We Are Ohio Gives Back
DONATES $10,000 TO TOYS FOR TOTS AND $10,000 TO OHIO FOODBANKS
COLUMBUS – December 20, 2011 – In the spirit of the season, We Are Ohio donated $20,000 to two charities Tuesday on behalf of the voters and supporters who came together in a nearly year-long battle to veto Senate Bill 5 by a 61-39 percent margin on Election Day.
Maureen Reedy, 2002 Ohio Teacher of the Year from Upper Arlington, presented a check for $10,000 to Toys for Tots from We Are Ohio.
“We Are Ohio is giving back because we were blessed in our effort to have 2.1 million voters, 1.3 million petition signers and more than 17,000 volunteers send the message throughout Ohio and our nation that we cannot build up our state by tearing down the Middle Class,” Reedy said. “We learned we can accomplish anything if we come together, support and help one another during challenging times.”
“This donation will help put smiles on the faces of thousands of children this holiday season. We want to thank We Are Ohio for their generosity,” said U.S. Marine Sgt. Jose Ranero, who accepted the check on behalf of Toys for Tots.
Leonard Moore, a word processing specialist for Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s Division of Parole and Community Services, presented a $10,000 check to the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food banks from We Are Ohio.
“We Are Ohio asks our supporters across the state to join us and contribute what they can to their charity of choice. A list of charities can be found at http://www.weareohio.com/giveback and a Facebook status photo for giving back is at http://www.facebook.com/weareohio.”
“Public and private sector employees have a long history of donating to food banks across Ohio during the holiday season and all year long. We want to thank We Are Ohio for continuing this tradition of public and private sector employees giving back,” said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, Second Harvest Food banks executive director.
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The Ohio Education Association (ohea.org) represents 121,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio’s public schools, colleges and universities.
October 2011 Ohio Schools
- IN THIS ISSUE
- Make a difference – vote NO on Issue 2 – Educators are coming together to speak out against Issues 2. Issue 2 gets in the way of doing their jobs, means larger class sizes, and makes it harder to focus on giving kids the individual attention their need to succeed.
- Rebuilding Union strength – Attend the 2012 OEA Collective Bargaining Conference
- Legislative update, Association news, and more
Moved recently? Contact the OEA Member Hotline to update the address on file at 1-844-OEA-Info (1-844-632-4636) or email, membership@ohea.org. Representatives are available Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | OhioSchools — Past Issues
SB 5 threatened our ability to make a difference in students' lives
By Traci Arway, NBCT, primary multiple disabilities teacher, Columbus
Eleven years ago I started teaching special education so that I could make a difference in the lives of the students who need it most—children with severe and multiple disabilities. I live and work in one of the state’s highest poverty per capita areas, and I wouldn’t change what I do for the world. I didn’t become a teacher to get rich; I became a teacher to serve.
Not only am I a teacher, but I’m a mother of two small children and my husband is also a teacher. Like many of our colleagues, we come from a long line of educators, including my sister-in-law who is an educator and my mother who also is a teacher. My brother works for a public university and my father works for the state of Ohio. I also have a number of cousins who decided to serve Ohioans by working in state government.
But as much as Issue 2 affects my family, our livelihood and everyone else who chose public service instead of more lucrative private sector jobs, I worry more about my students and what will happen if we don’t defeat this unfair attack on public workers. With my students who have severe needs—social, academic and behavioral—Issue 2 silences the voices and effectively prevents professionals, like me from negotiating contract provisions that ultimately would benefit my students.
If passed, Issue 2 will result in a loss of local control and lead to a loss of collaborative spirit.
Education support professionals and teachers are dedicated to their students, and we’re overwhelmingly against Issue 2 because we know how much it will hurt students. Issue 2 is not about improving teacher or student performance—it’s about power, political payback, and very bad policy. My special needs students shouldn’t suffer because Columbus politicians are moving their own agenda, and that’s why I’m voting NO on Issue 2.
Issue 2 would hurt the future of public education
By Brad Sims, social studies teacher, Nashport
Collective bargaining becomes collective begging if one of the parties involved has the legal power to decide the final outcome with no legal recourse for the other party. Senate Bill 5, which is now Issue 2 on the ballot, does not revisit collective bargaining—it destroys it. It is similar to going to a dentist and he pulls all the teeth because in his professional opinion a few were bad.
The legislature had the opportunity to put a few reasonable items in place, but proceeded to add several punitive items. Issue 2 forces local school districts to base at least 50 percent of teachers’ compensation on student test scores, a method that is rejected by education experts and parents alike because it’s inaccurate.
As an educator and a Republican, I am puzzled by the commercial that claims Issue 2 would reward the best teachers. I have read SB 5, and that allegation is quite a stretch. For educators across Ohio, Issue 2 is not about performance. The buzz words being is used by those attacking teachers are intended to distract us from their real aim of Issue 2—to silence the voices of teachers and all public school employees by gutting their collective bargaining rights.
I believe that the passage of Issue 2 will discourage the best and brightest from considering teaching as a profession. It will send younger teachers looking for other options. The effect may not be felt immediately, but in a decade or two it will have a negative impact on public education. Do not be fooled by the commercials touting what will happen if Issue 2 is defeated or any bombshells the supporters of Issue 2 “create” during the days before the election.
Regardless of political affiliation, Ohioans see through Issue 2 and its real motives. Republicans, Democrats and Independents have come together to defeat Issue 2 because it hurts us all.
November 2011 Ohio Schools
- IN THIS ISSUE
- Fight to support our rights and to defeat Issue 2
- For Licking Heights’ Ina Ruck being a bus driver is the most rewarding job around
- Legislative update, Association news, and more
Moved recently? Contact the OEA Member Hotline to update the address on file at 1-844-OEA-Info (1-844-632-4636) or email, membership@ohea.org. Representatives are available Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | OhioSchools — Past Issues
Teaching middle schoolers, it was more than a job—it was a calling
After 32 years in the teaching profession, I recently retired but work hard to stay current on educational issues and practices. I loved my career teaching middle schoolers. To me, it was more than a job—it was a calling.
That’s why I am so concerned about what is happening today to the teaching profession at the hands of Columbus politicians. They seem to think that they know more about what works to educate Ohio’s children than the experts who are actually doing the work—the teachers and education support professionals in schools and classrooms.
At the beginning of my career, we didn’t have collective bargaining rights. I’ve seen the difference these rights have made in leveling the playing field—and protecting students from arbitrary decisions. Collective bargaining has helped ensure fairness, provided a voice to workers, and emphasized the need for high-quality teachers in every classroom.
Knowing the positive changes collective bargaining makes to improve education, I worry Issue 2 will take us down the wrong path. I’m concerned for my colleagues still in the classroom—especially for teachers just starting out.
We need to attract the best candidates to the teaching profession, and stripping collective bargaining rights is only going to hurt recruiting efforts to get the right people we need into the profession. Issue 2 is going to have a negative impact—one that hurts students. Issue 2 hurts all of us, and it’s the reason I’m voting NO on Issue 2.
—Jerry Hayes, retired middle school English and arts teacher, Stow
Politicians may try to trick, but Issue 2 is NO treat
OEA volunteer reflects on her night of going door-to-door on Halloween
For those of us who routinely spend Halloween on the road campaigning for one issue or another, the canvass can seem monotonous. You knock on door after door, delivering the same message over and over again. If you’re lucky, you’re a part of a well-organized campaign, such as the one we’re working on—We Are Ohio’s “NO on Issue 2” campaign—which means that the IDs are solid, and you’re almost exclusively speaking to people who support your position. This makes the canvass quick, but sometimes less rewarding—it’s generally much less exciting to urge people to vote than it is to persuade them to vote your way.
But once in a while you come to a door which completely shifts your perspective. That happened to me tonight.
I knocked on the door of an older couple in a working-class suburb of Cleveland. When the woman and her husband came to the door, they looked tired, as though they had worked hard their whole lives. Their house was modest and the yard was perfectly manicured. An American car sat in their driveway. These were not political activists or party loyalists…just ordinary people trying to live their lives.
I introduced myself and asked if they planned to vote NO on Issue 2. The husband nodded and went back to sitting in his chair in the living room. The wife looked at me and said emphatically, “We are absolutely voting ‘NO’ on Issue 2.” I thanked her for her support, circled ‘1’ on my walk-list to indicate her strong support, and began to leave. As I turned back to wave good-bye, I caught the woman looking up, as though she was trying to fight back tears.
Then she looked down at me and said, “I don’t know how anyone could vote any other way.” I agreed, and asked her if she would consider volunteering for the campaign.
She sighed heavily.
“I can’t,” she explained. “My husband is sick. That’s why I feel so strongly about this issue. I have to call emergency services to my home frequently. I cannot describe the feeling of relief I have every time one of those paramedics walk through my door. It is an absolute disgrace that these guys could leave their job today to work at McDonalds and earn about the same salary. I don’t know what I would do…I just don’t know what I would do if we didn’t have these people. They’ve saved my husband’s life.”
And there it was in a nutshell. That’s what we’re fighting for here in Ohio. Nothing less than people’s lives. And I am thankful and honored and humbled to be a part of it—sore feet, and all.
—Laila Hirschfeld, OEA volunteer
Schools too quick to cut fine arts courses
In tough economic times, fine arts education courses are among the first on the chopping block. For some of my at-risk students, the arts sometimes are the sole reason they come to school. My students like music and they love art.
The arts are integral to learning; you can infuse the arts into the curriculum in so many different ways. The arts are just a wonderful way to get children excited about learning—as well as reaching those students that conventional education hasn’t been able to reach.
Unfortunately, we’re facing more tough times, and we’re bracing for some difficult choices. We are told to do more with less and make students succeed—even while bureaucrats, who know nothing about how to connect with students, slash education funding.
When Senate Bill 5 was being rammed through by Columbus politicians, teachers and school employees were making sacrifices, even as those same elected officials created loopholes that exempted them and upper management. So, while teachers and school employees see their wages and benefits gutted, the insiders and people at the top get big pay increases and bonuses.
For schools that have been lucky enough to hold onto arts education, SB 5 will cause further reductions that may wipe out these programs all together or stretch teachers, who are already split between two different schools, to try to serve students in maybe three or four schools.
SB 5, now Issue 2, on the November ballot, is not what our kids need—especially those with the odds stacked against them. That’s why I’m voting NO on Issue 2 to stop SB 5.
—Kenya Davis, elementary arts teacher, Reynoldsburg
State tests could be one of the criteria for both “merit pay” and any salary increases
I have never wanted to be anything but a teacher. My childhood stuffed animals were regularly lined up, waiting to hear a story or learn about words or numbers. Teaching dance and music lessons in high school helped to pay for college where my dream would come true and I would become a music teacher.
The urge to help and serve is deeply ingrained within my family. During our family history, we have proudly claimed police officers, firefighters, nurses (including my mother and grandmother) and other public employees. I am married to a teacher (who is the grandson of a teacher), and our older child has now finished his education degree. I couldn’t be prouder of this heritage and legacy, but at the same time, the prospects for my immediate family are nearly terrifying.
If we don’t defeat Issue 2, teachers like my husband and I are in immediate jeopardy of no longer being able to serve the children. We are both music specialists, devoted to educating the whole child and making all our students valuable citizens of the world. Studying music during the school day helps children to synthesize their world, and offers a unique platform for learning skills that are essential for twenty-first century success.
Many of my arts teaching colleagues are seeing their positions eliminated and programs cut for the sake of other curricular areas, which “enjoy” the benefit of being state tested. With Issue 2, those state tests could be one of the criteria for both “merit pay” and any salary increases throughout a teacher’s career. Music teachers, art teachers, physical education teachers, global language teachers, and others will never have the opportunity for pay increases with this method, no matter how many accolades they receive.
Issue 2 forces local school districts to base at least 50 percent of a teachers’ compensation on student test scores, a method that is rejected by education experts and parents alike, because it’s inaccurate, invalid, and doesn’t work. That’s bad policy for students and public education. It’s also the reason I’m voting NO on Issue 2.
—Deborah Graham-Gibson, elementary music specialist, Dublin
Stand up for students and public education
For three decades, I worked in public education—dedicated to making a difference in the lives of my students. As a 30-year classroom veteran, I know what it takes to help our children achieve and succeed. I also know that if Issue 2 is approved this November, it will have a negative impact on public schools—and will hurt our students.
I began teaching in 1978, when educators didn’t have a voice to advocate on behalf of students and for the resources needed to help them succeed. Issue 2 will surely move public education in Ohio in the wrong direction by stripping educators of their collective bargaining rights and their ability to stand up for students and public education.
While I am retired, I can remember sitting at the bargaining table, fighting for adequate education funding and the things needed to attract the best and brightest to our profession. If we want the best for our children, we have to make sure teachers and education support professionals continue to have a voice in the workplace—one that they can use to demand that all students have access to quality public schools, no matter where they live.
If you care about the future of Ohio and the children who live here, you must vote NO on Issue 2 because it hurts all of us.
—Meg Ulmes, retired educator, Troy