Public Education Matters

Intro 0:07
This is Education Matters, brought to you by the Ohio Education Association.

Katie Olmsted 0:15
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Education Matters, the final episode of Season 3. I'm Katie Olmsted, and throughout this season of the podcast, we have brought in so many different educators voices on so many different topics, everything from controversial bills making their way through the statehouse, to the impact of the Statehouse failing to implement a constitutional funding system for 26 years, not to mention the voices of members who are running to represent their communities in the state house, and the work that is being done, and all the work that still needs to be done to improve representation in our classrooms. And that's just a few of the things we've talked about in the last 40 weeks. But honestly, every single topic we've touched on leads back to one fundamental truth. As educators across the state have been saying, public education matters:

Stephanie Myers - Soapboxx 1:15
Public Education Matters to me because I want my students to be inspired. Like I was inspired by my elementary teachers. And I want them to see the capabilities they have.

Dan Greenberg - Soapboxx 1:25
Public Education Matters because it's the cornerstone of our democracy. It means bring all of our students together from diverse backgrounds to learn how to work together and cooperate with all kinds of different people. 90% of Ohio students attend public school.

Shelly Ahleman - Soapboxx 1:38
I'm Shelly Ahleman, high school counselor at Liberty Center local schools, and I support public education because I want to work in an environment where every kid has equal access to the support they need for a great future.

Katie Olmsted 1:50
Those are just a small sampling of the hundreds of Ohio Education Association members who have been adding their voices to the growing Public Education Matters initiative. And there's one more voice I want you to hear from in that: Ohio Education Association president Scott DiMauro.

Katie Olmsted 2:11
Scott DiMauro, OEA President, thank you so much for sitting down with us as the 2022-2023 school year is now in the books. Let's start by taking a look back. We have so much looking forward, but let's start by looking back at this past school year. What were some of the big challenges? Some of the big victories? What were the takeaways?

Scott DiMauro 2:33
Yeah, thanks, Katie. It's always a pleasure to be on with you. Thank you for the opportunity. You know, it is crazy to think that this school year is over already. It seems like it just started. In fact, it just seems like yesterday that we were walking the picket line with our fellow members from Columbus, as they were waging a extremely successful three day strike back in August. That's how the year was beginning with union members standing up for their rights and for the quality schools that students deserve. We saw throughout the year, other examples of our members standing up in solidarity and winning some important victories at the collective bargaining table. But we also know that this was a year that was filled with many challenges. And, you know, this is probably what we could consider the first true post-COVID year. And it started off with a reminder that we're facing some real challenges when it comes to filling the roles, filling the jobs for educators across the state. We've got a growing educator shortage crisis. We've been working on that issue, trying to get strategies in place to get more people to consider education as a career, but especially to deal with challenging working conditions that are causing many, many people just to feel stressed out and think about leaving for other professions. So in thinking about this year, it was a mix of highs and lows. It was an opportunity to really get back on track in a lot of ways, but working with students who have a lot of challenges and have a lot of needs. The mental health and behavior issues are something that we've been hearing about all throughout the year. We've got school districts that, that have some resources, but that still don't have all the resources that they need to meet the needs of all of their students. And so continuing to engage in, in a campaign with the state legislature and at the local level to make sure that we have resources in place, but also to just get grounded in the need for respect for educators. All of this stuff that's happening in Ohio is happening, you know, in this context of a national organized campaign against public education that is happening in Ohio and in states across the country. And in my 32 years as an educator, I have never seen a more serious threat to the basic foundational principles of public education than we're seeing right now,

Katie Olmsted 5:14
What does that look like here in Ohio, as we're seeing these threats to public education?

Scott DiMauro 5:20
Well, it's interesting to kind of think about how attacks against public education have evolved. You know, throughout my career, you know, I've seen firsthand politicians who have used primarily the threat of standardized testing, and then linking teacher evaluation and, and resources and accountability, to test scores as a way to undercut confidence in public education, and to really suck the joy out of teaching and learning and, and that's something that that I think, has been an ongoing problem in our system.

Katie Olmsted 5:57
But within parentheses, of course, the fact that private schools are not held to the same accountability standards for standardized tests. But that's, that's a whole nother story.

Scott DiMauro 6:05
Exactly! And I mean, that's it really puts a spotlight on the on the problems with the system and how, you know, anti public education, politicians, and the wealthy corporate interests who are funding them, you know, have really engaged in a very deliberate strategy, to try to create all kinds of distractions to, you know, make make the work for educators more difficult. But then also, you know, generate, made up evidence that says, hey, somehow, you know, public schools are not succeeding. And so therefore, kids need to go to private schools, and we need to shift resources, you know, to privatization instead. So that's been, that's been kind of the undercurrent for, for a while. What we've seen in the last year or two is that now, I think, especially as they realize that all these education reform proposals that have been implemented, going back to No Child Left Behind, have not worked and in fact, have have made things worse, they've shifted gears a little bit, and instead, they've turned to scapegoating, based on race, based on gender, based on sexual orientation, really injecting these culture war issues into the public education space, in order to try where they had failed before to get this undermining of confidence in public education in public schools - at a time when 90% of Ohio's kids are still attending public schools, and the vast majority of parents still believe that their child's teachers and their child's schools are doing a good job for them. You know, so this is all part of an organized effort to try to make life difficult for people working in schools, so that they can push this privatization agenda. And I think our members are feeling the impact of that. In some cases, it's, you know, they don't see it directly. But it's this insidious, you know, plan that that's really kind of playing out, and I think is has been very challenging. So that means that it's even more important than it ever was before, that we're organizing and that we're standing up. And we're really making the case, why public education is so important, why we need to fight for fully and fairly funded schools, and why we need to fight against expansion of vouchers and other privatization schemes.

Katie Olmsted 8:35
Really, that's the thrust of a lot of our, our messaging, a lot of our work together as we move forward, is making the case for why public Education Matters. You know, it's the heart of it all. I know, is the heart of it all. But we have to really stand together with our united voice to tell the world why Public Education Matters as our way to push back against some of these attacks on public education. One of the things we've touched on quite a few times already in this conversation, is the issue of dignity and respect for educators. It strikes me that a couple of weeks ago, we had a podcast guest on who retired in 2014, because he says, you know, things had gotten pretty hostile from the state. And he actually came back into teaching last year, at a time when I think it's gotten way more hostile and way harder to be an educator. How do we combat that? And what does it look like when we do have dignity and respect for the educators that they have earned?

Scott DiMauro 9:39
Well, you know, every day I have an opportunity to talk with members and especially this time of year, when a lot of people are retiring and kind of looking back on their careers in education and doing some reflection. What almost across the board I hear is that what keeps people going is the fact that they know they're making a difference in the lives of their students. It's those personal interactions, those relationships that they're creating, and that they're cultivating, to really help kids learn and thrive and grow. And in the process, making relationships with the families of those of those students, that really keeps people going. And so I think, being centered on that, on that relationship between the educator and students, between education support professionals, you know, who plays such an important role in our schools, and the students that that they serve. And the relationship between schools and parents and communities, is a way to kind of, again, remind ourselves, despite all the noise, despite all the attacks, that the work that we do really, really does matter. People get frustrated when they feel like their voice isn't listened to, they get frustrated when they don't feel like they have the support of their local administration, they feel very frustrated when they feel like politicians are imposing laws on them, rather than listening to them, and giving them the support that they need. That bottom line, issue of dignity and respect, I think is so critical. And I think the more people are able to focus on what's happening in the classroom, in that connection with kids, you know, the more clear it is, but we do have a lot of work to do. And as an association, you know, I think we've been taking every opportunity that we can to celebrate the education profession, to celebrate the adults who work in our schools, to put a spotlight on great teaching and learning that's happening every single day in classrooms all across the state of Ohio, and all 88 of our counties and all 611 of our school districts. And, and also to remind our members, that the best way to get reinforcement of support is by leaning on each other. The reason that we exist as a union is that we are able to provide those support relationships to get people through the tough times. And I hear over and over again, that people are really appreciative of the way the union, the way our union, our organization, helps connect them to their fellow educators and make them realize that they're not in this alone. And when we're working together with other people who share our values, there's nothing that can stop us.

Katie Olmsted 12:43
Yeah, definitely not in it alone. And in fact, 120,000 strong to achieve our vision for the excellent public schools that every child deserves. How important is it, at a time when society feels fractured, when there are divisions, manufactured divisions, amped up divisions for those cheap political points with these culture war issues, that we find our common ground, and we speak as one for the things we need for our schools?

Scott DiMauro 13:17
It's absolutely essential. We know that, in order for students to be successful, they need support. They need to have reasonable class sizes and access to the latest technology, and a well-rounded curriculum and a complete and honest education that doesn't whitewash our history and doesn't somehow try to indoctrinate our students into a particular political ideology for the sake of of promoting a particular agenda that that really takes away their ability to learn from past mistakes in order to do better in the future. All of these things are so critical, all these things are under attack. But again, we see that there is no more important entity in any community than the public schools. In so many of our communities across the state, it is the local public school that is the tie that binds everybody together. You know, whether it's the Friday night football game, or you know, the school play, or the chance for, you know, grandparents to come in and read to young children in the classroom. You know, our schools are really the hubs of our communities. But we also know there's a lot of inequity in the system. And that's why we're we're advocating at the state level to make sure that we have a funding system that really provides students what they need in order to be successful. So so that's a big part of our collective advocacy is to stand up for the rights of our educators to teach and the rights of our students to learn but to have the resources necessary in order to ensure that everybody regardless of their zip code, regardless of their race, or their gender, regardless of who their parents are, that every single student without exception, has a high-quality education. We've got the right people providing that education. But our members need the financial resources and need the kind of other supports in order to make sure that that vision becomes a reality everywhere.

Katie Olmsted 15:31
And I should add, we have the great people doing this. But we are unfortunately facing a crisis where great people are leaving the profession, and we're having a really hard time getting new people to enter the profession. And yes, we're seeing that for teachers; we're also seeing that I'd say, an even more acute crisis in many places, for education support professionals. How many times over this past school year have we heard about bus routes that couldn't be filled, because they just didn't have the staff? Or, you know, just really concrete examples of what is happening when we can't ensure that there are working conditions and, and honestly pay levels that speak to the respect and dignity of the profession, to make sure that we can keep people in this profession?

Scott DiMauro 16:21
Right. And we've been, we've been spending a lot of time and a lot of our focus as a union focusing on that issue, both for teachers and for education support professionals. At our recent Representative Assembly, our delegates adopted a new business item to continue moving forward with the great work led by our ESP Voice Academy, to build a campaign, an ongoing campaign, for dignity and respect for support staff across the state. And we're already starting to see some of the fruits of the work that had been ongoing with with our educators. In particular, in this budget bill that is still being debated in the state legislature, that the House-passed version of the budget would increase the state minimum teacher salary from $30,000 to $40,000. The majority of local school districts and our Locals will see a direct impact of that, where people are going to see their wages increased in a way that hopefully will allow us to attract more people into the profession, and pay people commensurate to the value of the work that they're doing. It's not where we need to be, you know, in the end, but it's an important step forward. So that kind of work, the work, the progress that we're making on on school funding - again, we got a real positive budget coming out of the House in terms of implementing the next phase of the Fair School Funding Plan. We know we're getting some pushback in the Senate, so we're going to have to continue to be politically active and engage with legislators from both parties in order to get this over the finish line - Those are all like critical pieces. And then we're working, you know, on a on a, you know, looking at more specific policies that related to apprenticeships, for example, and paying student teachers and taking away taking away financial barriers for entry into the profession, and providing more systemic ways of assessing working and learning conditions and, and providing tools for improvement on those things. All of this is central to what we do because in the end, we want to ensure that every single educator in the state of Ohio is supported and respected. And most importantly, that every single student has a high-quality education that allows them to achieve and reach their dreams.

Katie Olmsted 18:49
And that's why Public Education Matters. That's what we're telling the world because the world - I think most people are already on our side, but we have to really help them understand why Public Education Matters so much.

Scott DiMauro 19:03
Absolutely. And you know, I'm, as I mentioned earlier, this is my 32nd year in the education profession. I'm a high school social studies teacher, I chose to become a high school social studies teacher because I wanted my students to be better citizens, to give them the problem solving and decision making and critical thinking skills that would allow them to function in this crazy world that we live in. And that's really fundamental to building a strong democracy. If you have a well-educated citizenry, then you will be able to have a thriving and strong democracy. Public education is absolutely essential for the future of our nation if we care about democracy. We also know that public education is absolutely critical if you care about a thriving economy. We want every student graduating from our public schools to be able to go into the career path that is going to allow them to meet their potential and achieve their goals. And of course, if you have a well-educated citizenry, then that means that we're going to have a thriving economy. But I think even more fundamental than either of those things, is we want our students to be lifelong learners. Because in the end, if we instill those - that sense of pride and joy and creativity and imagination and ongoing desire to learn, then that just builds happiness, you know. And so, there is nothing more important in our nation, and really creating a better future for everybody, than ensuring that there is a strong public school system, that every single student regardless of where they come from, is able to attend a quality public school and get a quality public education.

Katie Olmsted 21:02
I could not agree more. Scott, thank you so much for taking the time to share your perspective.

Scott DiMauro 21:07
Thank you, Katie.

Katie Olmsted 21:11
Of course, this entire conversation about the importance of a strong democracy is against the background of a very real threat to the sacred democratic principle of majority rule, that fundamental belief in the importance of one person, one vote. In the special election on August 8, we must use our united voice to Vote No on Issue One, which would shred the constitution by allowing the minority of Ohioans to make decisions or us all. We have a lot more about that issue in Episode 36 of this podcast in this season, and I highly encourage you to go back and listen to it if you haven't heard it already. I also encourage you to send me an email with ideas about what you'd like to hear on the podcast when we return for season 4 in the fall. The address is educationmatters@ohea.org. As always, until next time, stay Well.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai