JAMIE CALLENDER is the managing partner of Callender Law Group, a boutique law firm, and has notable experience in education law, municipal law, public policy, administrative rule making and government issues. He holds a Juris Doctorate from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Cleveland State University.  He is also co-owner with his wife, Heidi, of The Callender Group, an education consulting firm.

Representative Callender served four (4) terms (maximum under term limits) from 1996-2004, in the Ohio General Assembly representing western Lake County. As Chairman of the House Education Committee, Representative Callender was an integral part of in the creation of many of Ohio’s school laws that remain in place today, and was instrumental in creating ‘value added’ as a measurement of a child’s educational progress.

Representative Callender was appointed as Ohio’s representative on the Education Commission of States, and worked closely with the Bush administration and various state governors to develop the national education standards and accountability measurements, used today as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. He served as a member of the State Board of Education, the Board of Regents, and as a board member of the OhioReads program.  He also served as Chairman of the Joint Committee for Agency Rules and Regulations (JCARR), Vice Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and a member of the Ohio Civil/Commercial Law Committee. 

Jamie has received awards from many leading civic organizations including, Bridges Mental Health Consumer Empowerment, Courage and Leadership Award, Ohio Person of Courage Award, Ohio Association of Gifted Students, Legislator of the Year, Watchdog of the Treasury awards in 1998 and 2000, Best Friends of LEAF, Ohio Advocates for Mental Health, Ohio Staffing Services, Ohio Trial Lawyers Association, OhioReads Governor’s Commission of Teaching Success, and many others.  He served as Founding Chairman and President of Ohio Association of School Authorizers (OACSA), editor of Ohio Lawyer Magazine, an appointed member of the Mentor Public Library Board, and is cited in Democracy in the States: Experiments in Election Reform (Brookings Institute) and Ohio State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Praeger).

In addition to his work, Mr. Callender has been a Professor of Public Policy in the Political Science Department at Kent State University since 2004, and authored the widely used college textbook, State Government in Ohio (Lake Publishing).