“Sen. Brown is a champion for public education and workers’ rights, and we are lucky to have him fighting for what our public schools and public school employees need every day,” said OEA President Scott DiMauro. “The OEA members who serve on the OEA Fund State Council emphatically recommend Sen. Brown for re-election, and we are pleased to give him our full support.”
Among his many priorities during his time in Washington, Sen. Brown has:
- Fought to make sure Ohio educators can retire with dignity by passing the Social Security Fairness Act which would ensure teachers, first responders, and other public sector workers and their families receive the full Social Security benefits they’ve earned.
- Secured millions to expand high-speed internet access for students and families across Ohio.
- Introduced the Educators Expense Deduction Modernization Act to quadruple the amount educators can deduct from their taxes for out-of-pocket classroom expenses.
- Led the fight to help educators become homeowners so education can remain a sustainable career path that can attract the best talent to serve our state’s students.
- Introduced the Full-Service Community School Expansion Act to help students succeed by helping schools and districts implement wraparound supports – including medical, mental, and nutrition health services, mentoring and youth development programs, technical assistance and continuing education courses.
- Spearheaded the passage of the SMART Act to reduce excessive testing that robs students and teachers of valuable instruction time.
- Secured nearly $300,000 to support training programs that prepare Ohio educators to teach life skills.
- Worked to level the playing field between workers and corporations to protect the right to organize and expand overtime pay for workers.
- Taken on Ohio’s private for-profit schools that take funds away from public schools and fought for charter school accountability.
“Ohio educators support our kids in and out of the classroom – we need to make sure their hard work pays off and they have the resources they need to create the best outcomes for students,” Sen. Brown said. “I’m honored to have OEA’s endorsement in my reelection and I look forward to working with them to make sure every Ohio student gets a high-quality education by protecting our educators’ right to unionize, lowering their out-of-pocket costs, and ensuring every educator can retire with dignity.”