Faculty, students and unions urge Ohio committee to reject SB 1, warning of threats to tenure, bargaining and scholarships

Hundreds of faculty, students and union representatives told the Ohio House Workforce and Higher Education Committee during an extended hearing that Senate Bill 1 would undermine academic freedom, strip collective bargaining rights and end tenure at public colleges and universities in the state.

"SB 1 is a censorship bill," David Jackson, a professor at Bowling Green State University testifying for the Ohio Conference of the AAUP, told the committee, arguing the measure would ban bargaining over post‑tenure review, faculty evaluations and retrenchment and leave professors vulnerable to retaliation. Student leaders, faculty from community colleges and representatives of educator unions said the bill's scholarship and "intellectual diversity" provisions would inject uncertainty that could drive students and faculty away from Ohio institutions.

The testimony focused on three recurring themes: how the bill would change faculty working conditions and bargaining rights, whether a ban on strikes is fair to students and how restrictions on curriculum or scholarship eligibility might affect accreditation and access for…