Public Education Matters

Various student voices 0:08
Public education matters. Public education matters. Public education matters.

Scott DiMauro 0:15
This is Public Education Matters brought to you by the Ohio Education Association.

Katie Olmsted 0:26
Welcome back to Public Education Matters. I'm your host, Katie Olmsted, and on behalf of the Ohio Education Association's nearly 120,000 members across the state, I am proud to be able to bring you these weekly conversations with the people who are shaping Ohio's public education landscape every day. People like Rob McFee. He began his term as OEA Secretary-Treasurer over the summer, but he's been at the forefront of the big public education issues for years, whether as a local leader with the Willoughby East Lake Education Association, as NEOEA President, on the OEA Board of Directors, on the board of the State Teachers Retirement System, or in any of the other positions he has stepped up into when he's been called to serve. I had a chance to sit down with Rob in August to hear a little bit more about his journey from math teacher to OEA Secretary-Treasurer and about his vision for the future in his new role. Take a listen.

Rob McFee, OEA secretary treasurer, welcome to the podcast and welcome to OEA. This is your first year in your new role. I'm talking to you mid August. You've been on for about a month and a half now. How's it been going?

Rob McFee 1:53
Well, first, Thanks Katie for giving me the opportunity to talk with you this morning. Been looking forward to it. It's been a little bit of a learning curve. Obviously, it was a first time where I didn't really get to enjoy my summer vacation, so to speak. So I've been not in the job, as you said, officially, since July 15th. But to get ready for what was going on this year, I actually started it back in probably May and June, because thanks to our previous secretary, Mark Hill. I was doing treasurer's workshops on my second day in office on July 16, and that's not something you just want to walk into cold turkey. So been on the job for quite a bit now.

Katie Olmsted 2:33
And I know when you had a chance to meet the OEA headquarters staff, and there are a lot of us and a lot of names to remember, you mentioned that you've been loving those workshops. What do you like about that?

Rob McFee 2:46
Well, to me, the whole reason we get into this part of service is because we like helping members and getting out and talking to members and being in the field and knowing you're providing them information that they need that's going to make their jobs easier. I mean, isn't that kind of way we went into education in the first place? So going into the treasurer's workshops, I've been to several new teacher orientations, a couple leadership councils. To me, getting out in the field, talking to members and just sharing experiences, to me, that's the power of OEA. When we get OEA members in the same room and, you know, talking about what they're going through, and other people speak up and show what they've done for that same situation. I mean, that's the exciting part of what we do.

Katie Olmsted 3:30
And you've been in a lot of the situations. You've you've been in their shoes as a local leader. You come to OEA after nine years as president of Willoughby East Lake, is that right?

Rob McFee 3:40
That is correct. Willoughby East Lake, it's like, it's actually my home district where I grew up and went to school as well.

Katie Olmsted 3:45
What was that like? I know that's a very broad question, but what, what brought you to that leadership role and what made you want to take that experience and come to the OEA level with it?

Rob McFee 3:55
No, that's a great question, Katie. It's, you know, I think there's just pivot points in your life where things kind of push you in a certain direction. So there was a point in my life, you know, I was just teaching my math class. I was a varsity football coach at Eastlake North High School, and at one point I thought I was gonna be the next head coach, and, you know, that would have been the pinnacle of my career. And you know, there's always that one person or that one moment which kind of shifts where you're gonna head. And for me, it was a good friend of mine. His name was Chuck Furline. He was the vice president of my local and he's the one that made the infamous ask.

Katie Olmsted 4:31
The ask, okay, yep.

Rob McFee 4:32
He said, How about you just come to one meeting a month with me, and you know, we'll go out for a beer afterwards? And I'm like, okay, get a free beer out of it. I can go to a meeting a month. And that just kind of grew. So I became a building rep because of his ask. And then it led to, you know, they needed somebody to run the elections, and that was where they lied to me. They said, Oh, it's only twice a year. It's not a big deal.

Katie Olmsted 4:54
The ask and the lie. Okay? This all feels familiar.

Rob McFee 4:57
Yeah, well those, you know, being an election chair I have kudos credit to anybody who's the elections chair for the local because it's so much work. We had, you know, 500 members and 13 buildings, and you have to do a double envelope system and preparing all those ballots. But it taught me a lot about doing things right and following procedure and knowing your constitution and bylaws. And I kind of enjoyed it. So it was a lot of work, but it kind of brought me to a new level, and kind of showed me the importance of all those things. And then that just led to, you know, as it is, when you get kind of pulled in it just kind of, you know, you want to see things done right, and so you just take it to the next step, and became a vice president of the local and then eventually ran for local president.

Katie Olmsted 5:43
And from 2018 to 2022 you were on the STRS board. So what ask led to that? And tell me a little bit about that experience. What are, what were you able to accomplish in that role?

Rob McFee 5:57
You know, I think the ask was just finding out about the training program that OEA offered to kind of get people ready for that board and understanding the importance of that board. Because to me, one of the things I always believed in is don't ask somebody else to do something for you that you're not willing to do yourself. And to me, it was just sitting back watching other members step up to be on that board, realizing I had the knowledge to be able to do that myself, being a math teacher and kind of understanding numbers a little bit. And had the opportunity to join that training program from OEA was probably what led me to that. And that experience, probably, I say, was one of the proudest things I've done in my career. I really enjoyed that aspect. I got to work with some incredible professionals there. I know this is difficult times for STRS, and there's, you know, a lot of noise out there about different issues and different strategies, but actually, I'm really proud of some of the things that I was able to bring to the table there and what we accomplished. And I think things were, at least, you know, when I left in 2022, moving in a positive direction. And you know, just a couple of things to share with you that I was really proud of was one, being able to provide a 3% COLA in my final year on the SRS board. we were in a financial position to be able to afford to do that, which was one of my campaign promises, was to try and bring back a COLA. It wasn't permanent, but it was, you know, a big move. And one of the things that I don't know, if a lot of people know, but I made the motion to get rid of the age 60 requirement, which was something that was put into place before I joined that board. But I talked to a lot of our membership afterwards, and they were, you know, that saves them two to three years of time. They thought they're going to have to keep working till they were 60. A lot can retire at 57, 58 so made a huge impact on members, and that's probably what I'm the most proud of, of serving on that board. But your question is, what else did I get out of that? And I think it helps you develop a thick skin. There's, you know, a lot of members who want to see that board be able to do more, but you have to be firm, and you have to do what you believe is right for the entire membership.

Katie Olmsted 8:00
And obviously retirement security is - however that is accomplished, that has to be the top priority: a pension, a reliable pension that is adequate and that they can't outlive. And through your stewardship, we are able to maintain that and continue to grow into the future. And now we get to have your stewardship here at the Ohio Education Association level, that same attention to detail, that same understanding of the numbers. What made you want to do this?

Rob McFee 8:36
That's an interesting question. And I think that goes down to my philosophy of just being in leadership in general. One of the things I learned being the Willoughby Eastlake president for nine years was to be successful, you have to put good people around you. And one of the biggest jobs you have as a local leader is putting people in the right place to succeed. You have to be able to kind of identify, what are their skills, what are their strengths, what are their weaknesses? And even though they might have weaknesses in some area, find the way to use them the best you can. So in my own career, I'm, you know, getting closer to the age where I could retire if I wanted to, but it was like, Where are my skill sets? What can I best do to serve the membership? And so looking back through my experiences, not only as being a local leader, but I was a district president for NEOEA, where I had to be part of the audit committee. We started an investment program being part of STRS, where we looked at investments and audits and just all that financial work with budgets,and looking at my own skill set, the path to - it wasn't like I just decided secretary-treasurer, that's what I'm going to do, 20years ago - No, it just kind of unfolded, and this is where my journey through OEA has taken me, and it seemed where I could do the most good for members.

Katie Olmsted 9:52
Let's talk about the good that you can do for members. What do you want to accomplish as Secretary-Treasurer?

Rob McFee 9:57
Well, the thing I'm most excited about right now is. We are really looking at our grant program. And we've had an existing grant program, but it's a little bit disjointed, and it just seems like there's a lot of different pieces, and I don't even know if all of our membership understands all of the opportunities that we have, or they have to help their membership through our grants. So streamlining that process, making it easier to apply, getting the word out to our locals about those opportunities. And I know at the last RA, the RA authorized a significant amount of money, around $3 million to invest in a new grant program, which we intend, at least through our initial discussions, is to make it easier to apply for and make it more broad in scope, so they won't be as limited as maybe they have in some of our other programs. So I think that's what I'm most excited about right now, is helping our members see the value of OEA, help them get money back that they can invest in their local and hopefully build up our membership and make it even stronger.

Katie Olmsted 11:00
And I believe your wife is also a member. Is that correct?

Rob McFee 11:04
She is indeed. I don't know if she was as thrilled about me taking this job, because not only she's a member, she is a great building rep in Willoughby Eastlake, but because of me leaving, kind of there's going to be a reshuffling in our leadership. And I think she's going to actually take on the treasurer's role in Willoughby Eastlake, which means she's already attended my workshop once and but she's an amazing third grade teacher.

Katie Olmsted 11:27
And I assume she supports you in your new role as well.

Rob McFee 11:31
If she didn't, I wouldn't be here talking to you today. We've talked about this probably maybe three or four years ago, maybe maybe a little bit longer as a possibility down the road, when I was sitting on the STRS Board, and as NEOEA president. We had conversations of what this would look like, because it's hard on a family. We still are maintaining a house up in northeastern Ohio, and I have three children living at home right now, and you know, one of them is out of school and working. One of them is in college now. One's gonna be a senior in high school. And she's, like I said, a teacher in Willoughby Eastlake, and it's not like she could just pick up and move and get another job down here. So it's difficult to maintain that two houses. But you know, she was so supportive, and she told me, this is what you were meant to do. And she has, you know, given me all the support I could ask for.

Katie Olmsted 12:26
Do you think, because this is a family affair for you - you're all OEA members - that that's one of the drivers for you, and the work that you're doing now?

Rob McFee 12:36
I think it's been the driver in a lot of my work, not just now, but as a local president, you know, we were in the same we're in the same we're in the same district together. Not that I was doing it for her, but, you know, it was a benefit for both of us. And those contracts were able to negotiate and fighting for membership. And hopefully my daughter is going into college, she's at Lake Erie College to become a teacher like her mom. So it is a family business, I guess you could say. So, yeah, I think it's, it's all been tied to that, you know, working with the STRS board. You know, my future is dependent on the success of STRS. My wife's future is dependent on it. My my daughter's future will be dependent on it. So it's been a driver in everything I've done. You know, it's always part of that process.

Katie Olmsted 13:19
Aside from maintaining the two households, what are some of the big challenges you've encountered so far in this role?

Rob McFee 13:26
Well, first, like I said, having to do your treasures workshop on your second day on the job.

Katie Olmsted 13:31
Hit the ground running. Right?

Rob McFee 13:32
Yeah. So OEA believes in that. They just assume you're going to step in and take on that role, which took some some work to get done. But luckily, Mark Hill was fantastic as going out, he took me under his wing. I attended some of his workshops and listened to what how he presented and and learned a lot from him, and I will continue to draw on him, because I do have his phone number. Other challenges, I would say, you know, President DiMauro has tasked me with some things that came out of our spring RA. one is on ESP dues task force, and we just had our first meeting last week. There is an issue with how we our allocation for our state delegates to the NEA RA. So that's on my plate, coming up here pretty soon. And there was also a conversation at the RA about a possible dues freeze, or, you know, how are we using our dues dollars effectively? So those are some big challenges that are on my plate that I'm looking at right now.

Katie Olmsted 14:27
But also opportunities. What are you most looking forward to?

Rob McFee 14:31
Sitting down with members. You know, I think one thing I've learned through all my years of leadership is being a leader doesn't mean you have all the answers. Being a leader means you put the right people at the room, you have the conversations, and you share those experiences, and you get to a conclusion. So it's not led by just one person. And again, I think that's what makes OEA an incredible group to work with, and that's what I'm looking forward to on all those issues, you know, having our ESPs get together and talk about, what can we do to help there? What can we do with our state delegate? So we'll work on those problems together. I'm just a facilitator in bringing those people in the room, and that's what I really enjoy.

Katie Olmsted 15:07
And I appreciate you being in the room with me today and sharing your story. I look forward to hearing more from you as the podcast progresses and as your time in office does.

Rob McFee 15:16
Thank you very much, Katie.

Katie Olmsted 15:22
That does it for this episode of Public Education Matters. We'll be back here again with another insightful conversation next week. Make sure you subscribe to this podcast on your favorite listening platform so you don't miss an episode in the future. Because in Ohio, public education matters.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai