code, if the terms of the 90
agreement contain benefits that are less than those contained in 91
section 5906.02 of the Revised Code; 92
(4) The law pertaining to excess benefits prohibited under 93
section 3345.311 of the Revised Code with respect to an 94
agreement between an employee organization and a public employer 95
entered into on or after September 29, 2015. 96
(5) For any collective bargaining agreement entered into 97
on or after the effective date of this amendment, the law 98
pertaining to compensation required pursuant to section 3317.13 99
of the Revised Code, if the terms of the agreement provide for 100
wages or compensation that are less than the minimum required 101
under that section. 102
Except for sections 306.08, 306.12, 306.35, and 4981.22 of 103
the Revised Code and arrangements entered into thereunder, and 104
section 4981.21 of the Revised Code as necessary to comply with 105

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

section 13(c) of the "Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964," 87 106
Stat. 295, 49 U.S.C.A. 1609(c), as amended, and arrangements 107
entered into thereunder, this chapter prevails over any and all 108
other conflicting laws, resolutions, provisions, present or 109
future, except as otherwise specified in this chapter or as 110
otherwise specified by the general assembly. Nothing in this 111
section prohibits or shall be construed to invalidate the 112
provisions of an agreement establishing supplemental workers' 113
compensation or unemployment compensation benefits or exceeding 114
minimum requirements contained in the Revised Code pertaining to 115
public education or the minimum standards promulgated by the 116
director of education and workforce pursuant to division (D) of 117
section 3301.07 of the Revised Code. 118
(B) The public employer shall submit a request for funds 119
necessary to implement an agreement and for approval of any 120
other matter requiring the approval of the appropriate 121
legislative body to the legislative body within fourteen days of 122
the date on which the parties finalize the agreement, unless 123
otherwise specified, but if the appropriate legislative body is 124
not in session at the time, then within fourteen days after it 125
convenes. The legislative body must approve or reject the 126
submission as a whole, and the submission is deemed approved if 127
the legislative body fails to act within thirty days after the 128
public employer submits the agreement. The parties may specify 129
that those provisions of the agreement not requiring action by a 130
legislative body are effective and operative in accordance with 131
the terms of the agreement, provided there has been compliance 132
with division (C) of this section. If the legislative body 133
rejects the submission of the public employer, either party may 134
reopen all or part of the entire agreement. 135

As used in this section, "legislative body" includes the

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

governing board of a municipal corporation, school district, 137
college or university, village, township, or board of county 138
commissioners or any other body that has authority to approve 139
the budget of their public jurisdiction and, with regard to the 140
state, "legislative body" means the controlling board. 141
(C) The chief executive officer, or the chief executive 142
officer's representative, of each municipal corporation, the 143
designated representative of the board of education of each 144
school district, college or university, or any other body that 145
has authority to approve the budget of their public 146
jurisdiction, the designated representative of the board of 147
county commissioners and of each elected officeholder of the 148
county whose employees are covered by the collective 149
negotiations, and the designated representative of the village 150
or the board of township trustees of each township is 151
responsible for negotiations in the collective bargaining 152
process; except that the legislative body may accept or reject a 153
proposed collective bargaining agreement. When the matters about 154
which there is agreement are reduced to writing and approved by 155
the employee organization and the legislative body, the 156
agreement is binding upon the legislative body, the employer, 157
and the employee organization and employees covered by the 158
agreement. 159
(D) There is hereby established an office of collective 160
bargaining in the department of administrative services for the 161
purpose of negotiating with and entering into written agreements 162
between state agencies, departments, boards, and commissions and 163
the exclusive representative on matters of wages, hours, terms 164
and other conditions of employment and the continuation, 165
modification, or deletion of an existing provision of a 166
collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in any provision of law 167

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

to the contrary shall be interpreted as excluding the bureau of 168
workers' compensation and the industrial commission from the 169
preceding sentence. This office shall not negotiate on behalf of 170
other statewide elected officials or boards of trustees of state 171
institutions of higher education who shall be considered as 172
separate public employers for the purposes of this chapter; 173
however, the office may negotiate on behalf of these officials 174
or trustees where authorized by the officials or trustees. The 175
staff of the office of collective bargaining are in the 176
unclassified service. The director of administrative services 177
shall fix the compensation of the staff. 178
The office of collective bargaining shall: 179
(1) Assist the director in formulating management's 180
philosophy for public collective bargaining as well as planning 181
bargaining strategies; 182
(2) Conduct negotiations with the exclusive 183
resentatives of each employee organization; 184
(3) Coordinate the state's resources in all mediation, 185
fact-finding, and arbitration cases as well as in all labor 186
disputes; 187
(4) Conduct systematic reviews of collective bargaining 188
agreements for the purpose of contract negotiations; 189
(5) Coordinate the systematic compilation of data by all 190
agencies that is required for negotiating purposes; 191
(6) Prepare and submit an annual report and other reports 192
as requested to the governor and the general assembly on the 193
implementation of this chapter and its impact upon state 194
government. 195

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

Sec. 5126.24. (A) As used in this section: 196
(1) "License" means an educator license issued by the 197
state board of education under section 3319.22 of the Revised 198
Code or a certificate issued by the department of developmental 199
disabilities. 200
(2) "Teacher" means a person employed by a county board of 201
developmental disabilities in a position that requires a 202
license. 203
(3) "Nonteaching employee" means a person employed by a 204
county board of developmental disabilities in a position that 205
does not require a license. 206
(4) "Years of service" includes all service described in 207
division (A) of section 3317.13 of the Revised Code the 208
following: 209
(a) All years of teaching service in the same school 210
district or educational service center, regardless of training 211
level, with each year consisting of at least one hundred twenty 212
days under a teacher's contract; 213
(b) All years of teaching service in a chartered, 214
nonpublic school located in Ohio as a teacher licensed pursuant 215
to section 3319.22 of the Revised Code or in another public 216
school, regardless of training level, with each year consisting 217
of at least one hundred twenty days under a teacher's contract; 218
(c) All years of teaching service in a chartered school or 219
institution or a school or institution that subsequently became 220
chartered or a chartered special education program or a special 221
education program that subsequently became chartered operated by 222
the state or by a subdivision or other local governmental unit 223
of this state as a teacher licensed pursuant to section 3319.22 224

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

of the Revised Code, regardless of training level, with each 225
year consisting of at least one hundred twenty days; 226
(d) All years of active military service in the armed 227
forces of the United States, as defined in section 3307.75 of 228
the Revised Code, to a maximum of five years. For purposes of 229
this calculation, a partial year of active military service of 230
eight continuous months or more in the armed forces shall be 231
counted as a full year. 232

(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.

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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

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

the teacher would be entitled under section 3317.13 of the 255
Revised Code if the teacher were employed by a school district 256
board of education. 257

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 271
by the board shall be based on training, experience, and 272
qualifications with initial salaries no less than salaries in 273
effect on July 1, 1985. Each board shall prepare and may amend 274
from time to time, specifications descriptive of duties, 275
responsibilities, requirements, and desirable qualifications of 276
the classifications of employees required to perform the duties 277
specified in the salary schedule. All nonteaching employees 278
shall be notified of the position classification to which they 279
are assigned and the salary for the classification. The 280
compensation of all nonteaching employees working for a 281
particular board shall be uniform for like positions except as 282
compensation would be affected by salary increments based upon 283
length of service. 284

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

On the fifteenth day of October of each year the 285
nonteaching employees' salary schedule and list of job 286
classifications and salaries in effect on that date shall be 287
filed by each board with the superintendent of public 288
instruction and the department. If such salary schedule and 289
classification plan is not filed, the director of education and 290
workforce shall order the board to file such schedule and list 291
forthwith. If this condition is not corrected within ten days 292
after receipt of the order from the director, no money shall be 293
distributed to the board under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code 294
until the director has satisfactory evidence of the board's full 295
compliance with such order. 296
Sec. 5705.412. (A) As used in this section, "qualifying 297
contract" means any agreement for the expenditure of money under 298
which aggregate payments from the funds included in the school 299
district's five-year forecast under section 5705.391 of the 300
Revised Code will exceed the lesser of the following amounts: 301
(1) Five hundred thousand dollars; 302
(2) One per cent of the total revenue to be credited in 303
the current fiscal year to the district's general fund, as 304
specified in the district's most recent certificate of estimated 305
resources certified under section 5705.36 of the Revised Code. 306
(B)(1) Notwithstanding section 5705.41 of the Revised 307
Code, no school district shall adopt any appropriation measure, 308
make any qualifying contract, or increase during any school year 309
any wage or salary schedule unless there is attached thereto a 310
certificate, signed as required by this section, that the school 311
district has in effect the authorization to levy taxes including 312
the renewal or replacement of existing levies which, when 313
combined with the estimated revenue from all other sources 314

H. B. No. 191 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:

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(a) A certificate attached to an appropriation measure 322
under this section shall cover only the fiscal year in which the 323
appropriation measure is effective and shall not consider the 324
renewal or replacement of an existing levy as the authority to 325
levy taxes that are subject to appropriation in the current 326
fiscal year unless the renewal or replacement levy has been 327
approved by the electors and is subject to appropriation in the 328
current fiscal year. 329
(b) A certificate attached, in accordance with this 330
section, to any qualifying contract shall cover the term of the 331
contract. 332
(c) A certificate attached under this section to a wage or 333
salary schedule shall cover the term of the schedule. 334
If the board of education has not adopted a school 335
calendar for the school year beginning on the first day of the 336
fiscal year in which a certificate is required, the certificate 337
attached to an appropriation measure shall include the number of 338
days on which instruction was held in the preceding fiscal year 339
and other certificates required under this section shall include 340
that number of days for the fiscal year in which the certificate 341
is required and any succeeding fiscal years that the certificate 342
must cover. 343

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

The certificate shall be signed by the treasurer and 344
president of the board of education and the superintendent of 345
the school district, unless the district is in a state of fiscal 346
emergency declared under Chapter 3316. of the Revised Code. In 347
that case, the certificate shall be signed by a member of the 348
district's financial planning and supervision commission who is 349
designated by the commission for this purpose. 350
(2) In lieu of the certificate required under division (B) 35
of this section, an alternative certificate stating the 35
following may be attached: 35
(a) The contract is a multi-year contract for materials, 354
equipment, or nonpayroll services essential to the education 355
program of the district; 356
(b) The multi-year contract demonstrates savings over the 357
duration of the contract as compared to costs that otherwise 358
would have been demonstrated in a single year contract, and the 359
terms will allow the district to reduce the deficit it is 360
currently facing in future years as demonstrated in its five- 361
year forecast adopted in accordance with section 5705.391 of the 362
Revised Code. 363
The certificate shall be signed by the treasurer and 364
president of the board of education and the superintendent of 365
the school district, unless the district is in a state of fiscal 366
emergency declared under Chapter 3316. of the Revised Code. In 367
that case, the certificate shall be signed by a member of the 368
district's financial planning and supervision commission who is 369
designated by the commission for this purpose. 370

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

shall be void, and no payment of any amount due thereon shall be 373
made. 374
(D) The department of education and workforce and the 375
auditor of state jointly shall adopt rules governing the methods 376
by which treasurers, presidents of boards of education, 377
superintendents, and members of financial planning and 378
supervision commissions shall estimate revenue and determine 379
whether such revenue is sufficient to provide necessary 380
operating revenue for the purpose of making certifications 381
required by this section. 382
(E) The auditor of state shall be responsible for 383
determining whether school districts are in compliance with this 384
section. At the time a school district is audited pursuant to 385
section 117.11 of the Revised Code, the auditor of state shall 386
review each certificate issued under this section since the 387
district's last audit, and the appropriation measure, contract, 388
or wage and salary schedule to which such certificate was 389
attached. If the auditor of state determines that a school 390
district has not complied with this section with respect to any 391
qualifying contract or wage or salary schedule, the auditor of 392
state shall notify the prosecuting attorney for the county, the 393
city director of law, or other chief law officer of the school 394
district. That officer may file a civil action in any court of 395
appropriate jurisdiction to seek a declaration that the contract 396
or wage or salary schedule is void, to recover for the school 397
district from the payee the amount of payments already made 398
under it, or both, except that the officer shall not seek to 399
recover payments made under any collective bargaining agreement 400
entered into under Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code. If the 401
officer does not file such an action within one hundred twenty 402
days after receiving notice of noncompliance from the auditor of 403

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

state, any taxpayer may institute the action in the taxpayer's 404
own name on behalf of the school district. 405

(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.

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(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

H. B. No. 191

.B.NO.191 Page 1o As Introduced

not, in fact, conform with actual revenue. The prosecuting 435

attorney of the county， the city director of law， or other chief 436

law officer of the district shall enforce this liability by 437

civil action brought in any court of appropriate jurisdiction in 438

the name of and on behalf of the school district. If the 439

prosecuting attorney, city director of law, or other chief law 440

officer of the district fails, upon the written request of any 441

taxpayer, to institute action for the enforcement of the 442

liability, the attorney general, or the taxpayer in the 443

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subdivision. 445

(H） This section does not require the attachment of an

446 additional certificate beyond that required by section 5705.41 447

of the Revised Code for current payrolls of， or contracts of 448

employment with, any employees or officers of the school 449

district. 450

This section does not require the attachment of a 451 certificate to a temporary appropriation measure if all of the 452

following apply: 453

(l） The amount appropriated does not exceed twenty-five 454 per cent of the total amount from all sources available for 455

expenditure from any fund during the preceding fiscal year; 456

(2） The measure will not be in effect on or after the 457

thirtieth day following the earliest date on which the district 458

may pass an annual appropriation measure; 459

(3） An amended official certificate of estimated resources 460

for the current year, if required, has not been certified to the 461

board of education under division (B） of section 5705.36 of the 462

Revised Code. 463

H. B. No. 191 As Introduced

Section 2. That existing sections 3317.14, 4117.10, 464
5126.24, and 5705.412 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed. 465
Section 3. That section 3317.13 of the Revised Code is 466
hereby repealed. 467