Let’s get the facts straight on public school funding
By Scott DiMauro, Ohio Education Association President
As a high school social studies teacher, I was always struck by what the then-future US President John Adams said during the criminal trial following the Boston Massacre: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
The fact is that Ohio’s public schools serve nearly 90 percent of students in our state. And, despite recent claims that attempt to twist the truth around public school funding in Ohio, the evidence is clear: More work must be done to finally fully and fairly fund our public schools, so that every child – regardless of where they live, what they look like, or how much money their parents make – can receive the excellent education they deserve.
The fact is that Ohio’s public schools are funded from the same line item in the state budget as private school vouchers. The last state budget did provide “record funding” for that line item, as indeed, anytime there’s an increase, that would set a new record. As noted in recent news coverage, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce doesn’t yet know how much the state’s new universal voucher program will cost this year. But, with the explosion in the number of wealthier families taking public taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition for students who were already attending private schools in the first place, it is clear the state’s spending on the universal voucher program will far exceed the original budget estimates.
So, the fact is, when it comes time to pass the next state budget in 2025, that leaves less money in that line item for Ohio’s public schools. Exactly how much less and how will that impact public schools? It’s unclear. But, the uncertainty around those questions is causing school districts across the state to hold onto larger reserves to weather future state funding shortfalls, and in some cases, has prevented districts from feeling comfortable spending down the soon-to-expire federal pandemic-relief money that is currently inflating some of the figures. In the end, that uncertainty is hurting our students, as money that should be used to recruit and retain public school educators, address students’ mental health needs, and make up for lost ground remains unspent.
The Fair School Funding Plan, when fully implemented with updated formula components, should remove that uncertainty. Based on years of work and input from stakeholders across the board, the Fair School Funding Plan, which the state began phasing in in the FY 2022-23 budget, is meant to accurately account for how much it costs to educate a child and how much a local community can actually afford to pay toward that. And, it provides a predictable funding model, so school districts can accurately plan ahead. If the Fair School Funding Plan is fully phased in in the next state budget, as it was always intended to be, Ohio would finally have a constitutional school funding formula for the first time since the state supreme court started telling the legislature to stop chronically underfunding our public schools and truly fix the problems back in 1997.
Our lawmakers need to fulfill Ohio’s promise to our kids and commit to fully adopting the Fair School Funding Plan. They need to ensure that public tax dollars spent on private school vouchers come with the same academic and financial accountability as the dollars we spend on our public schools. They need to focus on providing the supports and resources our students need to succeed in a 21st century economy, because in Ohio, public education matters.
Fear and Power: What Really Drives Issue 1
By Julie Holderbaum, Minerva EA/OEA
A teacher tells his students that phones are not allowed in class. One day, a student points out that the teacher is often on his phone. The teacher replies that the rule doesn’t apply to him, only to them.
A student turns in a research paper a day after it is due. The student knows that 10% will be deducted from the final score, which is the teacher’s late work policy established at the beginning of the year. However, the paper is returned with 50% deducted from the grade. When the student questions the teacher, the teacher simply says that she changed the rules.
A teacher decides to allow students to vote on whether to have homework assignments during the school year and 59% of the students vote not to have homework. When the teacher shares the results, a majority of the students rejoice! But then the teacher announces that since the NO votes didn’t reach 60%, homework is going to stay.
Any credibility these teachers had would be damaged at best and quite possibly destroyed by these actions. Not following their own rules? Changing the established, fair policies to much harsher ones? Eliminating majority rule? These teachers would be viewed by their students as hypocritical, manipulative, and untrustworthy…which is exactly how we should view the Ohio legislators who support Issue 1.
Ohio Legislators are failing to follow their own rules
In December 2022, the Ohio General Assembly voted to eliminate August elections in most cases. But now those same lawmakers argue that the rule they enacted doesn’t apply to them; it only applies to small, local elections.
Why the change of heart? Because a grassroots group of Ohio citizens has submitted petitions to get an amendment on the November ballot that would protect reproductive rights in Ohio.1
Many Republicans, who hold a supermajority in Ohio, do not want to see the citizen-based reproductive rights amendment pass in Ohio. Look, reasonable people can have reasonable disagreements on reproductive rights. But changing the rules to rig the democratic process is not what Ohioans want, and that is exactly what corrupt politicians did when, in spite of banning special elections in August less than a year ago, they put Issue 1 on the August Special Election in an effort to preempt the November election and make it more difficult for a citizen-based amendment to pass.
Ohio Legislators are changing well-established, fair policies.
Proponents of Issue 1 say its purpose is to defend the Ohio Constitution against frequent attacks of special interest groups. What legislators are really trying to protect is their own power and take freedoms and rights away from the citizens of our state. When Ohioans made it clear that we are willing to exercise our rights to try to amend the Constitution when legislators fail to represent our values, the legislature put an issue on the ballot that would make it difficult for citizens to ever again affect a change in the Constitution.
It is already extremely difficult for a citizen-led group to get an amendment to the Constitution on the ballot. There are multiple steps that require signature gatherers to obtain certification from the Ohio Attorney General, the Ohio Ballot Board and meet signature thresholds both at the statewide level and in 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Since 1913, only 71 citizen-based amendments have made it to the ballot, and of those, only 19 were approved by the voters. This is most certainly not an overused tactic to change the Ohio Constitution.
If Issue 1 passes, instead of meeting the signature requirement in 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties to move a proposal to the ballot, the threshold would need to be met in all of Ohio’s 88 counties, giving a single county the ability to thwart the will of the remaining 87. Issue 1 also eliminates the 10-day period petitioners have to gather more signatures if not enough of the original signatures meet the requirements. These harsher demands make getting a citizen-led proposed amendment to the Constitution extraordinarily unlikely and cede all ability to amend the Constitution to deep pocketed special interest groups (some of whom may not even be in Ohio) and the Ohio General Assembly.
Ohio Legislators are ending majority rule.
In the unlikely event that an amendment makes it to the ballot, Issue 1 would require that 60% of Ohioans must approve an amendment in order for it to pass, as opposed to the current standard of a simple majority, 50% + 1. (Ironically, Issue 1 only needs a simple majority to pass). Majority rule has been the default threshold for victory in Ohio elections for more than 100 years, but fearful of losing their power to ordinary (and organized) citizens, the legislature decided to change what determines a winner mid-game, handing the ability to veto the will of the majority of voters to a minority of the vote. Issue 1 is an attack on our voting rights, plain and simple.
It’s crucial to remember, however, that Issue 1 is not about abortion.
Issue 1 is about all citizen-proposed amendments to the constitution, not just one, as Secretary of State Frank LaRose says. He stated (rather disrespectfully, I would argue): “(Issue 1 is) 100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution. The left wants to jam it in there this coming November.”2 Jam it through? Is that how he views Ohio citizens who exercise their democratic rights by following the legal (and lengthy) process to make changes to the state constitution?
Let’s be real. The move to protect reproductive rights is simply the catalyst causing our legislators to fear losing their unilateral power.
They’ve managed to largely protect their own power by gerrymandering the state, but citizen-based amendments to the constitution represent a threat that there is no easy way to quell, short of changing both the rules that have been well- established for years, and the rules they set themselves less than a year ago.
Regardless of the outcome of Issue 1 in August, the reproductive rights amendment is heading for the November ballot. I urge you to base your vote in November on your feelings about abortion and reproductive rights.
But I beg you, don’t base your vote in August on your feelings about abortion and reproductive rights. Issue 1 has nothing to do with that. Issue 1 has everything to do with an already powerful legislature trying to further silence their constituents. Their gerrymandered supermajority affords them the ability to pass a myriad of laws with impunity, but that’s not enough for them. They want to take away one of the only guardrails we have left as citizens to determine the future of our state when one party gains a trifecta of dominance in our state government and stops listening to the desires of we, the people of Ohio.
It’s worth noting that the egregious consequences of passing Issue 1 would impact BOTH parties.
Republicans and Democrats alike have the same rights to get a proposed constitutional amendment on future ballots, about any number of issues. Issue 1 makes this more difficult, regardless of the political leanings of the citizens who begin the process.
I wonder if the legislators who support Issue 1 are more afraid of losing power or of the Ohioans who refuse to remain silent and allow the legislature to set the course for our state without our input?
As educators, we must be vigilant in using our voices to advocate for change when laws are manipulated to reflect personal agendas instead of the will of the people. With the recent expansion of universal vouchers, the state will spend billions of dollars, with little oversight, funding private and charter school tuition and homeschooling for families, regardless of how wealthy those families might be. Furthermore, the legislature has stripped power from the elected State School Board and given much of the decision-making authority in education- related issues to an appointed partisan official.
With legislators making moves like this, we can ill afford to lose any of the tools we have as citizens to make changes that better reflect the interests of Ohio’s educators, students, and families.
Ohio legislators who support Issue 1 might well be motivated by a fear of losing power. But there is great power in losing the fear of standing up to those who ignore our interests.
Fear, I predict, will fail. Because just like the teachers in the scenarios above would quickly lose credibility, our legislators are playing games that will cost them the trust of Ohioans.
Join me in voting NO on Issue 1 this August and send the message to politicians and their special interest backers that we, the people of Ohio, will fight for our freedom and right to determine the future of our state.
1 The full text of the proposed amendment can be found here: https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/getattachment/cf27c10f-b153-4731-ae9e-e3555a326ed9/The-Right-to-Reproductive-Freedom-with-Protections-for-Health-and-Safety.aspx
2 https://signalcleveland.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-august-vote-on-issue-1/
A Teacher’s Brain Following Yet Another School Shooting…and Yet Another Misguided Response by Legislators
By Julie Holderbaum, Minerva EA/OEA
Another school shooting? 19 students killed? And two teachers?
He bought the AR-15s legally, just days after his 18th birthday? And bought another weapon just a few days after buying the first, with a high-magazine clip? Doesn’t anyone besides me see that there should be a red flag in some system somewhere that signals local police to check this person out?
Would it have made a difference in this case? Maybe not…but we will never know, will we?
Is this for real? Is a local group really raffling off an assault rifle as a fundraiser for a youth program? Are they really asking kids to sell tickets for an assault weapon when kids were just slaughtered with the same type of gun, to the point of needing a DNA sample to be identified? I’m not sure if there is ever a right time for that sort of fundraiser, but less than a month after Uvalde?
And now the legislature passed what? A bill to LOWER the number of required training hours to 24 for teachers to carry a weapon in school? Didn’t my daughter need 50 hours of behind-the-wheel training just to get a driver’s license? Why would a teacher, who is not in the field of law enforcement, need so few hours of training to carry a gun in a school?
How would that even work? Would it be a hand gun? Locked and loaded in a drawer somewhere? Is a handgun going to be any deterrent to a person carrying an assault rifle? Would I have time to get to it if I needed it? And how would I know I needed it? A loud noise in the hall? Would I get my gun and peek my head out to see if action is needed? Would eight other teacher heads be peeking out in my hallway, guns drawn?
If nothing was wrong and we grabbed our weapons in error, would the students in our classes be traumatized by seeing their teachers with loaded guns?
Or has this lockdown-drill-school-shooting cycle become so normalized to them that they wouldn’t even be phased at seeing the same people who teach them their ABCs or pre-calc wielding a dangerous weapon? And if so, what does that mean for the future of our country?
And what if the threat wasn’t in the hallway, but in my classroom? One of my students? Even if I could get to my gun, would I have the ability to shoot one of MY kids? Knowing he suffers from depression and can’t use our school resource mental health counselor because of insurance issues? Knowing his past experience with abuse? Knowing that he has not felt seen or heard or loved at home in years?
Could I shoot that kid?
And if I did use my gun, even if I saved lives, could I live with myself? What would the repercussions of pulling that trigger have for my own mental health? Would I ever be able to look at my students the same way again? Would they ever be able to see me in the same way again?
What if I hesitated? What if more were hurt because I struggled to pull the trigger? How could I ever teach again? How could anyone trust me again? How many lawsuits would I face because I didn’t act fast enough?
If trained law enforcement officers hesitated to enter Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, what makes anyone think teachers would be comfortable entering a spray of gunfire and endangering themselves? Especially with only 24 hours of training?
On the other hand, how many lawsuits would there be if I leapt into action, misread a situation, and shot an innocent person?
If we were required to actually carry our guns with us at all times, could I ever concentrate enough to teach effectively? How can I teach my students that words can change the world, that literature can move souls, that the power of a well-turned phrase can penetrate the hardest of hearts… while carrying a gun?
How’s that for a mixed message? Words have power, but guns are faster? Is that what we want to teach?
Beyond sending mixed messages, could I ever teach without constantly worrying about my weapon? About who is looking at it oddly today, about turning my back on anyone, about helping one student at her desk while my gun is about 2 feet away from the hands of the student in the desk next to hers? Would I have to keep one hand on my weapon at all times? As a TEACHER?
Surely I wouldn’t be required to carry a gun, though, right? I already check my classroom door multiple times a day to be sure it’s still locked; I already weigh the options of teaching with my door shut and locked for safety from shooters to teaching with it open to allow for more airflow and safety from COVID; I already jump at every odd sound or unannounced lockdown; how much worse would it be if I knew multiple people in our building were carrying guns?
This legislation won’t just affect the mental health of our students, will it?
I’m so tired of hearing that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”; if that’s true, why were weapons not allowed at the recent NRA convention in Texas? How could a room full of good guys with guns be a threat? Shouldn’t that be the safest place in the world? Why aren’t more responsible gun owners fighting for universal background checks, for a raise to the age limit to buy certain guns, for red flag laws, for a required waiting period before possessing a gun after purchase?
With so many Americans in favor of at least some reform to gun laws, are legislators who refuse to advocate for safer gun laws just afraid of losing their jobs? Afraid that without the money of the NRA and other pro-gun lobbyists they won’t be able to fund a successful campaign? That they would lose their power, their position, their ability to provide for their families? But don’t those same legislators force educators to live with those fears every day, knowing that if we teach about racism or other sensitive topics in the wrong way, we could lose our jobs thanks to their laws?
If they think we can’t be trusted to discuss elements of America’s troubled past or the current events of the day in a responsible manner, why would they deem us responsible enough to carry a gun in school?
When will our politicians put people over power? When will they set aside pride to work with the other side? When will the safety of our communities take precedence over an election?
If the politicians currently in office aren’t willing to make changes, is the blood of the victims of the next shooting on their hands….or on ours?
If this isn’t the time to persist in our efforts to persuade responsible gun owners to join the cause, when is?
If this isn’t the time to promise our children that we will do more than pause to remember the victims and pray that this never happens again, when is?
If this isn’t the time to preserve the sanctity of our classrooms as places of learning, belonging, and growing, when is?
If this isn’t the time to pursue real action by promoting politicians who run on a platform of actual changes to the law, when is?
If this isn’t the time to protest, when is? Aren’t the protest signs true? “The power of the people is greater than the people in power?”
Isn’t the truest form of political protest voting out those who have made empty promises but not practical efforts at positive change?
How many days until November?
Power and Potential of Our Stories
By Julie Holderbaum, Minerva EA/OEA
A teacher walks into a bar.
No, this is not the beginning of a joke, or the beginning of a commentary on the challenges of public education driving teachers to drink (well, not really).
It’s the beginning of a testing story.
I was the teacher, and it was a holiday weekend in my small town a few years ago.
I felt a bit like Norm on Cheers when I walked in. “Miss Moffett!” the kids nearest the door yelled. (I hadn’t been Miss Moffett for years, but just as these young adults would always be “kids” to me, I would always be Miss Moffett to them).
There were hugs and smiles, and a few offered to buy me a beer. As we caught up, the conversation turned to the days when they had been students in my class. They had lots of good memories.
(Fill in the upcoming blanks with fun and meaningful, but time-consuming activities).
“Do you remember when we ______?”
“Do you still do that activity where we _______?”
“Do you still teach _________?”
My answer was always, and sadly, that I don’t do any of those activities anymore. Why? Because I have slowly but surely allowed testing to dictate what and how I teach.
The lessons I teach now are not what I enjoy teaching and they are not what their kids enjoy learning and frankly, it makes me sick.
My former students were happy to see their old teacher Miss Moffett. But I’m afraid that now, if they see their children’s teacher Mrs. Holderbaum out at a bar, instead of offering to buy me a beer, they might throw one in my face.
The lessons I teach now are not what I enjoy teaching and they are not what their kids enjoy learning and frankly, it makes me sick.
And I’m Not Alone
On January 26, 2019, over 100 Ohio public school teachers met to share stories about how testing has impacted our classrooms.
There were stories of kids of all ages puking and crying on test days.
There were stories of teachers basically “bird-boxing” as they helped students with technical issues during an AIR test, so great was the fear of breaking security protocol by looking at the actual test. There were stories of teachers considering leaving the profession because of the pressure of these high-stakes tests, and stories of teachers telling their own children that they would not pay for their college education if they went into teaching.
In one activity, we listed words that expressed our feelings regarding the overabundance of testing and what it has done to our students and to us. Want to hear a few just from the six people at my table? Sad. Anxious. Angry. Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Defeated.
Is that how we want to feel about our jobs? Is that how we want our students to feel about school?
We Have Two Choices
Of course not. We have two choices. Keep feeling that way while we continue to adapt to testing madness, or start pushing back and standing up for ourselves, our profession, and our students, and saying ENOUGH.
I’ve written about testing several times previously. After that encounter at the bar, I wrote an open letter to my former students apologizing in advance for the experience their kids would have in my classroom now that testing has taken over. I’ve written about the irrelevant and inappropriate test questions and the challenge of preparing my students to address those questions, and last spring,
I wrote about the absolutely insane fact that computers, not people, are now grading our children’s essay answers on the test. These pieces share my stories and voice my feelings about the impact of testing on my classroom.
But we need more voices. We need a chorus of voices so loud that we cannot be ignored. We need YOUR voice.
Share your story with other teachers; send your story to OEA at webmaster@ohea.org to add to the discussion of how real teachers and students are being adversely affected by testing insanity.
There is power in sharing our stories with each other; anyone who attended the meeting last weekend can attest to that. But that power turns into potential to change the situation when we share our stories with those outside the profession. We need to saturate the internet and bombard our legislators with our stories. We need our communities and our leaders to know that we will no longer be complicit by silently going along with the changes in education that are hurtful to our students.
Power of Social Media
Write your stories, and share them on your social media platforms, using the hashtags #OvertestedOH and #RedForEd.
Power of Legislative Contact
Then, write to your legislators, or better yet, visit them in Columbus or lobby them when they are at home in-district. Let them know how you feel, tell them how the testing affects your students; share your stories.
We need our legislators to hear our chorus of voices. We need them to hear what it’s like to have our careers and our classrooms commandeered by the demands and pressure of the tests. We need them to hear that Ohio’s children, instead of feeling excitement at the idea of going to school, are feeling dread. We need them to hear that because of the tests, we are developing anxiety in our students instead of curiosity, fear of failure instead of freedom to flourish.
Don’t be afraid of reaching out to your legislators because you don’t consider yourself a political person.
We are turning out test-takers instead of lifelong learners. Instead of being trusted as college-educated professionals who can factor in our students’ varying situations, challenges, strengths, and growth to determine whether or not they have succeeded at a level needed to pass our classes, we are being treated as assembly-line workers who must produce a uniform product that meets the same standards as every other product in the factory in the exact same way. This system might work well when producing products, but it’s no way to produce people.
But I am Not Political….
Don’t be afraid of reaching out to your legislators because you don’t consider yourself a political person. This is not a political issue. Children of both Republicans and Democrats are negatively affected by the over-testing in Ohio.
Ohio is one of only 11 states in the nation to require more tests of our children than the federal government mandates; it is our state legislators who have the power to change that.
And it is Ohio’s teachers who have the power to influence them to do so with our stories.
— Julie Holderbaum is an English Instructor and an Academic Challenge Advisor at Minerva High School, Minerva, Ohio.
Related Resource Links
- OEA 2019 Educator Lobby Days
- Find Your Ohio Legislators
- OEA Legislative Scorecard
- 08.16.2016 — A Teacher’s Open Letter to Ohio’s New State Superintendent
- 08.09.2016 —The 8 Olympic Events of Teaching
- 04.25.2016 — To All the Ones I’ve Taught Before
- 04.13.2015 — What to do about too much testing — Fight, Flee, or Fake It?
- 02.29.2016 — Who Really Deserves the F?
- 01.19.2016 — Tests With More Questions Than Answers
Click here for more #OverTestedOH & #RedForEd Stories. |
Blog: The Antidote to Despair
By Julie Rine is an English Instructor and an Academic Challenge Advisor at Minerva High School, Minerva, Ohio.
It’s easy to feel hopeless and overwhelmed right now, isn’t it? The Supreme Court’s decision regarding the Janus case, while not unexpected, still stung. The move by the Court has the potential to weaken unions, many sources say, and the decision has even been referred to as a “crippling blow” .
There are certain unfortunate situations in life that we can’t control, and it’s important to recognize those and let them go rather than devote energy to a state of affairs that cannot be changed.
There are also situations in life that we CAN impact, with our actions, our words, our advocacy, but even in those situations, there are moments when you have to let go, politically, personally, emotionally. You have to take a break, look away, check out, turn off the news and turn on a Friends rerun, lose yourself in a good book, take a few deep breaths and decide to let go and let someone else take up the cause for awhile. Those “let go” moments are critical to maintaining good mental health and restoring energy to jump back into the fray when we are refreshed and ready to go.
But this is not one of those times. This is not a “let go” moment. This is a “Let’s Go” moment.
The media would have you believe that the Janus ruling will lead to fewer union members which means a reduction in funds which equals unions cutting jobs and services and benefits. If you believe the news, soon our teacher unions will be so weak and ineffective that teachers will not be able to influence an impressionable kindergartner, let alone legislative policies.
Don’t believe the hype.
If anyone is equipped to turn a bad roll of the dice into an opportunity to change the game, it’s teachers.
On a daily and weekly basis, we think on our feet, we adapt to a snag in the routine. We reflect on what worked and what didn’t and make adjustments in the three minutes between classes, a task that would take Congress three months. We take on whatever challenges exist in our communities and in our classrooms and we overcome them. We don’t stop there, either. Most of the time, we not only overcome the challenges we face, challenges which can change from year to year and week to week, (sometimes even minute to minute!), we create new programs, new methods, and new realities that are often more effective for our students than what existed before the obstacle presented itself.
I don’t care what your political leanings are, if you are a teacher, you rival only parents in your fierce desire to protect kids and prepare them to succeed in the future.
The union helps us do just that. Through the union, we can fight for what our kids need to succeed, such as smaller class sizes, adequate and up-to-date academic resources, onsite counselors and mental health professionals, and a safe environment in which to learn. The union also helps us fight for what teachers need to help students succeed, such as adequate planning time, meaningful professional development, continued opportunities for further education and training, sufficient time to work as teams to tackle problems rather than as isolated instructors behind our classroom doors, and yes, a fair salary which allows us to focus fully on our students and our own families instead of squeezing in hours away from both while we work a second job to make ends meet. The trickle-down effect here is obvious; when teachers lack support and resources, kids lose the effective education they deserve.
So what can we do?
The decision will not be reversed, and even worse, it appears that a new Justice will be seated who may have equally damaging views of unions and public education.
First, we must remember that Supreme Court Justices are not the only ones allowed to issue opinions. We can write letters to the editor of our local papers, and we can routinely call or write our elected officials to make our voices heard and our opinions known.
Secondly, we can actively recruit members, especially young teachers, to not only join the union, but to become active in the union. Retaining or gaining members will of course help the union financially, since our dues dollars provide us with the resources and training necessary to be effective advocates for our students. But we don’t just need the dues money. We need active and energetic members, more than ever before. Money talks, but members act.
Thirdly, we can help register new voters. If we want a future in which citizens are active participants in the democratic process (whether they are on “our side” or not), then we must emphasize the importance and value of our right to vote, and then take the practical step to register young voters. It is a simple process. There is no reason why every 18-year-old student who graduates from an American high school should not be registered to vote.
We can’t force them to register, however, so the goal should be to get them excited to register.
By teaching our students how to read a variety of sources on any given topic and then to form their own opinion, we help them become critical thinkers. Critical thinkers are often eager to make their positions known, and the most powerful way to do that is to exercise the right to vote. Few moments of my teaching career have been as special to me as when I registered a student to vote and she literally high-fived me and yelled, “I can vote, I can vote!” This is the enthusiasm we must seek to engender in our classrooms.
Perhaps most importantly, we can get involved in local and OEA efforts to elect pro-public education and pro-union candidates. We can work phone banks, canvass door-to-door, talk to our colleagues and friends about why we support certain candidates. We must follow that up by voting for candidates who support us as public school teachers and as union members, up and down the ballot, in local elections, in primaries, in midterms and in presidential elections. These actions are particularly important in Ohio this year, as we will be voting for a senator and a governor.
Political defeats can be discouraging, but nothing feels worse than knowing you could have done more to ensure victory when instead you chose to sit on the sidelines. We must take our frustration and allow it to motivate us to take action.
Sure, the Supreme Court decision is a setback, a challenge to be overcome. But a “blow” to unions? I don’t think so. In fact, I think they might have just poked the beast. Joan Baez said “Action is the only antidote to despair.” So don’t despair. Don’t make this a “let go” moment. This is a “LET’S GO!” moment and I have no doubt that we will persevere and succeed. The teachers’ unions are strong because teachers are strong, and we are stronger when we stand together, as friends, as colleagues, and as proud union members.
— Julie Rine is an English Instructor and an Academic Challenge Advisor at Minerva High School, Minerva, Ohio.
You Cannot Silence the Voice of Working People
Teaching children is pretty wonderful.
This has been my passion and in the 19 years that I taught, I learned from and have been inspired by my colleagues. I have also been moved by the actions of fellow union members who fought for better wages and safe working conditions.
The energy we are seeing with teachers standing up in the neighboring states of West Virginia and Kentucky and elsewhere as the #RedForEd movement spreads across the country is unparalleled in recent history. Public opinion is with us. A recent poll found that 62% of Americans believe the country is better off with stronger unions.
Yet, while this happening, amid the highest level of support for unions in 15 years, the US Supreme Court in a narrow 5-4, politically-motivated decision ruled that unions – specifically public employee unions — should be weaker. The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31 to further tilt the playing field in favor of the wealthy and corporate interests.
The court overturned 40 years of precedent in deciding that requiring so-called fair-share fees to be paid by people who choose not to join a public-sector union but who enjoy the benefits of union representation somehow violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. This doesn’t make sense, and it’s not right.
It also doesn’t make sense that so many people are finding it difficult to get by and provide for their families, no matter how hard they work. It doesn’t make sense that people are more productive than ever, but they’re working longer hours for less money and fewer benefits. And it doesn’t make sense that all this is going on while a handful of very wealthy people have seen their salaries and holdings skyrocket. It is shameful that the wealthy special interests behind the Janus case have succeeded in manipulating the highest court in the land to do their bidding.
"I believe deeply in the power of our collective voice to make sure that every teacher and student has the resources they need to be successful."
I believe deeply in the power of our collective voice to make sure that every teacher and student has the resources they need to be successful. When unions negotiate for working conditions in the classroom, they also negotiate for the conditions in which our children learn. When our unions advocate for us as educators, they also advocate for the students we serve.
Public service workers-teachers, social workers, firefighters, and nurses are more determined than ever to stick together in their unions. Unions remain the most effective vehicle for the power in numbers needed for working people to secure their rights and freedoms, and they provide a pathway to the middle class.
The truth is, when unions are strong, the entire community benefits. Unions use their collective voice to advocate for policies that help all working people — like increases to the minimum wage, affordable health care and great public schools.
Unions help close the pay gap for women and communities of color who have been systematically disadvantaged due to discrimination and prejudice.
African-American women in unions earn an average of $21.90 per hour, while non-union women earn $17.04. When Latinos are members of a union, their median weekly income increases by more than 38 percent.
The wealthy special interests that have benefited from an unfair, unbalanced playing field are now intent on tilting that playing field even more by attacking public-sector unions.
It’s driven by ideological extremists who oppose our basic right to organize. And it’s an attack on more than the men and women who are teachers and custodians and first responders; it’s an attack on anyone who wants to use their voice to fight for something better for their communities.
I have dedicated my life both to helping students and fighting for my community and I won’t back down.
My fellow educators and I are going to continue to speak out and I ask those who feel the same, please join us. Because no great social change — from ending slavery to securing the right to vote for every citizen, to winning the freedom to organize — has been achieved by standing alone.
Becky Higgins
President
Ohio Education Association
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The Power of Participation
By Julie Rine, Minerva Local Education Association
When I started teaching 20 years ago, some colleagues taught me some very important tricks of the trade: how to get on the janitor’s good side, how to sweet talk the secretary into making last minute copies for me, how to drink cheap beer (on a young teacher’s salary, that might have been the most important lesson!).
And then one of those friends invited me (dragged me) to a negotiations committee meeting. I was a member of the association, but really had no interest in getting involved, primarily because I had absolutely no idea what the union did or how it did it.
I remember he said being on the negotiations committee was a good place to start, because one of the most important jobs of the union was to represent the teachers at the table, to work with the administration of the district to make gains that would better serve the students and teachers of the district.
Looking back, I know that he was trying to get younger teachers involved in the work of the local association, as I do now. It’s important that the ideals and goals of the union pass down from one generation to the next and that we keep getting stronger each time the leadership changes. That colleague is retired now, but I think he would be proud of my involvement with the union that all began with one meeting where we brainstormed the needs we wanted to present to the administration at our contract negotiations that year.
Since then, I have served as Vice President and an at-large representative for our local association (we really need a more flattering title for that position!) and I have represented our association on various committees. I have helped screen local political candidates, attended regional events such as the legal update dinner and the annual meeting with state legislators, and last year I participated in the Representative Assembly in Columbus.
“We might be individuals with different beliefs, experiences, and priorities, but together we form a unit to be reckoned with, one that proudly uses its power and strength to advocate for Ohio’s kids.” — Julie Rine
I’ll admit that the first time I went to the ECOEA Legal Update dinner, it was because it is held at a local restaurant known for good Amish cooking and fantastic pies. I still go back every year, but not just because of the pie; it is truly interesting to hear what court cases and legal issues are affecting teachers in Ohio (and frankly, sometimes quite horrifying!).
This was the first year that I attended the dinner with legislators, but it will not be the last.
To actually have conversations with the men and women who have the power to make decisions that affect education in Ohio is an opportunity that cannot be taken for granted. The State School Board members who joined us that night seemed just as frustrated as we are at the recent actions of several members of the Board.
The legislators answered our questions as best as they could, and it was evident that many of them truly have a heart for education and a desire to stop the madness that public education in Ohio has had to endure under Kasich’s leadership.
Not every question we submitted was presented to the panel that night due to time constraints, but every single submitted question was sent to the panel members afterward. Those men and women now know exactly what issues evoke our anger and our passion, and they will be able to better represent us because of that three-hour event.
It was by default that I became our local association’s delegate to the Representative Assembly last year. Each spring, my local asks for people to indicate interest in serving on various committees or being our delegate to the RA. No one wanted to be the delegate. We have a very small budget for the delegates, and it’s actually possible to lose money by going to both fall and spring assemblies. I had no idea what to expect, but I and one other colleague agreed to go.
We held the election in the fall to make it official, but we were the only options. Because I was unable to attend the ECOEA RA prior to the one in Columbus, I did not get the delegate handbook until I arrived, but if I were to do this again, I would definitely get the handbook earlier; it explains what will be voted on, and gives many other details that would have kept me from going in blind.
At the assembly, I saw our union in action. There were the usual organizational tasks, budget reports, etc. (and I’ll confess this English teacher might have zoned out on the numbers, but I’m sure the math teacher delegates were paying attention!). What fascinated me most was the presenting of new business, new concerns and suggestions of issues on which the OEA should take an official position.
One of the issues that came up that year was whether or not there should only be one assembly per year, partly because of the financial strain two meetings can put on small districts like mine. On this issue and others, delegates from all over the state and from every local association could and did approach the microphones to make their opinions known, to make suggestions for language changes, and to offer compromises when the supporters of two opposing viewpoints seemed to be at complete odds with each other. The debates were respectful and orderly; a vote was held and the voices of our members were heard.
One way of getting involved in the union that I have not yet experienced is an annual OEA Lobby Day, and I look forward to participating in that at some point. First, though, I better practice a lot more yoga and deep breathing, because I have a feeling it would be a challenge to keep my temper in check if I ever met some of our current legislators.
If you are not involved in your local or district association, I urge you to consider being more active next year. Join a committee, or attend a yearly regional meeting of some sort (if you’re lucky, one with good pie!).
It might seem like just another meeting after school or just another annual event, but every time an association member is active in any way, our power grows. We might be individuals with different beliefs, experiences, and priorities, but together we form a unit to be reckoned with, one that proudly uses its power and strength to advocate for Ohio’s kids.
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