vouchers hurt ohio

take a look at this – VOUCHERS HURT OHIO 

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please support the OEA fund

the OEA fund – formally known as FCPE if you recall those fund drives from years ago – supports candidates that support public education, again NONE of your dues support candidates. In the last school year there were ONLY 2 OF US that donated to this fund. This is a bit shameful. If you want a continued voice in your working and learning environments we need to support this fund to get folks elected that value public education. See the post prior to this one about all the ways $$ is leaving public education. For all of you that are concerned about your retirement for instance – WAKE UP. If you want something to retire to, then you need to take action NOW.

The equation is simple, or very devious depending on how you look at it…talk about schools as failing through made up “report” cards + drive in wedge issues and divisive content surrounding things like SEL and CRT = schools bad and indoctrinating. Then provide vouchers and $$ to more and more families, after all, its your money so they say. First it was about “failing” schools in poor socio economic areas, well, that has now been scaled up to include all schools AND families earning up to 750% of poverty or $225,000 can now receive public money to send students to schools of their choice. (see the prior post about those predicted #’s) Since it was getting harder and harder to prove academic failure due to all the improvements in education and how great we all are 🙂 – AND we are doing better than many other (see this link) –  it has now shifted to “failures” on issues that can not really be measured like “indoctrination”. All those private school “spaces”, and yes I use the terms spaces because it includes online schools, well, their staff and schools are not held to the same levels/standards as we in public education, no OTES or state standards as 2 examples.

Now back to more math and things like your retirement for example. More money + more “choice/freedom” = less students in public education. Less students means fewer public school staff = less salaries. Less salaries = less money in STRS = less for you and your families moving forward = more anger and vitriol surrounding “promises” made by STRS. Its not STRS’s fault, it will be yours for not paying attention. On top of this…less kids being born (we are at all time low) =less students = less salaries = less STRS. Its kind of a double whammy. So the time is now to elect those that value public education.

You all should be take this seriously…so this holiday season of giving – how about donating to the OEA fund – its easy – no more paper work and forms in triplicate – I set it up as an auto withdrawal monthly – have one less frappé mocha latte espresso and invest in your future.

On a more personal note and for your information…I am getting more involved in the OEA fund disbursement of funds – I have just been selected as delegate for the OEA Fund State assembly this spring and will also be serving as a chairperson for local screening opportunities of candidates. Your local president will take a hands on approach to this process and how this $$ is dispersed, so, you’re in good hands with All Nate. The fall election season will be upon us before we know it – so now is the time – ! If anyone of you would like to be involved in this process of screening let me know – you get to me educators from around NEO – speak with candidates – and usually get dinner, and NHEA will pay your mileage.

Happy Holidays and lets make this a better new year…

Scrooge out.

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BOE election and the defunding of public schools

hey all – so for the good news – the NHEA supported candidates won re-election! NHEA sent out 2 different post card announcements via snail mail to local OEA and NEA members as a reminder to GOTV and show our support for Chad and Liz, we also sent out 2 text blasts as well, if you live local you probably have seen all or some of those efforts.

now for some more awareness about why voting matters – read this article in the PD

Ohio leads the nation = this article (sent to me by one of you) illustrates a common refrain…there is a systematic defunding of public schools happening under the facade of choice. Ohio leads the NATION in this defunding of public education, yes, this violates our state constitution, but when you have one of the most gerrymandered states in country, along with the election and appointment of judges, nothing happens to reverse this pattern. this will have a lasting impact – more money in the form of vouchers (you can receive $$ up to a family income of $225,000 for a family of  4, that is 750% of the poverty rate) = less students attending public schools (43,880 this year, by next year it is projected to be 150,000 students) = this means less teachers in public education = less payroll/funds = less funding of OEA = less looking out for your rights = less funding of retirement, etc. Yes, it is planned. All of this in an environment of groups like Moms for Liberty, Protect Ohio Children, the 1776 Project etc., driving wedge issues around books, marginalized/traumatized populations, safety etc…Those issues are feeding the frenzy to leave public schools and our legislature has provided the pathway via $$ = the state has committed to $252 million already this year to those 43,880 students – remember, next year it is expected to increase to 150,000 students = $$$$$$$$$$.

just letting you know…for all of you thinking “I don’t do politics”…politics is doing you everyday…from your entry to your exit…EVERY SINGLE DAY.

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check out the new page

Hey all – check out our new page – “Friends of Nordonia Schools”

take a read the follow the link – please donate – !!

I have never stopped since the last levy – !!

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Thank you to those that voted no…

here is a good follow-up blog post from Steven Dyer and his 10th period 

its about time we got a win – !!

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Saving Banks and Failing Schools –

this might make you think a bit – 

please vote like your profession and livelihood depends on it – BECAUSE IT DOES!!

 

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mid summer updates

I wanted to give you all a heads up on a couple of things that came across my path lately during a conference I was at last week – check out Honesty for Ohio Education – they are a pro-public education advocacy group – sign up for their newsletter and be involved – (also see some of the docs attached here) – Be aware of the bills working their way through the state house as I speak – look at the subtle and not so subtle ways the “state” is changing standards – especially be on the lookout for the “American birthright” standards working their way into our social studies standards…and we are all aware of the ways some of our students are being proactively marginalized. If you have an doubt about how ALL of this is a coordinated effort to attack public education going all they way back to standardized testing take a listen to the podcast from OEA and an interview with OEA President Scott DiMauro…I think it is the last one for this season. SEASON 3 EP 40

If you are looking at a short and sweet way to stay informed about happenings here in Ohio – both in the news and in education – check out these two local podcasts – OEA has been doing one, and yes, I did not know about this until the other day – shame on me I guess – its called Education Matters and is put out by OEA – you can find it in your podcast app!!

I also found one about happenings here in Ohio…I think it is put out by Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com – it is called Today in Ohio – (I think this is a collab between these 2 news organizations, but don’t fact check me on that – 🙂 )

So, find – like – follow – stay informed!! 


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the FAKE Freedom Foundation

there is again a concerted effort in that area to convince you to leave your union – they call themselves the Freedom Foundation – but it not about “freedom” it is about taking away your voice, driving down wages, and taking away public pensions – READ MORE HERE 

FAKE-FREEDOM-FOUNDATION-FLYER-FINAL

**BOTH LINKS WILL TAKE YOU TO SAME THING = this is how serious we are about this – we posted it twice – 🙂

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Issue 1 information –

VOTE NO on ISSUE 1

Google doc with some resources for voting and some information from OEA

please see links to some other sources around Ohio with commentary regarding this issue  – there are significant outlets/groups around Ohio that are coming out AGAINST this issue – it is ill-conceived and a power grab –

info from Ballot Pedia – gives a  decent explanation and some for and against arguments –

Columbus dispatch – “a yes vote would dive a dagger in Ohio’s heart”

Cleveland.com – also a vote NO **this is a letter from a reader, but is a short and sweet rationale

Cleveland City Council also is coming out against this issue –

Ohio Citizen encourages Ohio to VOTE NO

the ACLU encourages us to VOTE NO – 

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR INVOLVEMENT

this measure is also out of line with other states – 38 states currently require only a simple majority for citizen-initiated laws and changes …so Ohio – is currently in step with most other states in the country – and the special interest language and language about protecting our constitution is deliberately insight rhetoric…some change is good – think about it folks – women getting the right to vote and the desegregation of schools was “special interest” politics during that time period – now we all see it as progress – !!

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STRS election

 

 

in recent days we have been sharing information regarding the health of STRS – overall the health of the account is good and has improved greatly since the 2008 hit, it is 80% funded for the next 30 years and the health care is funded to the tune of 175% – with that said there are forces at work to hijack our money – and they have 90 billion reasons to try and get their hands on our account – so far this group has been successful in stoking resentment among current retirees surrounding the COLA and the like with a narrative around the pay of those that manage the account and even attack ads surrounding those running for the board – this group was successful in getting 3 of the OEA supported candidates removed from the board – 2 of the 3 we/Nate have worked with personally – they were good men that were looking out for us – BE VIGILANT – the money paid to upkeep the building and pay the salaries of those at STRS is about 1% of the total fund – so keep that in mind – and those that run for the board ARE VOLUNTEERS – THEY DO NOT GET PAID – 

when many of you started working,  STRS had 4 members paying in to 1 retiree pulling $$ out – in the last years  that has switched to 1 to 1 – and if you have been paying attention is set to flip the other way as fewer and fewer professionals enter education and/or resign  – keep in mind that within about 8 years of your retirement you will have used up all the money YOU put in AND the $$ the district has put in – after that, it’s all the investments of the fund – SO WE NEED THOSE THAT SUPPORT US AS MEMBERS of the board and are working in our interests – I had occasion to “meet” Arthur Lard last night and believe he has our best interests at heart – for ALL educators – !! We are still working on bringing in a speaker about this – and there is fresh info on the retirement page about the SVB investments – that loss was only .03 % of the fund – so relax and don’t be misled by chatter on FB

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