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Ohio’s Governor, Mike DeWine, recently shared that he is interested in bringing driver’s education courses, more commonly referred to as driver’s ed, back to Ohio public schools. Many years ago, driver’s ed was a part of public high school curriculums in many states, Ohio included, but overtime more and more states rid it from their offered courses. Now, it is almost entirely offered via third party, private businesses. When the adjustment was first done many felt upset, as the course went from being a part of your high school education to something you would often have to pay hundreds of dollars for. It was quite a controversial move as it essentially required this money to be spent as the course is required for drivers getting their licenses under the age of 18. However, this could potentially change for Ohioans if DeWine gets his way.

DeWine’s budget recommendation includes a grant program to bring it back.

The grant program that he lays out in his budge recommendation allows schools to have driver’s ed back on campus in two ways. The first option is for schools to partner with independently owned and operated driving schools. The second option would allow schools to open or reopen their own driving school courses. The budget plan would allot for $19.98 million from the 2026 fiscal year and $29.6 million from the 2027 fiscal year to be dedicated to bringing driver’s ed back to public high schools. The budget has not yet been approved and still needs to be reviewed and likely edited by the state legislature.

DeWine wants to ensure younger generations have the course available.

With only third party companies offering driver’s ed, many people do not have the opportunity to take the course because it is “out of reach” for them financially. Instead, they have to wait to drive until they are of the age to not be required to have the course and rely on people in their life to teach them. As this becomes a more ongoing issue, roads could potentially become more dangerous. DeWine passionately believes that “we must help ensure that as our teenagers get older, they are safe while driving on Ohio’s roads.” The best way to do this is to make driver’s education courses more accessible.

Even with grant money from the state, some schools worry they still cannot add the course.

In the past, schools and school districts have expressed interest in bringing driver’s education back to the public school system. However, at the time, they largely expressed that it can be very difficult to find instructors for the course and for this reason have not been able to bring the course back before. DeWine is working on other factors to make reinstating the course a smoother transition.