OEA delegates vote to join with Strong Schools

Staff report

Columbus

Delegates at the Ohio Education Association Fall Representative Assembly have voted to join forces with the Strong Schools, Strong Communities campaign.

The campaign is a citizen-driven, nonpartisan movement dedicated to informing and engaging Ohioans to tell the stories of excellence and achievement in public schools throughout Ohio.

Delegates to the Representative Assembly also recognized the 11 OEA member candidates who were on the ballot in the Fall 2012 election.

“OEA is committed to electing representatives who understand and support public education in Ohio,” said OEA President Patricia Frost-Brooks.

In her address to the 1,100 member delegates from across Ohio, Frost-Brooks outlined some of the many changes and mandates in the education profession such as the new teacher evaluation process, the Common Core curriculum with new standards and tests, the newly adopted Third Grade reading guarantee and legislation raising the bar for school-district report cards.

“School districts need time to understand, absorb and implement new ways of doing things,” she said. “We must join together to take collective action based on fairness and our belief that every student deserves a great public school.”

As Congress prepares for a political showdown in Washington, OEA Executive Director Larry Wicks addressed the delegation, warning that the looming fiscal cliff has dire consequences if Congress fails to act for Ohio’s students.

The fiscal cliff includes $147.6 million in cuts to education in Ohio, and that means 60,000 Ohio students would lose learning opportunities, ranging from Head Start and preschool to adult literacy education and higher education, he said.

“We need Washington to stand up for Ohio’s school children and middle-class families, and we will hold elected officials accountable,” Wicks said. “We are calling on Congress to work out a good deal for hard-working families. That means no more cuts to the vital services everyday Americans depend on: schools, health care, Social Security and public safety.”

The Ohio Education Association represents 124,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio’s public schools, colleges and universities.