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Ohio Federation of Teachers Thanks Retiring State Superintendent DeMaria

"From implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act to a forward-looking strategic plan through a pandemic year, Superintendent DeMaria has demonstrated that the best way to create an education system that serves and supports all students is by bringing stakeholders to the table, truly listening to their input, providing opportunities for civil discourse, and working towards consensus,” said OFT President Melissa Cropper.
 
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Legislature Makes Gains on School Funding But Fails to Enact Fair School Funding Formula

“We organized. We held town halls. We called and emailed our legislators. We came together – parents, teachers, school support staff, school administrators, community members – and we made a huge impact for our kids,” said Taylor Pennington, a public school parent in Lima, Ohio. “This legislation enacts a student-centered school funding formula for the next two years that will help all our local schools deliver world-class opportunities. We need to keep raising our voices to make this a permanent funding formula.” 
 
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Worthington Libraries Staff Announce Union Effort

Today, staff at Worthington Libraries called on their library management to voluntarily recognize their union after they presented signed union cards from an overwhelming majority of library employees. The organizing campaign is led by staff from all three library branches. 
 
“We love our jobs and we love the library,” said Coleman Mahler, an adult services librarian at the Northwest Library branch. “Now we’re asking for a voice in policy that affects us, autonomy over our working conditions and a library that works as hard for us as we work for our community.”
 
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House Bills Targeting School Curriculum Are a Dishonest Attack on Public Schools

"HB 322 and HB 327 are bills that were written to address a non-existent problem that was ginned up by the same bad actors who have been trying to privatize public education for decades. If these bills were to pass, they have the potential to prohibit or dissuade educators from covering important topics that are essential for students to learn our past, understand our present, and build our future."

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Governor DeWine Misses Opportunity to Take Action on School Funding

OFT President Melissa Cropper released the following statement in response to Governor DeWine’s budget proposal for FY 2022-2023: "We're disappointed that Governor DeWine chose to punt on the opportunity to fix our broken and unconstitutional school funding system rather than using last year's Fair School Funding Plan, which passed the Ohio House with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, as a framework. 
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Miguel Cardona’s Cabinet Nomination Will Move Ohio Schools Forward

Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona is expected to be nominated as Secretary of Education for the Biden Administration, fulfilling the President-Elect’s campaign pledge to name a former educator to the position. Cardona was an AFT member, educator, and administratrator in Meriden, Connecticut before becoming Connecticut’s Education Commissioner.
 
OFT President Melissa Cropper released the following statement in response: “Ohio Federation of Teachers congratulates Miguel Cardona on his nomination to be the next Secretary of Education. His insight and experience as an educator will be invaluable in shaping a Department of Education that can meet the growing needs of our students."
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Ohio Federation of Teachers Urges Senate Passage of the Fair School Funding Plan

COLUMBUS, OH — Following the Ohio House of Representatives' passage of HB 305, Ohio Federation of Teachers President Melissa Cropper released the following statement: “Ohio’s public schools have gone decades without a constitutional school funding formula and are currently operating with no funding formula at all. That is too long for us to fail to meet our obligations to the 90% of Ohio children who attend our public schools."
 
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CHUH Schools Plan to Use Questionable Third-Party Vendors and to Stop Special Education During Strike

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Members of the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union (CHTU) are highlighting deficiencies with the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District’s plan to provide education to students when teachers, counselors, social workers, nurses and other education professionals begin their strike on Wednesday, December 2. The union published a summary of their concerns on their website today. 

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