SB 34 Ohio Senate · 136th Legislature (2025-2026)

Enact the Historical Educational Displays Act

SB 34 requires Ohio public schools to display certain historical documents in designated areas, directly affecting all K-12 public schools statewide. The bill amends specific sections of Ohio's education code to establish this requirement, mandating that schools display documents such as the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Key provisions specify that displays must be permanent, visible to students, and include educational materials explaining the documents' significance. This policy change alters school curriculum practices by formally integrating these historical documents into public school environments.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Nov 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2025 Last action Feb 4, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced → As Passed by the Senate · 6 edits · Nov 19, 2025

MODERATE

The bill's title was changed from the Historical Educational Displays Act to the Display of Founding Documents of Historic Significance Act, and the list of required founding documents was expanded from nine to ten items by adding the Articles of Confederation. The section requiring displays in classrooms was significantly modified to clarify that districts only need to comply if they receive donated funds or displays, and the deadline for compliance was set to July 1, 2026. The bill also added new requirements for community school contracts, including detailed provisions on financial audits, racial balance, and compliance with various state laws.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed regarding the founding documents requirement, as it now only applies to school districts that receive donated funds or displays. Additionally, the bill added extensive new requirements for community school contracts, expanding the scope of what must be included in such agreements.

REQUIREMENT

The founding documents requirement now only applies to school districts that receive donated funds or displays, rather than all school districts.

The Articles of Confederation was added as a tenth required founding document for display in classrooms.

New detailed requirements were added for community school contracts, including provisions for financial audits, racial balance, teacher qualifications, and compliance with numerous state laws.

The requirement for displaying founding documents was modified to allow boards to select distinct documents for different school buildings or classrooms.

TIMELINE

The deadline for compliance with the founding documents requirement was set to July 1, 2026.

DEFINITION

New language was added to clarify that community schools must comply with various state education laws as if they were school districts.

Floor votes · Senate Nov 20, 2025

How they voted

23–10

Passed

Total votes 33

Nov 20, 2025

D Democratic9

9 Nay

100% Nay

R Republican24

23 Yea 1 Nay

95% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

Referred to committee

lower

Nov 25, 2025

Introduced

lower

Nov 20, 2025

Senate · Passed

Senate Vote: pass (23-10)

senate

Nov 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed

upper

Jan 29, 2025

Committee

Referred to committee

upper

Jan 28, 2025

Introduced

upper

1 primary · 7 co-sponsors