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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Tennessee educators are expressing concern over President Donald Trump's push to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and return control to the states.

The Tennessee Department of Education serves more than 1 million students in 147 districts.

Tanya Coats, president of the Tennessee Education Association, said states already oversee most aspects of public education. She argued the plan risks key student services and could lead to defunding and privatizing public schools, resulting in larger class sizes, less individual attention and fewer resources for students with disabilities.

"Since there's only less than 30 days for most schools in the state of Tennessee to be in service, that it would cut our after-school programs come the next year," Coats pointed out. "And particularly our summer programs that augment this in school learning and skill building."

She noted educators would lose access to programs helping low-income students and those with disabilities go to college.

Gov. Bill Lee supports keeping education control in Tennessee's hands. In his State of the State address, he announced an additional $580 million for public education, including more funding for the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula and another teacher pay raise.

Coats argued if the Department of Education is dismantled, vulnerable students could lose essential academic resources, civil rights protections and life skills, putting their futures at risk. Federal programs like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have transformed lives, ensuring crucial support for students with disabilities.

"When we think about if it's transferred to another department, it will likely cause chaos," Coats emphasized. "Chaos for those students with special needs and their families. But students and their families who currently have these Individualized Education Program and students with special needs will adversely be the most impacted by this change."

According to National Education Association, more than $308 million is allocated for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding in Tennessee.

Coats urged legislators, the governor and local communities to recognize the risks of unequal access to vital educational services. She stressed it is crucial every child, regardless of their ZIP Code, receives the support they need.


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Mississippi's decade-long focus on early literacy has transformed the state.

According to the Mississippi Department of Education, the state's fourth graders are making the nation's largest gains on reading assessments. They once ranked last on the tests. Media reports have dubbed the transformation the "Mississippi miracle."

Harry Patrinos, professor of education policy at the University of Arkansas, said the turnaround is anything but luck.

"Mississippi was 49th in the state in fourth grade reading. In just a decade, they went to 21st place in reading, and these gains continued to impress," Patrinos explained. "The country was hit with the school closures during COVID-19 but since then, Mississippi has not lost anything in terms of learning outcomes, which is rare in the country and the world."

The state's progress stems from its 2013 Literacy-Based Promotion Act, which emphasized speech-based instruction, early intervention and retention for students not meeting reading benchmarks.

Michelle Nowell, executive director of elementary education and reading for the Mississippi Department of Education, said the so-called "miracle" comes from sustained reforms focused on teacher training.

"We have renamed it the Mississippi Marathon," Nowell noted. "When I say we, I mean the department, the literacy coaches, because it really was a marathon, not a miracle because so much hard work went into it."

Nowell believes it is the human element behind the policy success, describing how literacy coaches from the state's education department built trust in schools across the state.

"In the past, anytime you mentioned MDE and MDE visiting a school district, it wasn't always a good thing," Nowell acknowledged. "It was either for an audit, and we wanted to change that perception. It's not a gotcha, we're here to help you. So we had to really build those relationships."

According to Patrinos, the reforms had an extra cost of $32 per student annually. The Trump administration recently announced $132 million in cuts to Mississippi's education funding, threatening the long-term success of its literacy programs.


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North Dakota's legislative session is scheduled to end in May, and the issue of using public funds for what's called school choice remains unresolved.

Republican lawmakers are pushing competing bills that would create Education Savings Accounts, giving North Dakota families money to enroll their kids in private schools.

One cleared the state Senate last week after winning House approval, and now both chambers have to sort out the differences. A separate measure has advanced, but not quite as far.

Superintendent Rick Diegel of the Kidder County School District said he doesn't want either one becoming law, noting small public schools like his need the money instead.

"I could use a STEM teacher out here, and our school used to offer family consumer science," said Diegel. "Those CTE programs are vital for kids that decide they don't want to be doctors and lawyers and such. However, because of the cost, I had to cut that program."

He and other bill opponents, including some Republicans, argue private schools are hard to come by in rural counties - and don't have to accept everyone who applies.

But supporters say parents should have more choice, especially if they feel their child needs a more personalized learning environment.

State Sen. Michelle Axtman, R-Bismarck, is a main sponsor of an ESA bill that would allow eligible families to use their funds for specialized public school programming, not just private school enrollment.

"Students do not learn in a one size fits all approach," said Axtman, "and that demand has transferred to our school systems."

But Nick Archuleta, president of the teacher's union ND United, warned about going down the school choice path.

He said with North Dakota raising the threshold for ballot initiatives to pass, now at 60%, local districts are in a tougher position to win local support for funding critical needs.

"We've had 58%, 59% of voters in specific communities vote to do something positive," said Archuleta, "to build either a new school or refurbish an existing school. And they aren't able to get the bonding because it wasn't 60%."