Ohio

State constitutional guarantees regarding right to education

The Ohio State Constitution provides: 

“The General Assembly shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as, with the income arising from the school trust fund, will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state; but no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have the exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of this state.” Section 2(B)(2)(d), Article IV of the Ohio Constitution (emphasis added). 

Case law and legislative history defining and interpreting the right to education

The Supreme Court of Ohio has previously found Ohio’s school funding system unconstitutional (with reference to the Ohio constitution) because the system did not provide for a “thorough and efficient system” of schools. See DeRolph v. State, 97 Ohio St.3d 434 (2002). 

While the Ohio State Constitution provides for school funding for a “thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state” there is no mention of the right to education for particular persons or classes of people. Only the structure and payment of the Ohio school system is outlined in the State Constitution. See Sections 1-6, Article IV of the Ohio Constitution. 

Ohio statutory law establishes who is entitled to education. “The Ohio legislature has established school districts … which provide free public elementary and secondary education for every Ohio resident between the ages of six and 21 years.” Lopez v. Williams 372 F.Supp 1279, 1293 (1973).

State law equivalents to Title VI, Title IX, Section 504, and the Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) 

Ohio statutory law establishes who is entitled to education. 

“The Ohio legislature has established school districts … which provide free public elementary and secondary education for every Ohio resident between the ages of six and 21 years.” Lopez v. Williams 372 F.Supp 1279, 1293 (1973). 

Ohio state law provides protections for various kinds of students. Chapter 3323 of the Ohio Revised Code, Title 33, provides for the standards of education that must be afforded to disabled students, defined as a “child who is at least three years of age and less than twenty-two years of age; who has an intellectual disability, a hearing impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning disability (including dyslexia), deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities; and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.” Section 3323.01, Title 33, Ohio Revised Code. Disabled students are entitled to an individualized education plan (“IEP”) by law. See Id., section 3323.011.    

Ohio law explicitly provides that no state funds shall be provided to any school district that is not in compliance with the Ohio Revised Code or with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (“IDEIA”). See Id., section 3323.02. Ohio law provides for procedures to assure guaranteed procedural safeguards related to the State’s decision to provide free public education to disabled students under the Ohio Revised Code. See Id., section 3323.05 (“The department of education and workforce shall establish procedures to ensure that children with disabilities and their parents are guaranteed procedural safeguards under this chapter with respect to a free appropriate public education.”). Such procedures include but are not limited to: (A) opportunity for the parent of a child with a disability to examine all records related to the child and to participate in meetings with respect to identification, evaluation, and educational placement of the child; (B) assignment of surrogates to act in the child’s interests when the parent is absent or unknown; (C) prior written notice is to be provided to the parent of a child with a disability regarding any change or decision made affecting the child’s right to an IEP; (D) opportunities for the parent of a disabled child to lodge complaints to the superintendent respecting the IEP and provision of education; (E) similar opportunities for the parent with respect to the district; (F) right for the parents and a school district to attend mediation to resolve these matters; (G) “[a]n opportunity for the parents or a school district to present a due process complaint and request for a due process hearing to the superintendent of the school district of the child’s residence respecting the IEP and provision of education; and (H) right for a party to appeal the decision rendered in a hearing referenced in (G) above within 45 days with a court in the county or to a district court for the United States within 90 days after the date of the decision. See Ibid.  

Additional state civil rights protections that go beyond federal requirements (e.g., protections for LGBTQ+ students, multilingual learners, undocumented students)

The children and students protected by this Ohio law are not limited to citizens or legal residents, as national citizenship status or immigration status does not appear anywhere in the act’s definitions.  

The Ohio Revised Code, Chapter 4112, includes Section 4112.02, which prohibits any “proprietor or any employee, keeper, or manager of a place of public accommodation” to deny someone “the full enjoyment of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges of the place of public accommodation” on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, military status, national origin, disability, age, or ancestry…” See Section 4112.02 (G), Title 41, Ohio Revised Code (emphasis added). More specifically, Ohio law forbids educational institutions from discriminating on the basis of disability. See Id., Section 4112.022. 

Complaints pertaining to unlawful discrimination may be filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (“OCRC”), which enforces Section 4112. The OCRC provides detailed information as to how to file a charge on its website here. Note that the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) has reinforced that Ohio’s administrative process must be exhausted before judicial review of the OCRC’s administrative decisions are allowed. See Ohio Civil Rights Commission v. Dayton Christian Schools, Inc., 477 U.S. 619, 629 (1986).  

Ohioans enforce civil rights under Chapter 4112 by either:

1. Filing a discrimination charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which investigates and can order remedies; or

2. Filing a lawsuit directly in state or federal court, without needing to go through OCRC first.

Both paths can address discrimination in schools, workplaces, housing, and public accommodations.

Beyond Section 4112, Ohio law is sparse with respect to affording protections against discrimination and enforcing or protecting civil rights, as Ohio largely relies on federal law. To support its state efforts at enforcing civil rights protections. Ohio does not have equivalents to federal law in most respects. The closest Ohio law gets to having its own state equivalent to federal civil rights protections is its detailed laws regarding the educational rights of disabled students and their parents.

Is the right provided by state law conferred on the student, parent/guardian, or both? In other words, who can bring a claim under this law? 

The rights derived from Section 3323 initially provide for either a “parent or a school district to present a due process complaint and request a due process hearing to the superintendent of the school district of the child’s residence with respect to the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child. The party presenting the due process complaint and request for a due process hearing shall provide due process complaint notice to the other party and forward a copy of the notice to the department.” Section 3323.05 (G)(1), Title 33, Ohio Revised Code. Section 3323.05 also explains the information required to be included in a notice for such due process complaint: (a) the name, residential address, and name of the school the child attends; (b) a description of the problem of the child relating to the proposed initiation or change, including facts related to the problem; (c) a proposed resolution of the problem to the extent known and available to the party at the time. Ibid. The corresponding right of appeal belongs to “any party aggrieved by the final order of the state level officer.” Id., at Section (H). It follows that the right of appeal applies both to the parent or school district, or the child who is aggrieved by consequence of the final ruling. 

Does the specified law or policy provide protections against retaliation? What are the elements of a retaliation claim? Are protections against retaliation clearly spelled out in the law or policy?

With respect to educational institutions, neither Sections 3323 nor 4112 explicitly prohibit retaliation. 

Statute of limitations for filing education-related state civil rights complaints (or state civil rights complaints broadly) or state human rights complaints?

An educational institution that violates Section 4112 is subject to civil damages, injunctive relief, and any other appropriate relief requested by the plaintiff. Persons are prohibited from bringing civil actions for employment discrimination under Section 4112. Section 4112.99, Title 41, Ohio Revised Code. Civil actions brought via Section 4112 must be brought in 2 years. Id., Section 4112.14. 

With respect to Section 3323, a party “aggrieved by the findings and decision rendered in a hearing” must appeal within “forty-five days of notification of the decision to the department, which shall appoint a state level officer who shall review the case and issue a final order.” Section 3323.05 (H), Title 33, Ohio Revised Code.  

The Ohio Civil Rights Commission has a six month statute of limitation for bringing initial charges of discrimination to the agency pertaining to discrimination respecting public accommodations and education related complaints. See this link to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission website