By Hevin Wilkey / Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

Some Ohio legislators want to have cameras at every highway rest stop by June 2031 to help limit human trafficking and make travelers feel safer. Last year, House Bill 473 would have given the Ohio Department of Transportation the timeline and funding to do just that.

But the bill didn't pass. It reached the House Homeland Security Committee and was declared dead once the session ended. Rep. Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) expects to try again with a new bill soon.

Even if the bill doesn't pass again, out of 85 rest stops in Ohio, cameras will be installed at the 36 Gov. Mike DeWine plans to renovate and build by 2026. McNally expects the total price of the project to cost between $182,028 and $507,967.

"Specifically, Toledo, the Toledo Interchange area, is one of the number one places in the country for [human trafficking]," said McNally. "So anything that we can do to curb that trend we're always looking at, from a legal perspective at the State House and from a police perspective. But it also does more than that, like when we talk to the Turnpike Association, they've actually been able to solve crimes and stop crimes from happening."

She said the idea of the bill came from the Ohio Association for Justice's Women's Caucus Section specifically for human trafficking, but it also could be beneficial in other scenarios. McNally's examples included finding and securing a man with dementia and a woman forgetting her purse at a rest stop.

The bridge between McNally and the Women's Caucus was Mahoning County Juvenile Court magistrate Gina DeGenova, a former prosecutor who testified for the bill. DeGenova said she has worked on a handful of human trafficking cases and wants to help Ohio implement a solution. Six other Democratic state representatives co-sponsored HB473.

"With these cameras, we're able to capture what is going on when an actual person can't be there to witness it," DeGenova said. "Having a bird's eye view of what's going on in these locations is an extremely beneficial tool for law enforcement."

Some studies have found that cameras are one of the most effective ways to reduce crime. Swedish non-profit organization SNS learned through a series of randomized experiments that 20-25% less crime is committed when there is a surveillance camera present.

The ACLU of Ohio testified against the bill. They were concerned about the privacy of people who would end up on the recordings and if this bill would set a precedent for the government to further surveil people.

Chief lobbyist Gary Daniels said he wonders about the limitations of public records, who has access to these recordings and how long they will be kept. According to the bill, the Ohio Department of Transportation would decide. Depending on the new bill's language and how busy the ACLU of Ohio is, Daniels said he might testify against it again.

The cons of government and police surveillance on citizens' privacy outweigh the chances of deterring some crimes, Daniels said.

"If you're a human trafficker and you've got a van full of people or one person or something that you shouldn't be trafficking around, you're just going to start at the gas station an exit away or two exits away," Daniels said.

McNally understands this won't rid Ohio of crime, but it will help it.

"You slowly chip away and take away all their opportunities to do the crime," she said, "and maybe eventually you make it so hard that it does actually curb the crime itself."


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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Indiana is rolling out a series of new education laws aimed at helping students succeed in and beyond the classroom.

The changes affect everything from attendance and academics to teacher pay and cybersecurity.

Tami Silverman, president and CEO of the nonprofit Indiana Youth Institute, said lawmakers responded to schools' concerns about chronic absenteeism.

"It was exciting to see that the legislature was really listening to the schools," Silverman explained. "Because we've heard, and schools have said repeatedly, that chronic absenteeism continues to be an issue."

New laws require schools to clearly define excused absences, publish attendance policies and offer better student support. High schoolers can now earn an Enrollment Honors Plus seal, combining academics, life skills and work experience. Students who earn it will be guaranteed admission to Indiana's public colleges.

Some educators said the new requirements may strain already limited school resources, especially in smaller districts that face staffing or funding challenges.

Silverman noted the changes are designed to help more students succeed, by doing such things as streamlining applications for college admission, military financial aid and paid internship programs.

"This is really exciting because we do know that sometimes those application processes can be a barrier," Silverman observed. "We want to remove those by setting kids up for success in high school."

Other laws raise the minimum teacher salary to $45,000 dollars, expand access to paid internships and require math screenings in early grades. Cybersecurity upgrades will be phased in by 2027.


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Many Texas students lose nearly 40% of what they learned during the year on summer break.

A new program in Arlington is helping kids avoid the "summer slide" by engaging them with creative projects which extend into the new school year.

Monroe Farbes, a 16-year-old International Baccalaureate participant, recently landed at the top of Amazon's list of young adult poetry with her new book "All I Know." She said the goal she set for herself last summer was to learn how to publish a book.

"Choosing to learn something and creating a product based off of what I learned, it helped me to learn critical thinking skills, research skills, time management skills, communications skills that were really, really useful," Farbes explained.

The International Baccalaureate program aims to prepare students for the future with real-world skills, global awareness and a love for learning, not just memorizing facts. After writing her first 20 poems last summer, the program gave Farbes time during the school day to write 35 more and then complete the formatting, marketing and other challenges involved with self-publishing.

There are many ways parents can help students avoid learning losses over the summer, and the Texas School for the Deaf offered tips. They recommended kids get outside and away from screens and they suggested parents give kids everyday lessons, like asking them to estimate the final bill while grocery shopping.

Farbes encouraged other young people to take on creative projects and to be curious about the world around them. She noted by the time you get to the end of her book, you realize the main character does not know everything.

"And that's OK, she's figuring it out," Farbes stressed. "Sometimes all you know is that you are just on your process to figuring it out. But make sure you remember everything that you learn."

Farbes's collection includes insights into the complexities of biracial identity, the joys of summer and sisterhood and the challenges of gardening. Here she reads her title poem, "All I Know."

"Familiar with myself, is the greatest gift on the shelf. Comfort in my own skin, who I am within, is all I'll have in the end. In that end, past all time, will I still be able to look myself in the eye?"


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Proposed federal legislation would expand school choice options for families to send their students to private schools or home educate them and the move could affect Arizona's current scholarship accounts.

Public school officials are pushing back. While Arizona parents can already get reimbursed for private and homeschool expenses, the Educational Choice for Children Act would create a tax credit for a similar purpose.

Brian Jodice, national press secretary for the American Federation for Children, said the measure is not a voucher program but a donor-driven initiative to provide families with more schooling options.

"It doesn't impact state budgets. It doesn't impact the federal budget. It allows people to donate to these scholarship granting organizations and get a tax credit, so (it) incentivizes the donors to go do that, which we think is a good thing," Jodice explained. "It also incentivizes families to be able to go apply for it and let their students benefit from it."

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said at least 138 million people nationwide could be eligible for the tax credit. States must opt in to participate.

Arizona public education officials have said its private school funding comes at the expense of K-12 schools. Demand for the program far outpaced what the state had budgeted in the first year alone and demand has continued to grow.

Maura McInerney, legal director at the Education Law Center, called the national program a tax shelter to benefit wealthy people at the expense of public schools.

"We've seen this occur in other states and there's no accountability for these dollars and how they're spent," McInerney pointed out. "The only criterion for receiving a voucher is actually a high family income limit. So essentially this money will potentially benefit students who are already in private schools."

The nationwide program would cost the federal government at least $100 billion per year.


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