Public Education Matters

menu close

Citizens Not Politicians aims to end gerrymandering in Ohio. Plus, OEA members' power to shape our state's future.

/ 50:02/S4:E21
Ohio's system for creating legislative districts is broken. When new maps are drawn every ten years, the party in power can manipulate the lines so they can hold onto their power by picking and choosing the voters they want to pack into their own districts, rather than letting Ohio's voters have a real voice in the statehouse or on Capitol Hill. It's time to change that. And the Citizens Not Politicians ballot initiative will change it by ending gerrymandering in Ohio once and for all, if it's approved by voters in the fall. As retired Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor and former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown tell us in the Public Education Matters Season 4 finale, there's a good reason the citizen-led initiative has so much bipartisan support. We also hear from OEA President Scott DiMauro about the important role OEA members can play in this year's elections to help shape the public education landscape in our state.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AMENDMENT | The Citizens Not Politicians Amendment will end gerrymandering by empowering citizens, not politicians, to draw fair districts using an open and transparent process. It will:
  • Create the 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of Democratic, Republican, and Independent citizens who broadly represent the different geographic areas and demographics of the state. 
  • Ban current or former politicians, political party officials and lobbyists from sitting on the Commission.
  • Require fair and impartial districts by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician.
  • Require the commission to operate under an open and independent process. 
Click here to get involved in the campaign or to read the full amendment for yourself.

SUBSCRIBE | Click here to subscribe to Public Education Matters on Apple Podcasts or click here to listen on Spotify so you don't miss a thing. You can also find Public Education Matters on many other platforms. Click here for some of those links so you can listen anywhere. And don't forget you can listen to all of the previous episodes anytime on your favorite podcast platform, or by clicking here.


Featured Public Education Matters guests: 
  • Maureen O'Connor, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio (retired)
    • On Jan. 1, 2011, Maureen O'Connor became Ohio's first female Chief Justice. She initially joined the Supreme Court on Jan. 1, 2003, becoming the 148th Justice and giving the Court its first- ever female majority. Maureen O’Connor is the tenth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, the first woman to lead the state judicial branch of government, a Cleveland State School of Law graduate, and a member of the Cleveland State Law School Hall of Fame. 
    • Chief Justice O’Connor is the recipient of numerous awards from local bar associations to statewide and national organizations. Among them is Ohio State Bar’s highest honor, The Ohio Bar Medal, for ‘unusually meritorious service to the legal profession, the community and humanity.’  She is the longest-serving statewide elected woman in Ohio history. 
    • Chief Justice O’Connor has led significant reforms and improvements in the Ohio judicial system and is a leader nationally. Her commitment to modernization of the courts across the state is unmatched. Since 2015, she has endowed Ohio local courts with almost 40 million dollars to add and enhance technology. This funding has increased access to justice for litigants, defendants, and the public. The foresight of providing funds to local courts for technology made Ohio a leader in its ability to continue to administer justice through the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. 
    • Chief Justice O’Connor has worked to improve fairness in the judicial system. She was selected by her peers in the Conference of Chief Justices to co-chair the National Task Force on Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices in 2016. The Task Force issued a report that provides judges, lawyers, and court personnel guidance in the law related to fines, fees, and bail as well as best practices. In Ohio, she has advocated for reform to ensure people are not held in jail prior to resolution of their case simply because they cannot afford bail. She strongly advocated for the creation of a statewide criminal sentencing database and the implementation of a uniform sentencing entry to establish standardized data for felony sentencing. She believes that judges, lawyers, and the public will benefit by being informed about the pattern of criminal sentencing in Ohio and the need for uniformity to insure a fair justice system across the state.  She created a task force on conviction integrity to look at policies and practices to determine equity, fairness, and advise the judiciary and the legislature. 
    • From 1985 to 1993, O’Connor served as Magistrate, Summit County Probate Court. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Judge, Summit County Court of Common Pleas, and was elected as administrative judge of the court. Serving in local and trial courts, she learned that many of society’s most difficult problems are manifested in the legal issues that come before the courts. 
    • As chief justice, it became clear that the emerging opioid abuse and its impact on court dockets needed a more collaborative response across state lines. An eight-state initiative to combat the opioid epidemic was created in which information sharing and best practices were not constrained by state boundaries. She has increased the role of specialized dockets, to bring community resources together to provide an opportunity for a second chance, where warranted. 
    • She holds trial courts in esteem for the challenging work they do and the opportunities they create. Chief Justice O’Connor left the Summit County bench to serve her community as Summit County Prosecuting Attorney from 1995 to 1999 and was honored by Cleveland State University with the Distinguished Alumnae Award for Civic Achievement and received numerous other awards. In 1999, she was elected with Governor Bob Taft to serve as Ohio Lieutenant Governor and Director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. After 9-11, she became the state’s first liaison with the newly formed U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. As Ohio’s leader in Homeland Security, she chaired the State of Ohio Security Task Force and the State Building Security Review Committee. 
    • Chief Justice O’Connor joined the Court in January 2003, was re-elected as an associate justice in 2008 and elected twice as Chief Justice in 2010 and 2016. She was unopposed for reelection as chief justice in 2016. 
    • Since her retirement in December of 2022, she has been a leader for the effort in Ohio to amend the Ohio Constitution to create a redistricting commission with members selected from the citizens of our state. There will be no politicians or lobbyists eligible for appointment to the commission. The goal is to end gerrymandering and establish fair districts for both the Ohio Legislature and our congressional districts. The amendment will be on the ballot in November 2024.
    • Chief Justice O’Connor is also one of six members of the Advisory Group of Experts to Ukraine working on vetting candidates for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU). She has visited Kyiv, Lviv, and Warsaw in order to fulfill  the responsibilities of the task.  Establishing trust in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine starts with a fair and open selection process, one the citizens can see as the interviews take place. As the attrition of current judges takes place, the Advisory Group will convene to vet applicants for high moral integrity and legal competency. Of the 18 members of the CCU, as of March 2024, six vacancies exist.  The Advisory Group is active, committed, and producing groundbreaking results all aimed to increase fairness and trust in the CCU.  Democracies cannot survive without fair and independent judiciaries.  Given the threats to Ukraine by the Russian aggression, it is essential that Ukrainian democracy not only survives but thrives.

  • Yvette McGee Brown, Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice
    • A series of firsts define the judicial and professional career of Yvette McGee Brown. She was the first African American woman elected to the Franklin County Common Pleas Court in 1992. She was the founding president of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide Children's Hospital. And, in January 2011, she became the first African American woman to serve as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Ohio. Today, Yvette is the Partner-In-Charge of Diversity, Inclusion, and Advancement at the global law firm Jones Day and a partner in the Business and Tort Litigation practice where she represents clients in complex litigation, corporate and government investigations, and appellate matters. 
    • Yvette is an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association serving on complex commercial panels. In addition, she is an active community and corporate leader, serving on public company and non-profit boards. She  serves on the board of directors for Encova Mutual Insurance Group, The Jeffrey Company, KIPP Columbus, and Chair of the African American Leadership Academy. She has also served on the board of directors for Ohio University, M/I Homes, Fifth Third Bank of Central Ohio, The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, United Way of Central Ohio, The Ohio State University Alumni Association, and the YWCA Columbus.
    • Yvette was selected as one of 500 Leading Litigators in America for 2023 by Lawdragon. She is also listed annually in The Best Lawyers in America, including 2020 Lawyer of the Year; BTI 2023 and 2020 Client Service All-Star; and, The American Lawyer recently recognized her as a 2021 Midwest Trailblazer.
    • Crain’s Cleveland Business recognized Yvette as a 2022 Notable Executive in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Savoy Magazine included her as one of 2019’s Most Influential Women in Corporate America, and she was honored by The American Red Cross as Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Yvette has been inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame and the Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame.
    • A native of Columbus City Schools, Yvette graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Journalism/Public Relations, followed by her Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. She has honorary degrees from Urbana University, Ohio Dominican University, and Wilberforce University.
    • Yvette is married to Tony Brown, a retired educator. They have three children and two grandchildren. 

Connect with OEA:
About us:
  • The Ohio Education Association represents about 120,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals who work in Ohio’s schools, colleges, and universities to help improve public education and the lives of Ohio’s children. OEA members provide professional services to benefit students, schools, and the public in virtually every position needed to run Ohio’s schools.
  • Public Education Matters host Katie Olmsted serves as Media Relations Consultant for the Ohio Education Association. She joined OEA in May 2020, after a ten-year career as an Emmy Award winning television reporter, anchor, and producer. Katie comes from a family of educators and is passionate about telling educators' stories and advocating for Ohio's students. She lives in Central Ohio with her husband and two young children. 
This episode was recorded on May 29 and May 30, 2024.
Citizens Not Politicians aims to end gerrymandering in Ohio. Plus, OEA members' power to shape our state's future.

headphones Listen Anywhere

More Options »
Broadcast by