Nordonia Hills Education Association

hey all – for a few reasons I/NHEA felt kind of rushed at the convocation – for one, in lieu of the length of the present I could feel the room getting restless, and on top of that I wanted to get you all on with your day – so that was kind of a double whammy. Then for two, I was personally a bit rushed because I had a health care appointment scheduled, and as I had the mic in my hand they called and said they could take me early, yes, go figure we are presenting and a docs office called and said they were early – so…needless to say – I wanted to take more time with you all – but the perfect storm hit. I also had to have a driver for this appoint – so letting them know we had to roll fast was also a little off putting…but I digress – thanks for your attention yesterday and as a follow up…

…here is a link to the present (lil reminder to use the pack arrow to navigate back to this page, links open in the tab) if you want to access the ways to stay in touch with your association – also, please consider volunteering for the levy in some way – I understand putting yourself out there in this way is at times intimidating – so I validate the anxiety it might cause – but it is WAY better with more support and teamwork – and that anxiety only last for short time, even when you are solo, like I was on Friday outside NF…everyone one I met was kind and receptive. This levy is very important…working conditions and learning conditions go hand in hand! It is okay to promote our “brand” and be vocal about all the good we do – shit, everyone else is their own mouthpiece so why are teachers so reserved and demure about ALL that we do…also, go ahead and volunteer for something/anything and I may not even use ya all – so you can feel good about putting your name in the hopper and then in the end might not even get “tapped” in…:-) We are still building out the campaign strategy a bit, and will be meeting with the Nordonia Together crew now 2x per month – so things are gonna start ramping up a bit. Use the NT link above to keep in touch with this community group, and if you can not donate some time…how about a lil $$ so we can effectively advocate for our school community. Please be assured there are Nordonia educators involved in the decision making for this group this time around – we will be making sure your money is well spent.

Another theme of yesterday was collaboration...please think of NHEA as a human resource dept for any disagreements that occur between staff, if you find yourself having a conversation with your principal about a fellow staff member and you have not talked to them about your concern or your building rep – consider that a RED FLAG…let us try to help. Even if it is something about their performance in the classroom – think about the video Casey showed – those doctors were often being critical one of the other – but the goal was better patient outcomes! – why can’t we have the same process?? I think this is one of the goals of the PLC process, so lets practice.

please feel free to make use of this site – there are tabs about retirement stuff – political issues that impact public education – you can find a tab to our contract (however, you must be logged into your Nordonia account to view, and I am reluctant to allow personal email access, especially if your email is something like @princessdiary326) – and this little diatribe today is an exercise it getting you to head to this site :-)…

Have a good year – and if we can help in any way let us know – (you will also find a tab to building reps and NHEA leadership, so hit us up with any questions)

**check out the perks page for 9 hours of grad credit for $200

NHEA out.

hey all – be on the lookout for an opportunity to make your voice heard for fair elections in Ohio – OEA as teamed up/committed to help secure signatures to get this issue put on the ballot – this is part of Citizen Not Politicians to help create fair districts in Ohio – we will be visiting buildings to take part in this effort – so be on the look out –

check out the attached flyers – there is a new legislative scorecard that lets you know exactly how your legislator performs when it comes to public education here in Ohio (this is also linked on the government page)

AND – go  bowling with the family and support OEA and public education policy here in Ohio at the same time –

take a look at this – VOUCHERS HURT OHIO 

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.

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.

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 – !!

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

its about time we got a win – !!

this might make you think a bit – 

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

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!!