COLUMBUS — May 10, 2013 — Members of the Ohio Education Association, the state’s largest education employee union have elected Becky Higgins to a three-year term as President, and Scott DiMauro to a three-year term as Vice President. OEA represents 121,000 teachers, education support professionals and higher education faculty.
Higgins, a first-grade teacher in the Copley-Fairlawn City Schools, was elected during OEA’s Representative Assembly, the governing body of the organization comprised of more than 1,000 elected delegates from local education associations throughout Ohio.
Higgins has 19 years of classroom experience and has held Association positions at both the local and district level. She has served as President of the Copley Teachers’ Association, as Unit NE-4 Representative on Northeastern Ohio Education Association’s (NEOEA) Board of Directors and as President of NEOEA.
Higgins was President of NEOEA during the Senate Bill 5 (SB 5) crisis in 2011. Immediately after the introduction of SB 5, she worked to build a strong base of support for collective bargaining rights in northeastern Ohio and to guarantee a strong turnout from northeastern Ohio voters opposing Senate Bill 5 and Issue 2.
Higgins will begin a three-year term in September as the top elected leader of Ohio’s largest association of public employees. She replaces outgoing President Patricia Frost-Brooks who is term-limited.
DiMauro, a social studies teacher in Worthington, is a 22-year veteran educator with the Worthington Schools. He currently teaches at Worthington Kilbourne High School while serving as President of Central OEA/NEA and as Chairperson of the NEA Standing Committee on Legislation.
DiMauro has served in a variety of leadership positions, including as full-time local president, a member of his local bargaining team, Central OEA Political Action Coordinator and Leadership Development Chair, a member of the OEA Fund for Children and Public Education State Council, Chairperson of the Central Ohio Regional Coordinating Council and longtime delegate to the OEA and NEA Representative Assemblies. DiMauro was one of three labor representatives on the Ohio School Employees Health Care Board.
DiMauro will begin a three-year term in September and replaces outgoing Vice President William Leibensperger who is term-limited.
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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.
CONTACT: Michele Prater
614-227-3071; cell 614-378-0469, praterm@ohea.org
