September 14, 2009

State pensions under pressure; OEA can influence the process!
Funding for pensions – from STRS to PERS and SERS – has been hit hard by the decline of the stock and bond markets in 2008 and early 2009. The markets have recovered during the last six months, but not enough. Tough choices lie ahead that will affect every OEA member. We will need to use our voices to influence those decisions and protect our economic security, one of OEA’s two priority goals. A good overview of the issue is in the OEA Retirement System Update newsletter. Please subscribe to future updates by e-mailing mckayb@ohea.org so you can keep up with the latest news on this subject.

The pension process moving forward
The retirement systems made presentations to the Ohio Retirement Study Council (a body that makes pension policy recommendations to the legislature) on Sept. 9.  Legislation is expected to be introduced this fall.  Like any bill, this would have to be passed by the House and Senate (agreed to in conference committee) and then signed by the Governor before it becomes law. 

How the process will affect pensions
The economic downturn is real, and we will have to make some serious changes to secure the long-term solvency of the pension systems.  Ohio’s public employees rely on these benefits for their economic security in retirement. And they aren’t protected by federal Social Security. Changes could affect:

• How long do you have to work? 
• How much comes out of your pay?
• How much will you receive in retirement (monthly benefits)?
• Will your income keep pace with inflation through a cost of living adjustment (COLA)?
• Will you have access to affordable health care in retirement?

OEA’s perspective
OEA believes that while some changes must be made to help improve long-term funding of pension benefits, those changes must be fair and equitable.  Any proposed changes in retirement eligibility that would require public employees to work longer should be phased in over a longer period of time.  Members in the latter stages of their career, who have worked for decades in good faith, should not be forced to alter long-standing retirement plans.  Improving the long-term stability of the state pension plans is a shared responsibility of employees, employers and retirees.  OEA engaged an independent actuarial firm to review proposed changes for STRS.  It is clear that STRS’s plan places an undue burden on active teachers and pose unintended consequences for students, school districts and the retirement system.  For more information on STRS, please see my Sept. 4 memo on proposed pension changes -- click here. And for a roundup on all current pension news, please click on this link to the OEA Retirement Systems Update.

How we can work to influence the process
How can you make a difference? Once we see a proposed pension bill, members can share their stories with legislators about how these changes affect them. Local presidents can do just two things right now:

• Forward this message to your members and friends to raise awareness on this issue.
• Make sure you and your members are signed up as cyberlobbyists and volunteers via the OEA web site’s political action pages.

OEA will work with the retirement systems, stakeholders and the legislature to achieve a fair and equitable solution. If you have questions or comments specifically about the STRS Board’s study of pension changes,

- Patricia Frost-Brooks

 Patricia Frost-Brooks
OEA President

Find out more

Click here to see the latest OEA Retirement Systems Update. OEA Retirement System Update newsletter.
 
Please subscribe to future updates by e-mailing mckayb@ohea.org so you can keep up with the latest news on this subject.

The presentations made by each of the retirement systems are available on the ORSC website at http://orsc.org/reports.cfm.

Here's how to contact the members of the STRS Board to express your concerns. Those Board members endorsed for election by the OEA are marked with an asterisk (*).

To send a group e-mail to all the STRS Board members, please click here. 

To contact board members individually, please click on the following links: 
*Mark Meuser
*Conni Ramser
*Taiyia Hayden
*Tim Myers
*Carol Correthers
*Jim McGreevy
Bob Stein
Regina Burch
Craig Brooks
Steve Puckett

Keep listening,
Keep learning,
Keep leading!

President to President is an electronic newsletter of the Ohio Education Association written for local association presidents and other association leaders. Please feel free to copy and share this information with your members.

April 27, 2009

Vote now for STRS board candidate Carol Correthers
The deadline to vote in the election for the STRS Board is May 4, 2009—one week away, so please vote for Carol Correthers, our endorsed candidate. Talking to members about the election and other local efforts such as voting parties are critical to success in this election. STRS Board members must have the knowledge, experience and temperament to deal with issues critical to our members. Carol Correthers is a teacher, a leader in both the association and her community, and a former member of a local school board. She understands board governance and has dealt with budget and staffing issues. She has engaged in rigorous training on pension and health care issues and takes the responsibilities of serving on the board very seriously. For these reasons, Carol Correthers has earned the endorsement of both OEA and the Ohio Federation of Teachers. Her opponent is Jim Stoll, an administrator from southwest Ohio, who has launched an aggressive e-mail campaign. As part of this effort, he sued STRS to obtain members’ private e-mail addresses.  The Ohio Supreme Court refused to hear his case, but he obtained teacher e-mail addresses via a public records request, anyway. As is the case with any election, every vote counts, and we should take nothing for granted.  Please click here to view and use the STRS campaign talking points.  

Action on the Ohio budget for education
In Columbus, we have seen great progress on the education budget. The House version of the fiscal 2010-2011 state budget, Substitute House Bill 1, includes many improvements from the original bill designed by Governor Ted Strickland. The bill aligns with more than 30 longstanding OEA policies that advocate for needed improvements in public education. Sub. HB 1 fundamentally changes funding for public schools in Ohio. The new model is designed to first measure the costs of a 21st century education and then provide the resources needed. The model and the reforms will be phased in. The new model will end “residual budgeting” for our schools – the practice of giving them money left over after everything else is budgeted.

The budget may not be perfect, but it's as close as we can get it
The budget bill includes a host of provisions we’ve been working for:
• A $1 billion increase in school funding (while other areas of government are cut!),
• Funds for early childhood education, including universal all-day kindergarten,
• A focus on 21st century skills that goes well beyond basic reading and math,
• Better mentoring, professional development and planning time, • Multiple measures for high school graduation requirements, and
• Learning strategies for the whole child, not just basics we can test on a standardized test.
Please click here to read the OEA Legislative Watch, which explains the many beneficial changes and features of the bill.

Soon, we move on to the Senate – bumpy road ahead!
Assuming the House can quickly pass the improved Sub. HB 1, the challenge will be to get the Ohio Senate to do what is best for our students – the children that represent the future of Ohio. Already, at least one Republican Senator has called the budget bill “dead in the Senate.” We don’t believe that has to be true. But we will need many of you to speak out to your state Senators. We do not want a stalemate, and we do not feel a partisan fight over the budget is in the best interest of our students, public education or the OEA.

The role of local leaders couldn’t be more important!
Local leaders are best situated to organize events that will have an impact on their own state Senators. It begins with letting your members know the House budget is a good budget that will help us, but that it faces tough odds in the Senate. Then, you can invite Senators to association meetings. You can ask them to attend Board of Education meetings and hear about program cuts and layoffs. You can get your members to tell their personal stories. Please respond as OEA asks your help in our calls to action.  And don’t forget to attend Educator Lobby Day and the legislative reception on May 12. Please click here to sign up or get more information on how you can participate.

Sincerely,
Patricia Frost-Brooks
President, Ohio Education Association

Patricia Frost-Brooks
OEA President

Find out more

Click here to read and use the STRS Campaign talking points.

Click here to see how the federal recovery funds can help save jobs -- a special report from NEA.

Click here to see the OEA Legislative Watch for an in-depth explanation of education funding and reform changes. 

Click here to sign up for the May 12 Educator Lobby Day and OEA Legislative Reception.



Keep listening,
Keep learning,
Keep leading!

President to President is an electronic newsletter of the Ohio Education Association written for local association presidents and other association leaders. Please feel free to copy and share this information with your members.

Think globally, act locally – learning 21st century skills
Making education policy is one thing – putting it into practice is another. The 21st century skills approach sounds new, and it is. But it is an extension of the kind of problem-solving skills we’ve always tried to teach. To go deeper into these global, media and technology skills, take a look at the web site of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org), where you can get an idea of what this kind of change means for our classrooms. New information-sharing technologies like Twitter, Wikipedia and an ever-expanding world of blogs and social networking sites are changing society, how we communicate, and how we learn and share. This new capacity for on-line collaboration across the world means our students can work with -- and compete with -- innovators and entrepreneurs everywhere. As OEA leaders, and as veteran and mid-career teachers, we need to recognize these fundamental changes and add our experience to the enthusiasm for technology from our younger colleagues.

Education reform and the economic recovery
Educators have a major role in the effort to bolster the Ohio economy, and we are operating at several different levels. Out of $8 billion in federal recovery money coming to Ohio, nearly $2 billion is for education. That will provide more state funding for public education in the Ohio state budget. And more federal money could flow from Washington to Ohio, depending on our state education reform plan and how well we compete for discretionary funding from new U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. This will take hard work, and we will need to understand federal guidelines to maximize funding for Ohio education. We are also working on both short-term and long-term plans to assist with the passage of local levies. Local, state, federal – we all need to work together, and please keep up via the OEA web site. There's a new U.S. Department of Education web site on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, too, with deeper details and information.

Information sharing – it’s for all of us!
When people ask me whether to share the contents of this newsletter, I say yes, of course! All these newsletters are available on the OEA web site in the section called Resources for local leaders. Information is power, but it’s more powerful when it’s shared among our friends and allies. So feel free to put this in your local newsletter, or in your own words! Use our talking points, our slide show on federal aid, and the stories you see in Ohio Schools Magazine. Everything is for sharing and your use!

Find out more

Click here to find out more about 21st Century Skills.

Click here to download the OEA's talking points on the Governor's education proposals.

Click here for a slide show on the Governor's education proposals.

Click here to see the new U.S. Department of Education web site on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Click here to sign up for educator lobby days and help Ohio pass an education-friendly budget.

Keep listening,
Keep learning,
Keep leading!

Please share OEA's response to the Governor's proposals for education reform and funding
I know local leaders need a more detailed response on Governor Strickland's school funding and education reform package. Click here to download OEA's latest talking points, and make sure to refer to them as you take questions from members and the media. Our Governor has made public education a top priority and wants to transform Ohio's public schools for the 21st century. Let's tell them why!

In Washington - Congress takes action on the economic recovery package
I was in Washington last week to work on the economic recovery package. Our efforts paid off, with four Republican senators joining the effort to pass an economic recovery package. The measure is now heading to President Obama.

Recovery funds shifted shape like Jell-O
The impact on Ohio is still unclear because things keep changing. One of our members compared the economic recovery package to making Jell-O - it kept wiggling, and we never knew whether it was ready to take out of the mold.

Will there be enough for Ohio schools?
In the end, some of the money for Ohio was cut out of the recovery bill. But Governor Strickland said yesterday he would be able to balance the budget while protecting school funding.  The Governor wants to add $925 million to Ohio schools over the next two years, after sparing education from an estimated $900 million in 2008 budget cuts already.

So far, so good, but the struggle isn't over!
Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. We will still need your help on:

• The Ohio budget, due out from the Governor in the next few weeks, must pass by June 30.
• Education funding and reform - much of it contained in the Strickland budget - will face vigorous debate.

We need your feedback!
Tell us how the Code of Conduct affects your members
The Educator Standards Board is reviewing the impact of the new Licensure Code of Professional Conduct, and we have a short survey for you about how that has played out for local associations. Your response could have a powerful impact on implementation of the LCPC, going forward. Please click here - and the survey will record your responses until midnight, February 22, 2009. 

- Patricia Frost-Brooks

Find out more

Click here to download the OEA's talking points on the Governor's education proposals.

Click here for a slide show on the Governor's education proposals.

Click here to sign up for educator lobby days and help Ohio pass an education-friendly budget.

Keep listening,
Keep learning,
Keep leading!

At this time of dramatic change, I'm starting this new bi-weekly electronic newsletter, "President to President," to help you in your role as a local association president.  Thank you for your service, whether you just started or have been doing the job for 20 years. I hope the "P2P" newsletter will give you vital information and tools to help you in your work.

Governor proposes seismic changes for Ohio schools
This is really big! Gov. Ted Strickland's State of the State message this week began an historic effort to transform Ohio's public schools. He has listened to OEA ideas, and many appear in his school funding and reform package.

His proposals for reform are well thought out, and he is doing his best to fulfill his campaign promise to fix Ohio's school funding system. Please follow this link to read the Governor's State of the State - it is the boldest approach to Ohio schools we have seen in generations. Check out my official response for OEA by clicking here.

In a nutshell, the governor has proposed:

• More enrichment, creativity and innovation in the classroom to nurture 21st century skills
• Funding and staffing for achievement gaps, dropout rates, school nurses and community outreach
• Eliminating the Ohio Graduation Test and adding multiple measures of student achievement
• Expanding pre-Kindergarten programs and funding all-day Kindergarten statewide
• Phasing in longer school days and longer school years
• Eliminating for-profit charter school operations

OEA is working to close the Ohio budget gap
It's a long way from a speech to new laws. We have a lot of work ahead on the state budget for the next two years. We have to focus right now on closing a $7.3 billion budget gap. Our best hope is to make sure federal recovery funds will help public education and our students. You can take action on that issue through our ACEs website by clicking here.  

We have clear priorities here
At OEA, our work during the economic crisis is all about
1) making sure we have funding for public education and
2) the economic security of our members. That means we will evaluate everything we do based on those two priorities. We?ll make sure you have the tools join us, like the information we?re providing at the Collective Bargaining Conference this weekend in Columbus.

Thanks for reading, and remember I will try to keep listening, keep learning and keep leading - with your help and support!
 

Find out more

Click here to take action now to obtain federal recovery funds for Ohio public schools.

Click here to read the full text of Gov. Ted Strickland's "State of the State" speech.

Click here to see OEA's official reaction on the "State of the State."

Want to find out more? Please click here to read OEA's "Transformation Document" on Ohio Public Education in the 21st Century.

Don't forget - the OEA Collective Bargaining Conference is Jan. 29-31.

Keep listening,
Keep learning,
Keep leading!

As Gov. Kasich releases his budget,
OEA prepares for referendum on SB 5,
and thanks Supt. Deb Delisle for her service

Dear Colleague,

Governor Kasich's state budget is here, and it fulfills the Governor's stated intent of bolstering charter schools and expanding voucher programs -- all at the expense of the core budgets for traditional public schools.

Click here to see the OEA News Release here.

---

Please note a change in plans: We will not have a call-in meeting on the budget this Thursday evening. Instead, we're planning a conference call for 7 p.m. Monday, March 21. Watch for an email on how to call in to get our initial analysis of the state budget and how it will affect public education.

---

I am dismayed and disappointed. The Governor has cut all-day kindergarten and won't fund smaller class sizes for grades K-3, even though the research supports both. Our students are going to lose access to new textbooks, safe facilities and highly qualified teachers in billions of dollars of public school cuts.

Instead, the Governor is pushing money to charter and voucher programs, with research showing they do not improve the chances for student success. We hoped the Governor would focus on the essentials during this tough economy, but apparently not.

Delisle's resignation is a sign of brutal politics
There's a lot of heavy-handed politics going on here, including rude treatment of Ohio Supt. Deb Delisle at the hand of the Kasich-engineered GOP majority on the Ohio State Board of Education today. Even one Republican board member, Robin Hovis, called it "disgusting" as he was replaced by Tea Party advocate Debe Terhar of Cincinnati.

Deb Delisle served Ohio schools with integrity and energy, and she collaborated well with Ohio's elected leaders, as well as with all the education stakeholders, including OEA. She will be missed.

Clearly, this is designed to push a charter school, private school and voucher agenda at the expense of the 90% of students who attend our public schools. To attack the unsuspecting, they are moving fast, moving Republicans from House and Senate committees -- and now the State Board -- if they're not "on the bus."

If SB 5 passes, the referendum effort begins
We're working hard, but it looks like SB 5 will pass the Ohio House soon. If the House rubber-stamps the Senate-passed version, the legislation could go quickly to the Governor for signature. Once the Governor signs SB 5 into law, we have just 90 days to gather 231,149 valid signatures for the referendum vote November 8, 2011. Only the voters can reverse SB 5.

So as early as next week, we will be gathering signatures to repeal SB 5 in a referendum. We will need to channel all the energy of the last month into these fights – fast! Local leaders will need to drive member and community involvement on this issue. The alternative: live with less service, more costs, less fairness, less opportunity -- and less influence for all of us on the future of Ohio..

But we are not alone, and you are great messengers
We have to remember that all of organized labor -- the AFL-CIO, Teamsters, SEIU, AFSCME, OFT, CWA, OCSEA, OAPSE, the IAFF and FOP are all working overtime with us to fight back.

We all recognize that the key to driving public support for signatures and votes is to talk about education opportunity for students and quality services in our communities. But we also agree the referendum on SB 5 will be a tough door-to-door, face-to-face campaign.

Fortunately, you as our members and our allies in the safety forces enjoy positive support, as does collective bargaining for public employees. Meanwhile, Governor Kasich's approval ratings are tumbling. That's good news both for collective bargaining and for K-12 and higher education.

Our battles on multiple fronts -- and the need for action
This is our reality now. This is where the big issues start mounting up, and we don’t have the luxury of fighting just SB 5, or just the budget!

What can you do? Start planning your meetings on the referendum signature campaign now, and we'll get you materials. Start the conversations you need to recognize the threat to our members and start organizing them around the threat. Attend rallies, call legislators and keep the pressure on. Most of all, stay unified in our purpose and mission!

- Patricia Frost-Brooks 
 

Keep listening,
Keep learning,
Keep leading!
 

For more information:

Click here to read Supt. Deb Delisle's resignation letter, issued earlier today.

See the Stand Up for Ohio - rallies and Facebook page.

We need to continue to stress solidarity with the safety forces and community services people who have joined us in the Stand Up for Ohio coalition. They are our strong allies in labor, community and faith-based groups, and they have joined us on both budget issues and the fight against SB 5.

Ways to keep the pressure on legislators trying to rush SB 5 through this week.

Send in word about your local community events
We'll feature photos and videos on our website and we'll help you publicize future grass roots activities. Email communic@ohea.org.

SB 5 Resources
Use OEA's toll-free Educator Connector phone line to connect quickly and easily to your State Representative. Call (888) 907-7309 and immediately take action.

Click here to use the OEA cyberlobbying system and contact your State Representative.

Click here for a complete summary of Senate Bill 5, as passed by the Senate,

Click here for OEA's online resources for taking action now on SB 5.

Follow the OEA action online!

Facebook www.facebook.com/OhioEducation
Association

Twitter
www.twitter.com/OhioEA

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/
OhioEdAssoc

Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos
/oea

The OEA Blog, Voices of Change
http://blog.ohea.org