Ohio Education Association Anticipating Release of Full Budget Details, Urges State Lawmakers to Ensure Education Funding is Top Priority
“The devil is always in the details,” said OEA President Scott DiMauro. “Education spending must be a top priority in Ohio to ensure our students, educators, and communities receive the resources they need to succeed. OEA will closely examine the full budget proposal as soon as possible and will continue advocating tirelessly for Ohio’s 1.7 million public school kids.”
Based on the initial, high-level budget document released by the governor on Monday, OEA is encouraged to see an emphasis on expanding broadband access to help close the digital divide for students and on wraparound services like mental health programs in schools. However, OEA is deeply disappointed in the governor’s refusal to draw on the $2.7 billion rainy day fund or to address the state’s unconstitutional school funding formula in his budget plan.
“The Fair School Funding Plan, which received overwhelming bi-partisan support in the House at the end of the last term, represented years of work and compromise to finally deliver an equitable and constitutional funding system. DeWine punted, rather than delivering on the promise of that legislation,” DiMauro said. “The governor’s budget looks like it will fall far short of what this moment in history requires, especially for students in high-poverty or high-minority school districts.”
“The funding increase the Fair Funding plan calls for is more than affordable, since the state is projecting a $1.3 billion revenue increase over the next two years alone and the plan calls for a $1.9 billion increase over 6 years,” DiMauro added. “We look forward to working with the legislature on addressing this with the Fair School Funding plan in the current legislative session, as well as tackling all of the work that needs done in the coming months as the budget debates continue.”
Ohio Education Association Offering State Budget Basics Workshops for Members
OEA is offering two virtual sessions for Members in early February, following the release of Governor Mike DeWine’s executive budget proposal and the district-by-district breakdown of the budget numbers. Please register with one of the following links: (Registration is now closed)
Wednesday, February 10, at 6 p.m.
Friday, February 12, at 12 p.m.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar of your choice. Questions may be submitted during the session via the chat function on Zoom. Separate sessions will also be offered for members of the media that week.
“Whether this is your first time going through Ohio’s budget debates or you’ve been watching the process unfold for years, we can all benefit from some basic lessons on how it all works, and more importantly, what it all means for Ohio’s 1.7 million students,” said Stephen Dyer, OEA Director of Government Relations, Communications & Marketing, who will be leading the upcoming workshops.
Dyer is a former Ohio State Representative and reporter, who has been a senior lecturer at the University of Akron since 2013. His experience in all those arenas make him uniquely suited to teach others about the state budget, providing critical context for educators who are so intimately impacted by it.
“Ohio’s students, K-12 teachers, education support professionals, and higher ed faculty cannot afford another budget deal that fails to provide adequate resources to our schools, colleges, and universities. Ohio’s leaders must deliver a fair spending plan that finally addresses the state’s unconstitutional school funding formula,” Dyer said. “When informed constituents can hold lawmakers accountable through the budget process, all Ohioans win.”
OEA members can watch a recording of the Wednesday, Feb. 10 workshop on the following page: State Budget Basic Workshop recording (this page is accessible by members-only)
OEA Seeks Answers About State Bd. of Ed. Member’s Role in Jan. 6 Events
“I was deeply disturbed to learn that a member of the State Board of Education may have had any hand in organizing the rally aimed at overturning legitimate election results. The actions of the insurrectionists and militants who attended the rally and who attacked our country that day are reprehensible and inexcusable, and we are calling on Kirsten Hill to denounce those fellow-rally attendees in the strongest terms,” said OEA President Scott DiMauro.
Hill, who represents District 2 on the State Board of Education, is chairwoman of the Lorain County TEA Party, which arranged a bus trip from Elyria to Washington D.C. on January 6th to attend a political rally hosted by the President. The event posting claimed “Folks from around the world are counting on U.S. to get Trump re-elected… We’re fighting for Trump to the bitter end,” and directed site goers to WildProtest.com with branding like #DoNotCertify and #StopTheSteal. Hill was listed as the coordinator for the Elyria-based contingent on other websites urging Ohioans to go to D.C. for the event. As has been widely reported, the January 6th rally ended with a group of militants storming the Capital Building, resulting in a Capitol Police officer being beaten to death and the death of four rioters.
“Hill is responsible for the future of 1.7 million children who attend Ohio schools. Those students are watching now,” DiMauro said. “We all deserve answers about exactly what Hill’s intent was in arranging and attending the January 6th event that in itself was an assault on the democratic principles of our nation, even before turning violent.”
“As a social studies teacher, I have spent my career teaching the importance of our sacred democratic processes, including the peaceful transition of power and the integrity of U.S. elections. One of the core values of OEA is our belief in our democracy,” DiMauro added. “We cannot stand for any attempt to undermine our republic, especially by a person who was elected to serve its citizens. We must ensure this is a country where our leaders reflect the very best of every kind of American, and where liberty and justice are for all, no exceptions.”
Ohio Education Association Applauds Plans to Prioritize Educators for COVID-19 Vaccines
“We are grateful to Governor DeWine for listening to the concerns of the state’s educators, who have been nothing short of heroic in their efforts to reach and teach Ohio’s students through extremely difficult circumstances, often being forced to put their own safety and that of their families and communities on the line,” OEA President Scott DiMauro said. “The decision to prioritize teachers and educational support staff in vaccine distribution plans demonstrates Gov. DeWine’s commitment to prioritizing education in Ohio’s COVID-19 response plans.”
Earlier this month, OEA’s Board of Directors, a governing body composed of dozens of educators around the state, approved a policy urging the state and school districts to put education first through a four-point plan that reflects the best practices for ensuring Ohio’s children receive a high-quality education in a safe environment. The full policy statement can be found here (Adobe pdf).
“We will encourage all OEA members who are medically eligible to receive a vaccine when they can. However, the COVID-19 vaccine is not a panacea,” DiMauro said. “Because the vaccines have not been approved for children, pregnant women, or some other adults, including those who are prone to severe allergic reactions, many people in our schools will remain unprotected from the virus. Moreover, it has not yet been proven whether a person who has been vaccinated could still spread the virus to others. Therefore, even when educators are able to be vaccinated, it will remain critically important to continue following all CDC guidance to keep our schools safe and open for in-person instruction when possible.”
OEA believes the highest priority for vaccine distribution among the education community is to make it available in communities that have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, including high-poverty communities and communities of color. “The vaccine is a critical resource for saving lives and reopening economies,” DiMauro said. “We need to ensure that resource is available where it is needed most as quickly as possible.”
Ohio Education Association Urges Schools, State to Put Education First: Reset, Restart, Re-Prioritize, Resource
In light of the alarming explosion in community spread of the Coronavirus in recent weeks and the likely spike that will follow large family gatherings over the upcoming holiday break, OEA is urging all of Ohio’s public schools to immediately suspend all in-person instruction until January 11, to include a 14 day quarantine period after Christmas. “This reset period, whether schools delay instruction or educate students in a fully remote model, is critical not only to ensure student and staff safety, but also to give schools time to refine their delivery model and make other necessary adjustments to execute their instructional plan so students can receive the best education possible in the face of all of the challenges the pandemic presents,” OEA President Scott DiMauro explained.
To restart after the reset period, schools should be required to obtain sign-off on the safety of their instructional model from their local Board of Health, which should evaluate each district’s plans based on its ability to adhere to CDC guidelines for any in-person instruction while considering local conditions such as transmission rates and healthcare capacity. Schools that are unable to obtain sign-off must remain fully remote and shall not hold extracurricular activities. “Public health experts, not the elected politicians that serve on local school boards, should make the determination about whether schools are safe for students and staff to gather in person,” DiMauro said. “The state has thus far failed to provide true leadership or firm statewide policies. We therefore must depend on local boards of health to make difficult decisions and accept accountability when they approve any educational plans.”
An important element of OEA’s updated plans calls for local leaders to reprioritize education in their policies outside school settings to ensure our schools can remain safely open and communities can continue to recover. “The education of our children should be the top priority in every community. State and local governments should do whatever is necessary to slow the spread of this disease and diminish its impact on the delivery of instruction. These efforts should include mask wearing, limits on crowds, and expansion of testing and contact tracing programs,” the OEA Board of Directors, a body made up of dozens of educators from around the state, said in the policy adopted at its most recent meeting.
Finally, putting students first requires a commitment to fully providing resources needed to meet the needs of our students, educators, and the wider community until a vaccine is widely available and our nation can begin moving beyond these difficult times. This support should include delivering additional funding for schools to operate safely, subsidizing local boards of health, and providing unemployment and health insurance benefits for every worker and small business owner impacted by COVID-related shutdowns and restrictions. “We cannot wait any longer for federal lawmakers to finally pass the HEROES act or for the state to finally draw on the rainy day fund,” DiMauro said. “Our communities need these resources now.”