July 2022 Ohio Schools
- COVER STORY: Award-winning art for 24th Annual Create a Cover Contest highlights what Ohio’s students love most about their schools
- SUBJECT MATTER
- OEA marks 175 years as the Voice for Public School Educators and Students
- FEATURE
- Direct Conversation
- Retirement System Update
- Political Action
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
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OEA Congratulates Steve Dackin on Appointment as State Superintendent of Public Instruction
“The Ohio Education Association (OEA) looks forward to working with Steve Dackin in his new role as State Superintendent. By virtue of his former position as vice president of the State Board of Education, Mr. Dackin is well-aware of the many education issues facing Ohio’s students and public schools.
It is imperative that Ohio’s educators continue to have a seat at the table and a voice in the decisions that impact their ability to serve their students every day. All Ohio children, regardless of where they come from or what they look like, deserve an honest and reflective education that empowers them to be proud of who they are, develop critical thinking skills, and grow as strong leaders who can create a better future for all of us. The state Department of Education, under Mr. Dackin’s leadership, must lead the way to ensure Ohio’s educators can deliver on that promise of a world-class education for all.
OEA welcomes the opportunity to work collaboratively with Mr. Dackin to best meet the needs of Ohio’s students. Additionally, OEA thanks Interim Superintendent Stephanie Siddens for her leadership over the last several months.”
April – May 2022 Ohio Schools
- COVER STORY: Prioritizing Student Health – When COVID-19 threatened those under his care, district school nurse David Pryer made sure Allen East students, teachers, and staff could return to school safely
- MAKING THE GRADE
- Oberlin’s Kurt Russell Named Finalist for 2022 National Teacher of the Year
- Association
- OEA to Hold In-Person 2022 Spring Representative Assembly with Virtual Component on May 7
- Candidates of OEA Statewide Election
- Proposed Amendments to the OEA Amended and Restated Constitution and Bylaws Spring 2022
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
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OEA denounces House Bill 616
“These politicians are continuing to use race and sexual orientation as wedge issues to score cheap political points, and they should be ashamed of themselves,” OEA President Scott DiMauro said. “Rather than persisting with these disingenuous attacks on educators and public schools, we need pro-public education policies that enable students to think critically about the world around them and empower them to be proud of who they are, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, how they express their gender identities, or who they – or their parents – love.”
“House Bill 616 represents yet another example of how a national network of extremists is seeking to hijack the education conversation in our state to control a political narrative and distract Ohioans from the real issues facing our public schools,” DiMauro added. “The architects of this bill, who have decided to copy and paste some of the most damaging parts of Florida’s ultra-divisive legislation, are targeting some of Ohio’s most vulnerable students and families and setting Ohio up for a Florida-like showdown with the businesses our state leaders have been working so hard to attract.”
“Why would Ohio want to follow in Florida’s footsteps after it forced a showdown with Disney, one of the state’s biggest employers?” DiMauro questioned. “HB 616 is exactly the kind of legislation that could send Intel and other major employers running, hurting our students’ future job prospects for decades to come.”
HB 616 would also have a serious chilling effect on Ohio’s education profession, which is already facing a recruitment crisis. At a time when it has become increasingly difficult to attract new educators to our classrooms to ensure the adequate staffing levels our students need to receive a world-class education, Ohio lawmakers are sending exactly the wrong message to the state’s education workforce. “Our students and educators cannot be pawns in these ongoing political games,” DiMauro said. “House Bill 616 would have grave consequences for Ohio’s children, public schools, and wider economy. We all deserve better.”
February – March 2022 Ohio Schools
- COVER STORY: Pathways to Success – Educational Pathways program aims to set future teachers up for success.
- MAKING THE GRADE
- Ohio Paraprofessionals Honored as Ohio’s Nominees for National Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award
- OEA Members Recognized as Top NEA Cyber-lobbyists
- A Typical American Teacher’s Brain on Any Given School Day
- POLITICAL ACTION
- Biden Administration Delivers Results for Public Education and America in First Year
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
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OEA condemns latest version of House Bill 327
[February 16, 2022] The Ohio Education Association (OEA) stands with the majority of Ohioans who believe all children deserve the opportunity to receive an honest and reflective education that empowers them to become critical thinkers and strong future leaders.
OEA is appalled by the continuing efforts of certain politicians to force through House Bill 327, which would force educators to whitewash our history and distract from the real issues facing Ohio’s schools. OEA calls on the Ohio House of Representatives to end consideration of the bill.
The revisions included in substitute HB 327, as introduced Wednesday, do nothing to address the irreparable harm this legislation would cause to Ohio’s students. And it actually makes the potential dangers to educators and administrators more confusing. The current version replaces the bill’s original and undefinable “divisive concepts” language with vague references to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, apparently requiring Ohio educators to become constitutional law experts in order to understand what the bill’s sponsors don’t want them teaching.
“Make no mistake, this latest version of HB 327 is just another exercise in smoke and mirrors by some state leaders to deflect their constitutional responsibility to fully fund all of Ohio’s public schools and provide Ohio’s children with the resources they need to succeed,” OEA President Scott DiMauro said. “The lawmakers behind this horrendous bill can dress it up anyway they want as they continue to do the bidding of a national network of extremists who are looking to control the political narrative at any cost. But this new version is just as outrageous and inexcusable as the prior version. And in some ways, it’s worse.”
OEA will continue to stand up for honesty in education and against government censorship in the classroom. Ohioans must come together and call on their elected leaders to do better for Ohio’s students.
“Educators and parents know children must have the opportunity to reckon with the mistakes of our past in order to create a better future for all of us,” DiMauro said. “Instead of anti-freedom state censorship laws, let’s work on pro-student policies like fair funding and better access to learning opportunities for all students.”
Backpack Bill would come at enormous cost
“Ohio lawmakers have a constitutional responsibility to fund Ohio’s public schools and ensure a high-quality education for all of Ohio’s kids. HB 290 would force local communities to rely even more heavily on local property taxes to fund schools for the 90 percent of Ohio children who attend public schools. There’s evidence under our current voucher system that public schools out-perform the private schools,” OEA President Scott DiMauro said, citing a Cincinnati Enquirer investigation that found nearly 90% of all voucher students do worse on state tests than students in traditional public schools in the same zip codes.
“Dumping precious resources into a universal voucher system that provides zero auditing requirements for the private schools that would rake in the taxpayers’ cash is just wrong,” DiMauro added. “This is especially true now, when Ohio finally has a public school funding system worth investing in after the adoption of the Fair School Funding Plan in the last state budget. Our lawmakers must hold up their end of the deal to fully fund that system before going off on yet another ideological misadventure with our hard-earned tax dollars. Taxpayers don’t need another ECOT-level disaster and scandal.”
Disturbingly, even with these vouchers, most families still couldn’t afford tuition at the private schools in their communities, and this exponential expansion of a vouchers system in the state would only further contribute to racial segregation in our schools. In Ohio, only about 50% of the subsidies currently being taken are being taken by non-white parents, even though the communities where about 95% of the vouchers come from are nearly 70% non-white. Only 37% of students in Lima City Schools are white, yet Temple Christian School gets $242,000 in taxpayer tuition subsidies and took 100% white students. Likewise, Lima Central Catholic takes more than 70% white students, St. Gerard and St. Charles take about 80% white students. Simply put, these private schools do not reflect the racial makeup of the communities that are forced to pay their bills.
“Ohio taxpayers can’t afford to shell out more money for voucher programs that weaken the public schools that serve the vast majority of Ohio’s kids,” DiMauro said. “We’ve been down this road before and we know it is a dead end in Ohio’s budget. When only 74% of students were eligible for government subsidized private school tuition in 2017’s SB 85, the non-partisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission estimated the cost as high as $1.2 billion. And that was with lower subsidy amounts. This bill will cost (conservatively) two or even three times that amount. Asking Ohioans to pay for that at the expense of their neighborhood public schools is irresponsible and wrong.”
OEA Hopes Court Decision on Maps Will Be Lesson Learned
“The Ohio Education Association celebrates the courage of the four State Supreme Court justices who have demonstrated their steadfast commitment to upholding the law and defending the will of the people. Ohio voters have spoken and have overwhelmingly demanded fair maps to ensure they will finally have a real voice in the Statehouse. It’s clear the state’s highest court will not let that voice be ignored any longer.
The Redistricting Commission reminds me of students I’ve had at times who spend more time creatively cheating than doing their work. Like those students, if the Redistricting Commission had put as much time into actually following the instructions of the Constitution as they did into coming up with creative ways of sidestepping the rules, they would have passed with flying colors. Moreover, if they had put as much work into following the will of the people rather than trying to get around the will of the people, we’d all have the maps we deserve.
The Commission members must understand that Ohioans have a constitutional right to choose their politicians, not the other way around, and Ohio’s broken mapmaking process must finally come to an end.
OEA looks forward to seeing the Commission’s third attempt at district maps and continues to put its faith in the State Supreme Court to ensure Ohio finally has fair maps if the Commission again fails to deliver on that promise.”
OEA applauds court decision striking down gerrymandered maps
“The Ohio Education Association (OEA) applauds the wisdom of the Ohio Supreme Court in striking down the gerrymandered maps that would have denied Ohioans a real voice in the Statehouse. This is a huge victory for Ohio voters and for Ohio schools, which are greatly impacted by the decisions of the state’s elected lawmakers.
OEA looks forward to seeing newly drawn, fair maps that will reflect the will of the two-thirds of Ohio voters who demanded an end to Ohio’s broken mapmaking process. Ohio voters deserve to choose their politicians, not the other way around. Today’s Ohio Supreme Court decision represents a major step toward making that a reality.”
OEA urges swift Senate passage of Build Back Better act
“The Build Back Better framework will change lives here in Ohio by making enormous strides toward ending child hunger and poverty, addressing a growing nationwide teacher shortage, and investing in early education, job training, and higher education programs to allow all of Ohio’s students to pursue their dreams, regardless of where they’re from or what they look like,” OEA President Scott DiMauro said. “Ohio’s 1.7 million public school students can’t afford for the Senate to wait to act on this plan.”
Among other benefits included in the Build Back Better framework, it will:
- Enable Ohio to expand access to free, high-quality preschool to more than 151,420 additional 3- and 4-year-olds per year and increase the quality of preschool for children who are already enrolled
- Increase maximum Pell Grant awards by $550 for students at public and private non-profit institutions, supporting the 172,095 students in Ohio who rely on Pell, to help unlock the opportunities of an education beyond high school
- Invest in Ohio’s 7 minority-serving institutions and the students they serve, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs)
- Ensure that the nutritional needs of Ohio’s children are met by expanding access to free school meals to an additional 153,000 students during the school year and providing 844,631 students with resources to purchase food over the summer
- Provide opportunities for 43 public community colleges in Ohio to benefit from grants to develop and deliver innovative training programs and expand proven ones
- “A high-quality preschool education lays the foundation for a lifetime of success for our students,” said Traci Arway, a special education teacher in Columbus City Schools. “I am beyond excited to know that Ohio will receive funding through the Build Back Better framework to increase early childhood education for our youngest Ohioans!”
“Teachers know that our students need to have their nutritional needs met to be focused in the classroom. The Build Back Better framework expands free school meals so Ohio’s students can focus on their schoolwork instead of how they’ll get their next meal,” said Kara Jankowski, who teaches English Language Learners in West Carrollton City Schools.
“As of now, only about 31% of the three- and four-year-olds in Ohio have access to publicly-funded preschool, and it costs nearly $8,600 per year for those families that cannot access a publicly funded program. This is unacceptable,” said Larry Carey, a preschool teacher in Columbus. “The Senate must do its part and pass the Build Back Better act now.”
“The Build Back Better framework is a smart investment in our children, our state, and our future,” DiMauro said. “The Senate must seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a better tomorrow for all of us.”