COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s 2026 State of the State address Tuesday afternoon — his last — focused on education.

Delivered to a joint session of the Ohio General Assembly in the House Chamber of the Ohio Statehouse, the address included key priorities for the remainder of the year, according to a news release from DeWine’s office.

He highlighted reading; the OhioSEE program; chronic absenteeism; recess and the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge; cell- phones/screentime/social media; and the proposed Primary Seatbelt Law.

The governor spoke about how essential reading is to every child in the state, spotlighting the Science of Reading approach.

“Reading is the key to everything, so it is essential that children learn early about the importance of books and reading,” DeWine said, according to the release.”The evidence is clear that the Science of Reading is the best way to teach children how to read.”

With the support of the Ohio General Assembly, the Science of Reading is required to be taught in every classroom in Ohio, from preschool programs to high school.

“Ohio is starting to see results in the state’s youngest learners, thanks in part to the Science of Reading,” DeWine said. “This past fall, kindergarten readiness statewide improved to 8.3%, equating to an additional 7,300 Ohio children.”

The new OhioSEE vision program is providing glasses for kids in kindergarten through third grade in 15 Ohio counties with the greatest need. DeWine called on all superintendents and school leaders in these 15 counties to sign their schools up to participate in the program.

“It is difficult to read in the classroom when children struggle to see,” he said.

Last year, one out of every four Ohio school children was chronically absent, which means they missed the equivalent of nearly one month of the school year, the governor’s office said. The most recent state budget DeWine signed into law requires every school district to develop a clear attendance policy by this fall.

DeWine announced the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) will launch a new “Statewide Attendance Dashboard” April 15, providing real-time attendance data.

“This new tool will provide parents and the public with simple, fast, and transparent attendance data each week for every district and school,” the governor said, according to the release from his office.

LENGTHEN RECESS

DeWine also applauded efforts to increase recess time to one full hour for all students in kindergarten through 8th grade, except on days when a student has physical education class.

And, he encouraged the Ohio General Assembly to make the Team Tressel Fitness Challenge a permanent opportunity for students in Ohio. Last year, Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel was asked to develop a challenge for schools to promote physical fitness.

The Team Tressel Fitness Challenge has helped students in grades three through eight build lifelong healthy habits around fitness, nutrition, and sleep, while also encouraging an “attitude of gratitude” during quiet times or periods of reflection, according to the governor’s release.

DeWine also called on the Legislature to prohibit the possession, creation, or distribution of child pornography that is created by Artificial Intelligence; hold tech companies accountable for allowing their AI to encourage, assist, endorse, or instruct anyone to harm themselves or others, and pass a law to require cell phone and tech companies to automatically implement parental control features to empower parents to monitor and control what content their kids are using.

The governor called on the Legislature to pass a primary seatbelt law, which will enable law enforcement to pull over cars where passengers are clearly not buckled up. It is estimated 88% of people in Ohio already wear seatbelts. The 12% of the people in Ohio who don’t wear seatbelts, though, represent more than 60% of those killed in car crashes.

DeWine wrapped up by telling those assembled something Tressel said a mentor told him when he left The Ohio State University following his football coaching years.

“‘Your greatest accomplishments and your greatest days are ahead of you if you believe that they are,'” DeWine said. “I have never believed more strongly that Ohio’s greatest accomplishments and greatest days are ahead of us. The greatest days for our workers! The greatest days for our children! And, the greatest days for every Ohio family!”

In response to DeWine’s address, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde said his final State of the State address finds Ohio families struggling with rising costs on everything from health care to energy bills to gas prices, and instead of working to lower costs, Republican leaders in the statehouse are actively making things worse.

“It’s time for a change in Ohio and that’s why it’s critical we don’t allow a billionaire like Vivek Ramaswamy to be our next governor,” she said.

DeWine has endorsed Republican Ramaswamy in the next election to succeed him as Ohio’s governor.

“Vivek Ramaswamy thinks Medicaid and Medicare are mistakes even though eliminating either will explode the cost of healthcare, his tax scheme would skyrocket everyday costs by dramatically raising the sales tax, and he calls Ohio workers lazy while telling us rising costs are in our imagination,” Clyde said. “This fall, Ohioans will come together and elect a fighter who will end the politics of corruption and special interests when we make Dr. Amy Acton our next governor.”