Partisan purges

Fresh of their electoral defeats that produced a large majority thanks to partisan gerrymandering, the extremists in the Ohio House are not done with their partisan purging. Now they are going after the Ohio Accountability Task Force, according to a report in Gongwer

The task force, which first met in December 2003, was tasked with examining how to implement the value-added report card measure in ways that are most useful for improving student achievement, according to ODE documents.

With its name changed to the Ohio Accountability Advisory Committee, the panel's membership would see "substantial" changes including the removal of: the ranking minority members of the House and Senate education committees, a teachers union representative, a school district board of education member, and a school superintendent, Mr. Stebelton said.

It instead includes three members of the public each appointed by the Speaker of the House and the Senate President, two appointed by the governor and one appointed by the state auditor, he said. The superintendent of public instruction would be a nonvoting member.

"It sounds like from this list that what's been removed from this group, from this board is representation of folks who have experience in education," Rep. Nickie Antonio (R-Lakewood) said.

When Republicans are questioning the merits of the partisan purge you know there must be something wrong. Rep Stabelton, who is sponsoring the legislation (HB555) revealed his partisan purpose when he had this to say

"This will work both ways. Someday when you get back in the majority, our people won't be on it and you folks will."

Of course, due to extreme gerrymandering, Rep Stabelton knows full well that Democrats can never be back in the majority no matter how many Ohioans vote for them. The other real problem with this ridiculous proposal was also repeatedly noted

She (Rep. Denise Driehaus) also raised issues with the lack of presence of local education officials on the panel. "As the committee stands now there are some guarantees that some local representative and folks with education backgrounds, people that are participating in our system now" will be on the committee.

The Ohio General Assembly needs more not less expertise advising it, they have been making an awful mess of education policy these last few years listening to partisans with no education expertise like Rep Stabelton.

Union members spotlight - day 1

When we predicted that the biggest fight over SB5 was still ahead, little did we think that almost 1 in 3 general assembly districts being contested would have candidates with union memberships, including 14 teachers. With just a week to go before the 2012 primary election on March 6th, we thought we would highlight a group of those individuals each day of the week.

It should be noted that the districts listed below are new as a consequence of the legislative redistricting process that happened last year.

House District 7 - Matt Patten (D)

Matt Patten represented the former 18th District from 2009 to 2011, and is affiliated with Laborers. You can learn more about Matt, here. He is in an uncontested primary and will face current state Rep Mike Dovilla in November. Rep. Dovilla voted for both SB5 and the budget HB153 which contained SB5 like provisions while simultaneously cutting billions from education funding.

House District 16 - Todd Laveck (D)

Todd Laveck is an OFT member, and Cleveland school teacher. He is running in a contested primary, and has garnered the following endorsements: Ohio Education Association, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Northern Ohio Fire Fighters Association, Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, Teamsters Local 407, Cleveland Teachers Union Local 279, Cleveland Custodians Union Local 777, Cleveland Stonewall Democrats, Fairview Park Mayor Eileen Patton, State Senator Michael Skindell, State Representative Nickie Antonio, State Representative Mike Foley, State Representative Kenny Yuko, Former State Representative Jennifier Brady, Fairview Park Democratic Club, Former North Olmsted Mayor Thomas O'Grady.

You can find out more about Todd, here. If he is successful in winning the March 6th primary, he will face incumbent Nan Baker who also voted against the middle class and schools, voting for SB5 and HB153.

House District 20 - Marco Miller (D)

Marco Miller is a retired member of IAFF (firefighters) having served 25 years in the Columbus Division of Fire. You can find out more about Marco, here. He too is running in a contested primary. Marco is running in a contest primary to replace incumbent Nancy Garland.

He has the following list of endorsements: Franklin County Democratic Party, Greater Columbus/Franklin County United Auto Workers- CAP Council, Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA), Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT), Plumbers and Pipefitters, Sheet Metal Workers, Stonewall Democrats of Central Ohio, Immigrant Citizens of Ohio PAC, Franklin County Commissioner Paula Brooks, Franklin County Commission John O’Grady, Franklin County Clerk of Courts Maryellen O’Shaughnessy, Franklin County Municipal Clerk of Courts Lori Tyack, Columbus City Council Member Hearcel Craig, Columbus City Councilman Zach Klein, Columbus City Councilwoman Eileen Paley, Madison Township Trustee Edward Dildine, Whitehall City Councilwoman Karen Conison, Whitehall City Council President Jim Graham, Whitehall City Councilwoman Leslie LaCorte, Whitehall City Auditor Dan Miller, State Representative Teresa Fedor, Franklin County Recorder Candidate Terry Brown, Past Franklin County Democratic Party Chairwoman Fran Ryan, Past Franklin County Democratic Party Chairman Denny White

House District 21 - Donna O'Connor (D)

Donna O'Connor is a member of OEA and a special education teacher in Dublin. She is endorsed by the Franklin County Democratic Party, the Ohio Education Association and Emily's List. if successful in her primary she will face incumbent Rep. Duffy whose votes for SB5 and HB153 also harmed the middle class. You can find out more about Donna, here.

District 24 - Maureen Reedy (D)

Maureen Reedy is also a member of OEA. She was Teacher of the Year for the Upper Arlington City School District in 2001 and the Ohio Teacher of the Year in 2002. Maureen is uncontested on the March 6th ballot and will face Stephanie Kunze in november in a contest to replace incumbent Ted Celeste who is running for Senate District 3.

You can learn more about Maureen, here.

Tomorrow we will take a look at another 5 union members running for the Ohio General Assembly.

News for March 14th, 2011

As we await to see the details in the Governor's first budget, WDTN reports

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Schools throughout Ohio are anticipating tighter budgets next year and bracing to hear about education cuts when Republican Gov. John Kasich unveils his two-year budget plan this week.

The cuts are expected to fall anywhere up to 20%.

The Dispatch reports on another of the touted "reforms" being considered to Ohio

Bringing Teach for America to Ohio has been years in the making.

But for the first time, the program's arrival here has gone from a mere wish among supporters to seemingly imminent after Gov. John Kasich promised to open doors for the group in his State of the State speech last week. To that end, companion bills are moving through the legislature that would remove barriers to TFA's operation here.

"It's signaling momentum that a TFA region in Ohio could be possible," said Rebecca Neale

The Plain Dealer reports on continued protests regarding SB 5

Senate Bill 5, the legislation focused on collective bargaining, has spurred protests throughout Ohio. On March 13, Medina's Public Square became a hotbed of emotion and political discourse.

"Collective bargaining is a system of checks and balances," special education teacher Wendy Shubrowsky said. "This (bill) will devastate teachers and all public employees. This will decimate my family. We will have to move."

More rallys are planned for Tomorrow. You can check out this OEA page for details of a rally near you.

If you can't attend a rally, please consider contacting your State Representative. You can 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