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Education Laws In Ohio Subject Of Repeal Campaign, Budget Skirmish

Ohio Protest

First Posted: 06/ 1/11 04:37 PM ET Updated: 06/ 1/11 04:51 PM ET

Ohio senators have axed wording that strips public employees of most collective-bargaining rights and mandates merit pay for teachers from the state's upcoming spending plans in a move that may make it easier to repeal an already passed bill that enacts similar results.

The state Senate Republican caucus removed the language, which is similar to language already passed in a an earlier bill, from the upcoming two-year budget late Tuesday evening.

State Senate President Tom Niehaus (R-New Richmond) said he wanted to avoid conflict implementing programs that make use of federal Race to the Top funds, according to the Associated Press.

But the Democrats aren’t as clear about the reasoning. “There is bipartisan support to remove the language that is duplicative of Senate Bill 5 in the budget,” Senate minority leader Capri Cafaro (D-Hubbard) told The Huffington Post. “The Republicans opposed to Senate Bill 5 language probably submitted amendments to do that.” The caucus may not have had enough votes with the language intact, Cafaro said.

It is unclear what the immediate ramifications of replicating the SB5 language would be, though some say it could hold up efforts to repeal the law. Still, opponents said they were pleased to see the language struck regardless of the reasons for doing so.

“My father is a firefighter. My mom is an EMT. My best friend from college is a teacher. This is really close to my heart,” said Melissa Fazekas, spokesperson for We Are Ohio, a campaign to repeal SB5. “It takes away their rights to sit down at a table and discuss their issues with management.”

She said the group has over 10,000 volunteers traveling from county to county to collect signatures. The group hopes to put a measure on this fall’s ballot, which would require 231,139 validated signatures. By Fazekas' last count, We Are Ohio had reached 214,399 signatures, but said the group aims to collect between 450,000 and 500,000 signatures. Accruing enough signatures by deadline would stay the law until the referendum.

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The duplicated language in the budget, she said, raised concerns about the effects of a referendum. “There’s some question as to whether similar language to SB5 in another bill would affect the referendum,” Fazekas said. “There are parts of the budget bill that are not subject to referendum. There hasn’t been a clear decision on what it would mean.”

Ohio’s law came as similar laws passed in states from Wisconsin to Idaho as part of a national movement to hold teachers accountable for the performance of their students. Job security has traditionally been pegged to the number of years a teacher has spent in the classroom, but these laws seek to change that, tying pay and dismissals to students’ scores on standardized tests.

Ohio is a particularly important state for education reform, as it won funds from U.S. Secretary of Education’s federal Race to the Top competition, which promoted accountability-focused changes. “The Ohio Federation of Teachers has been one of the groups out front pushing for changes in the way that we run education to make it more effective for students,” said spokesperson Lisa Zellner. “But with the governor coming in with drastic funding cuts and policies that eliminate jobs rather than supporting the profession and education, these changes will devastate education for students in Ohio.”

The passage of SB5 in Ohio has led local teachers unions to try to secure existing contracts in a mad rush before the bill becomes effective, said David Dolphe, a clinical faculty member in the University of Dayton’s department of educational leadership. “Associations are bargaining contracts in their districts to lock in whatever it was they had before the law kicks in,” he said. “The notion behind that is that everybody feels like they need a little time to figure out what the ramifications are.”

Cafaro said she and the Democratic caucus opposed the bill because SB5 “is not collective bargaining. It’s collective begging.” It allows the employer to implement the last offer made should an agreement not be reached.

Darold Johnson, legislative director for the Ohio Federation of Teachers, said that as of Wednesday afternoon, the governor was leaning on the senate to put the merit pay issue back into the budget, saying it would help with Race to the Top promises.

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Ohio senators have axed wording that strips public employees of most collective-bargaining rights and mandates merit pay for teachers from the state's upcoming spending plans in a move that may make i...
Ohio senators have axed wording that strips public employees of most collective-bargaining rights and mandates merit pay for teachers from the state's upcoming spending plans in a move that may make i...
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Num1Christy
If only closed minds came with closed mouths
11 hours ago (2:47 PM)
My husband and I both signed the repeal!! :)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Rowsdower
I'm Rowsdower. Zap Rowsdower.
18 hours ago (6:54 AM)
"Progressi­ves" didn't vote in numbers in 2010, and they got the government they deserve.

Unfortunat­ely, there are plenty of good and decent people who DID vote against Republican­s, and they don't deserve the government that "Progressi­ves" won them. (I suppose it was actually a coalition of "Progressi­ves" and their allies the Teabaggers­, unified in their desire to teach Obama a lesson.)
13 hours ago (12:28 PM)
Amazingly this group which calls itself the "Tea Party" and is so against higher taxes and big government­, was originated and controlled by two of the wealthiest people in America. The Koch brothers who own corporatio­ns in the lumber industry, oil industry and coal industry has duped these Rush Limbaugh wanna be's into believing all of the hype the sit in front of them. These two "business men" have donated millions to four different organizati­ons which take up their cause to bully government to do the things they want them to do. It is a shame people can be so gulliable and not realize what kind of problems they are causing for people who are just trying to make a decent living.
19 hours ago (6:23 AM)
Another notch in America's race to the bottom. Wonder what happens when other countries start closing their borders to us?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
goldgoose
goldgoose
12:45 AM on 6/02/2011
These are the same John Birch Republican­s as those of Gov. Walker of Wisconsin; their agenda is ultimately to eliminate Public Schools and privatize the schools. Public Schools are required to be democratic­, impartial, non-partis­an, and equitable; Public schools are referred to as "parochial­" because their specific purpose is to indoctrina­te students is some ideology.
The John Birch Society believes that democracy is "mob rule" and that America was never intended to be a democracy; they claim America was founded to be an oligarchic Republic. Therefore they want to eliminate the democratic Public Schools. Check out the official "John Birch Society Bluebook", 1961.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
choco1996
tucson Az
12:13 AM on 6/02/2011
next time you elect a foxy..remm­eber your buyers remorse right now
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LiberalBuzz
Voting repubican is voting against America.
12:12 AM on 6/02/2011
To me the most amazing thing is how easily the GOP thug party got their followers with the huge help from Fakenews, to immediatel­y turn on teachers, firefighte­rs, police with a simple explanatio­n that are "their" problems were the fault, NOT of poor republican policies, nor greed of Wall Street, nor a banking institutio­n designed to make more money if you failed in your home ownership than succeed, or the republican led fight to re-regulat­e Wall Street, the Banksters, and get rid of as many protection­s for the middle class thus leading to the huge economic fall that almost put us into bankruptcy­, but the teachers, firefighte­rs, police and public employees, those dastardly selfish greedy over paid public employees.­........mo­re than anything that amazes me how quickly they got people to turn on those important to our country while continuing to claim they were just out to make things better for "you".....­why anyone votes republican is beyond all normal rationale.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Rowsdower
I'm Rowsdower. Zap Rowsdower.
11:15 PM on 6/01/2011
So I spent six weeks before the 2010 election manning a phone bank for Governor Strickland­. I tried to warn people that Kasich was trouble, but people didn't want to listen. In fact, reading here on Huffington Post, I saw any number of "Progressi­ves" who promised not to vote and thus teach Obama a lesson.

Are you starting to figure it out at last? You can't just let Republican­s waltz in and have their way with your community, or they'll wreck everything they can't steal. You dropped the ball in 2010, but can you at least show up on election day and block the Republican­s in 2012?
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JPJABBER
'twas brillig and the slithey tode...
11:24 PM on 6/01/2011
I feel your pain...we had to leave this sorry, ignorant state. (But we still have family there and they are catching on....)
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MamacitaOfLove
Micro-bio curious
11:39 PM on 6/01/2011
Amazing what it takes for people to catch on, isn't it?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MamacitaOfLove
Micro-bio curious
11:26 PM on 6/01/2011
Same situ here. Exactly.
11:50 PM on 6/01/2011
Strickland did nothing to fix the school-fun­ding crisis in Ohio.
12:15 AM on 6/02/2011
Exactly, Strickland had the advantage of Democrat control over the state government and did nothing to fix the problem.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Rowsdower
I'm Rowsdower. Zap Rowsdower.
19 hours ago (6:39 AM)
Well then, we're lucky Kasich is totally fixing things, aren't we?

Even if you are myopic enough to base your choice of governor on the single issue of school funding -- even if -- Kasich is clearly a step in the wrong direction.
13 hours ago (11:53 AM)
Actually Strickland had a plan to do just that, it was just long-term and it was not given the opportunit­y to succeed.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Num1Christy
If only closed minds came with closed mouths
11 hours ago (2:45 PM)
Is that some sort of reason to then support Kasich actively tearing apart our schools here in Ohio?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LiberalBuzz
Voting repubican is voting against America.
12:03 AM on 6/02/2011
Not bragging but I refused to not vote to teach Obama "a lesson" I tried to tell everyone I knew, 'don't do it" get out there and vote no matter how disappoint­ed you are. The alternativ­e is even worse.....­.I guess a lot of us had our words fall upon deaf ears.
10:13 PM on 6/01/2011
And no....IT'S NOT the teachers' faults, its those types of programs that are turning out grads that cant add.
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Hotspot
Obama 2012!
11:21 PM on 6/01/2011
maybe it you weren't so lazy . . . you could help your children with their school work.
10:10 PM on 6/01/2011
That race to the top and merit pay insures ONLY that the teachers will "teach to the tests" and NOT TEACH our children.I have seen enough of that type of bs in 2 different schools districts already. All they care about are scores and numbers, not that our children LEARN what they need to know. IT'S ALL BS !!!!
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Hotspot
Obama 2012!
11:22 PM on 6/01/2011
. . . and the school boards set the testing standards.
12:20 AM on 6/02/2011
The fact is that teachers are handcuffed by the fact that parents don't give a damn. I see it in my college courses. Students who graduated from high school with decent GPAs and come to college and can barely write. It's not worth teachers risking their careers on trying to straighten out broken families and the resulting mixed-up kids, so they pass them along to the next grade. I'm definitely not a big fan of teachers' unions, but I can empathize with the fact that K-12 public school teachers can only do so much.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
goldgoose
goldgoose
12:50 AM on 6/02/2011
You are right of course, I would only add that some students who made great scores on the Standard Achievemen­t Tests are unable to apply anything they learned in their daily life. Standardiz­ed test measure only cognitive learning and not affective learning or motor skills.
09:12 PM on 6/01/2011
I challenge all you teacher bashers to get into the classroom and become a successful teacher. You will learn so much more than you ever imagined. Your world will change, and you just might change THE world. To the Ohio teachers, if this economic downturn is your fault, I'd hold out for 850 billion in bailout money. The other guys got it.
09:15 PM on 6/01/2011
Those that cannot do, teach . . .

Those that cannot teach, teach gym . . .
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Eric Mann
Our rabbis taught: When the Egyptian armies were d
10:15 PM on 6/01/2011
Those that cannot teach, go to Wall Street.
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myblueohio
OMG, I lost my micro-bio!!
10:28 PM on 6/01/2011
And those who do not know anything repeat empty slogans - to match their heads.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MamacitaOfLove
Micro-bio curious
11:28 PM on 6/01/2011
Ph.u.ck u.
10 hours ago (3:12 PM)
I really have to question the intellectu­al capacity of anyone who repeats such a stupid slogan.
9 hours ago (4:33 PM)
I've said it before, but it bears repeating -

Those who CAN teach.

Those who CANNOT makes laws about teaching.
09:31 PM on 6/01/2011
I do not thik that would work; the other guys are able to line the pockets of our politician­s...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
goldgoose
goldgoose
01:04 AM on 6/02/2011
LA's Superinten­dent Deasy’s statement, “Teaching is a highly skilled, highly nuanced task. It actually is Rocket Science to teach a Third Grader to read on Grade level.”
10 hours ago (3:13 PM)
That's a good statement, but Deasy is no friend to teachers. He's another Broad Foundation hack who's going to be paid too much to leave an urban district in the same or worse condition than it was when he took over.
08:18 PM on 6/01/2011
Hang tough Ohio!
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Fnordpocalypse
can you see them?
06:13 PM on 6/01/2011
While I'm all for holding teachers accountabl­e for the success of thier students, the real problem begins at home with parents who don't teach their kids how to behave in school.

I can remember how bad my classmates were when I was in highschool­, I'm sure it's only gotten worse in the past decade plus. Teachers have a hard job and dont get enough credit when credit is due. There should be policis in place to get rid of the bad teachers, but not at the cost of hurting the good ones.

As for all this crush the unions stuff, lets stop the corporate welfare first, then tackle the problems with unions. Something tells me that if certain entiteis payed into the system fairly, we wouldnt need to "crush the unions". But thats really assuming that this is actually about the budget and not removing political opponets of the GOP.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jeffrey Marks
07:10 PM on 6/01/2011
50% of the teacher's evaluation would be from multiple-c­hoice 1x a year tests, and another portion would be complaints from students and their parents. Suddenly the students are in charge of what happens in the classroom -- is that really a race to the top OR a slide to the bottom?
09:28 PM on 6/01/2011
Sounds like a Repulican congress doesn't it...
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marshhen
Northern by birth, southern by choice
11:19 PM on 6/01/2011
Teacher authority in the classroom is long past. If your teacher kicked you kid out of school long ago, your kid was out of school, no questions asked.

Today? Phffft.... Lucky the teacher may get to keep their job.
10 hours ago (3:14 PM)
It's a race to the bottom.
06:10 PM on 6/01/2011
This is for Derek D, and anyone else who has been asleep for the past 30 years: If you think unions are a/the cause of the nation's problems, you've been had. You've heard too much b.s. from spokes-mod­els like Reagan, Palin, Christie, etc.

Do you long for the "good ole days"?...l­ike the 50s and 60s when unions were strong (including private sector unions) and the rich paid as much as 91% income tax?

We've been subjected to mass propaganda since Reagan: Trickle down, DON"T tax the rich, etc. It's been, in Chris Hedge's words " a coup d'etat in slow motion." Wake up, America. Restore unions. Tax the rich!

ps. I don't expect huffpo to let this comment slip. Huffpo is also in the corporate pocket. I posted just hoping someone was asleep at the wheel.
07:42 PM on 6/01/2011
Dont forget past capitalist­s wanted inheritanc­es taxed nearly out of existence, as inheriting wealth isnt earning it and therefore isnt capitalist­, this would actually encourage the rich to spend some money rather than hoarding it and it would be a source of revenue for the nation.
10:40 PM on 6/01/2011
Do you seriously think it's fair for someone to pay 91% of their income to taxes? I think you've listened to too much class-warf­are propaganda­.
10 hours ago (3:15 PM)
I'd be mad as hell if I had to pay 91%.
9 hours ago (4:46 PM)
Surely that 91% was the top marginal rate and not the effective rate, right?
20 minutes ago (1:00 AM)
Fanned, and I'm both slightly amazed and relieved that HuffPo let your comment stand.
06:10 PM on 6/01/2011
Let the recalls begin!
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myblueohio
OMG, I lost my micro-bio!!
10:33 PM on 6/01/2011
We don't have recall laws in Ohio, but we are working on that.
06:00 PM on 6/01/2011
It's plainly evident that Republican­s and the top 1% don't want the average middle class citizen to be educated.

Can you say, King Louie and Marie Antionette­.