AAUP and OFT Call on Governor DeWine to Veto SB 1/HB 6

COLUMBUS — Leaders of the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors (OCAAUP) and the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT) responded to the passage of SB 1/HB 6 in the Ohio House of Representatives. SB 1/HB 6 – a far-reaching bill that subjects Ohio’s public colleges and universities to legislative micro-management, more than 100 unfunded administrative mandates, content bans, and restrictions on collective bargaining rights – passed the Senate last month. Both organizations are calling on Governor Mike DeWine to veto the legislation.

OCAAUP Executive Director Sara Kilpatrick said:

“SB 1/HB 6 is a slow motion wrecking ball aimed at Ohio’s public colleges and universities. It will strip faculty of their collective bargaining rights, demolish bedrock principles of academic freedom, overload administration with unfunded mandates, and put politicians in charge of what can be taught and discussed. This will drive talented faculty, staff, and students out of Ohio, lower the quality of research and education, and erode the prestige and reputation of some of the finest public universities in the country.

The majority in the legislature ignored powerful statements from more than a thousand students, faculty, and alumni who testified in opposition to this bill. The majority also voted to table common sense amendments that would have reduced the harm this bill will cause. We implore the Governor to do the work the legislature failed to do, read testimony from higher education stakeholders about their concerns, and save our first class system of public higher education by vetoing SB 1/HB 6.”

OFT President Melissa Cropper said:

“Governor DeWine has repeatedly stressed his belief in the importance of education and his desire to make Ohio a desirable place to live, work, study, and do business. SB 1/HB 6 will sabotage Ohio’s public colleges and universities with unfunded mandates, politicized directives, and restrictions on workers’ rights, leaving higher education in Ohio unable to compete with neighboring states. Governor DeWine should approach this issue with a fresh set of eyes, untainted by the partisan groupthink of the legislature, and ask himself if this bill – as it is currently written – is good for Ohio. We are confident that it is not, and the only remedy is for the Governor to veto this bill.”

###

The Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors and the Ohio Federation of Teachers represent higher education faculty and staff, and are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the largest and fastest growing higher education union in the country.