Public Education Matters

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

Jeff Wensing 0:14
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 Katie Olmsted, and I'm part of the communications team for the Ohio Education Association and its nearly 120,000 members across the state. All OEA members are once again invited to join OEA to celebrate Public Education Matters Day at one of the big amusement parks in our state. A few years ago, our state lawmakers declared September 30th as Public Education Matters Day in Ohio. This year, we will be celebrating the day on Saturday, October 4th. We're giving away up to four free tickets for each OEA member at both Kings Island and Cedar Point that day, all first come, first served while supplies last. There's also an online store to get discounted parking passes and additional discounted admission tickets if you need them. So keep an eye out for an email from OEA with all of the links and details. Again, Public Education Matters Day will be celebrated on Saturday, October 4th this year, and we really hope you can join us for a day of fun and solidarity with your fellow OEA members celebrating Ohio's public schools and the strength of our unity when we come together to speak in a united voice. Coming up a little later on this podcast, we'll hear from the Dayton Education Association president about exactly what his local members were able to do because they stood together and stood up for their rights. But first I have one more October date. I want you to keep in mind that is October 6th. That's the voter registration deadline in Ohio this year, so please make sure you are registered to vote or that your voter registration is up to date so that you can cast your ballot on or before Election Day, November 4th. But it's not just the adults who are casting ballots this election season. The program Kids Voting Ohio is bringing mock elections and so much more to schools across the state now and year round, our first guest on the podcast tells us how you can bring these engaging lessons to the students in your school. Take a listen.

Andrea Kruse 2:38
Hi. I'm Andrea Kruse. I'm the program director for Kids Voting Ohio.

Katie Olmsted 2:42
What is kids voting Ohio?

Andrea Kruse 2:45
Sure, kids voting Ohio is a non partisan, non profit initiative that's focused on empowering Ohio students through hands on civic engagement.

Katie Olmsted 2:55
So what does that look like in classrooms across Ohio?

Andrea Kruse 2:59
Well, our primary, primary mode of getting that hands on experience is through mock collections. And what that would look like for a teacher, an educator, a librarian, really, anyone in the school who's interested in hosting that is, they would get in contact with kids voting let us know what they want to have on their students ballot, and then we would take it from there. We would create an online ballot where it would either it could be as simple as, you know, the next food item menu or the next school party for some of our younger students, all the way up to a ballot that looks exactly like what a student's parent is voting on, so very specific to issues local all the way Up to federal issues, and the student would have the ability to log in, use their student specific voter ID that we would provide, and then cast their ballot. And of course, after after that ballot is cast. The most important part is the I Voted sticker. We have future voter future Ohio voter stickers that we provide to any educator that puts a mock election on for their students.

Katie Olmsted 4:05
And do a lot of educators do this? Is this a pretty widespread program?

Andrea Kruse 4:10
Well, we've been around since 2021 so we're just getting up and moving. Last year was our biggest mock election to date. We had over 25,000 students that participated. This is a free program. We try to make it as simple and easy for students and for teachers to implement into their classroom. We know there's so much on your plate right now, so we just want to make this something that's fun, engaging and easy to incorporate right into your curriculum.

Katie Olmsted 4:43
Why? Why put this into the curriculum?

Andrea Kruse 4:47
Why? Well, and that's a great question. Our goal is to create citizens that are fully engaged and confident in their citizenship, and voting is a primary element of that. That, and by allowing students to have the practice of that, hands on engagement of placing, you know, their vote, getting their I Voted sticker, you know, as you know, students before they turn 18, our hope is that that would translate into an informed, confident voter once they turn 18.

Katie Olmsted 5:21
It strikes me that you said you started up in 2021 right around the time when there was a lot of misinformation and disinformation about our country's elections. Is this in response to that, or is this one way just to improve confidence in the system anyway.

Andrea Kruse 5:43
Sure. I mean, one of the elements of kids voting, one of the things that we can offer on our website is standards aligned resources or curriculum. That it's not necessarily curriculum, but it's resources for the teacher, and we highly encourage your research into each of the issues that the students voting on. So it's, you know, it goes beyond just simply casting a ballot. We encourage the you know, the research into and sifting through information versus misinformation. And one thing that we have on our website as well is the video library, where we've asked elected officials from across the state all the way from your trusted, you know, county Township, to your county board of elections, all the way up to, you know, a representative at the State House, to give us five minutes of their time and you explain what it is that they do. How do, how do they get elected? Kind of a behind the scenes look on, what makes that elected official? What does their job? How does that impact a student on a day to day life? And you know how maybe students could potentially follow that path one day? So that's just one element of becoming informed and voter. You know it definitely is more than just casting your ballot. And being informed is so so critical.

Katie Olmsted 7:02
And also registering is critical. If you are of age to vote. It is so important that you get registered, that your registration is up to date, and that you are able to cast the ballot that you're entitled to cast. And that's actually something kids voting Ohio helps students engage in as well. Can you talk to me a little bit about that program?

Andrea Kruse 7:22
Yeah, absolutely. So, as I'm sure you know, and your listeners know that students can register to vote once they turn 18, but even before that, if they'll be 18 before the general election. So we found the most robust and you know, well attended voter registration drives are those that are started by specifically minded students in the high schools. They typically set up a table at their during lunch time, and they encourage their peers to officially register to vote. That is huge, because, you know, once you're registered and you're 18, you know, then it's just taking that next step, walking in boldly to the board of elections and placing your vote. But one of the things that kids voting will do is just equip that student, equip that teacher who wants to have voter registration drive with the process. How does it happen? Tips on making it successful. And we've seen some good success with that as well.

Katie Olmsted 8:20
Is it too late this episode will drop in mid September. Is it too late to get involved in any of this with our member schools?

Andrea Kruse 8:29
Absolutely not. We welcome any school, any educator, who's interested in having a mock election this fall. Please reach out. We would love to work with you. We would love to create a specific ballot to align with either what you're focusing on in your classroom, what the ballot looks like in your district, and we could definitely put that together for you. September is definitely not too late. We take requests through the really the beginning of November, and even after we've had some schools who have used this platform to hold their student council elections. So, you know, we're definitely open to working with educators, making this a resource that you can incorporate into your classroom. You know, really at any time during the year, it doesn't have to necessarily fall on the election cycle.

Katie Olmsted 9:19
Have you heard from students who have taken part in these programs and, and how they feel about it when they've gone through it?

Andrea Kruse 9:26
Yeah, absolutely, we have heard, we've heard from both educators and students that that they've just enjoyed it, that it's been a really fun part of putting that real life, you know, spin on what they're learning, you know, maybe in a textbook or just through conversation, but actually putting that into practice, it just gives them confidence that you know, that they could do this, that their voice matters and and then when you see the results, you know, whether or not their issue won or lost, they can see that, you know, they had a part in, you know, making, making that happen.

Katie Olmsted 10:00
And we thank you for your part in making this happen for schools across Ohio, and thank you for your time.

Andrea Kruse 10:07
Thank you. I appreciate it, Katie.

Katie Olmsted 10:11
Again, if you want to learn more about Kids Voting Ohio, check out some of the resources for your classroom, or sign up to bring mock elections and other opportunities to your students. Go to kids voting ohio.org the link, as always, is in the show notes for this episode. Before you head over there, though, I want you to hear about a pretty big success story for OEA members in Dayton. My colleague in the communications department, Julie Newhall, recently sat down with the Dayton Education Association President to talk about how they were able to fight for and win a temporary restraining order, or T.R.O. as you'll hear it referenced here, to get the pay Dayton Education Association members were owed after the district tried, over the summer, to unilaterally change the timing of pay dates. Take a listen to a few excerpts from that conversation.

Neil Mahoney 10:59
If you're going to do something like this, you have to give people notice to adjust their bills. Teachers are not immune to any other group where a lot of us are still living paycheck to paycheck, and we don't have the ability to go a month without a paycheck or two. So once that was brought forward to us, it became a very interesting union leaders meeting. My name is Neil Mahoney. I am the president of the Dayton Education Association. I've been an educator for almost 32 years. In Dayton, 30. We have over 10 bargaining units, and because we have that many, we have a monthly union leaders meeting with the superintendent, usually a couple school board members and then various role players. It could be the their legal side. It could also be our treasurer. And we had a meeting in July, and out of the blue, one of our board members, the president of our board, was there and wanted to go over a board policy that originally had been written back in October, that was supposed to take effect in January, but then got pushed back. But all this was done, I don't want to say in secrecy, but not in full transparency, because the DEA also has one of our members that sits on this policy committee, and what really came out was the fact that the teachers are prepaid or front loaded, would be a better word. We come back in August. This year was August 6, and our first check was supposed to be August 15th. So even though we hadn't worked a full two weeks for 30, 40 plus years, they had always front loaded, and then it gets made up throughout the year. Well, our board president, and I want to believe our superintendent, kind of just had to go along with it, but he was there, and they specifically said, we're we're not going to be able to pay that front check, that first check, until the teachers have worked a full two weeks. Now what made this a little unique is that we have contract wording specifically that states, by April of the previous school year, they have to supply to the teachers the schedule of pays for the upcoming year and the dates and at the time, we're on a 26 pay. And they also had to present the district calendar, which they did. So we had both these documents. The final check from the year before our last our 26th check from the 24-25 school year was August 1st. So the first check for the 25-26 school year was supposed to be August 15th, and then the next one the 29th they wanted to make the first paycheck August 29th which means my teachers would have gone roughly a full month without having to receive pay, and the the hardships that that incurs. So we understood their perspective. We understood what they were attempting to do. However, the communication point if you're going to do something like this, you have to give people notice to adjust their bills. Teachers are not immune to any other group where a lot of us are still living paycheck to paycheck, and we don't have the ability to go a month without a paycheck or two. So once that was brought forward to us, it became a very interesting union leaders meeting. I took the front because I represent the largest amount of teachers, or I should say, union members, but it was really going to greatly affect my membership. It was going to affect a couple of the the bus paras and para professionals in general, but my membership is well over 900 so we were going to receive the brunt of this. So we did our homework, and we stated that even though we understand what you're trying to do, I would like for you to clarify that for us, and what happened was our board president said, because they're stewards of the district's money, they have had teachers who have left before they've had a chance to fully earn those front loaded days, and the district was was losing money. And I say, Can you give me an amount of money? And she was silent. I later found out that the amount that the district had to recover, which they had recovered, 90% of it, was under $20,000 so they were going to rock the boat for 900 members and not give them a paycheck for a complete month for something is under $20,000 to give you an idea, our payroll is well over $2 million of payroll, easily. So by doing that and then not willing to discuss this with us, is what led to our course of action.

Julie Newhall 15:59
What did you first think of after you heard that news in terms of what you might need to do to take action and resolve that situation?

Neil Mahoney 16:11
Well, first thing I did is I had the ability to discuss with my labor relation consultant. Then we brought in our OEA plan attorney that we have here in Dayton, that, ironically, we rent space from the OEA plan attorney, so we have a very close relationship, and she's an amazing attorney. But what really came to my mind was, when I was a first, second, third year teacher, paycheck to paycheck was everything, the first thing I thought of was, I'm going to have members that are going to miss a car payment. I might have members that might miss a home payment. We can't allow this to happen on such short notice and put my membership out there. Roughly 57-60% of my members have five years or less. So we're talking at the beginning of the payroll or the pay scale, I should say. So it's really going to hit them hard. So rather than getting everything out to my membership, we decided to take action and then get the message out. However, the superintendent followed up my message to my members with another message, saying that if you're willing to do all these little odds and ends, we'll, we'll, we'll pay you, but it just won't be considered your so he actually helped me by making the situation a lot worse. But I let my membership know that we are taking action. We will make sure that we will follow our contract, and they will follow our contract. We're going to use all of our resource, not just the grievance procedure, but the municipal courts, and that was the path we decided to go. When you go for a TRO the hardest hurdle to cover is the fact that monetary can be replaced down the road. Why do they need to have it immediately stopped? Because traditionally, there's four parts that you want to hit in a TRO when you're asking for an injunction, but the monetary aspect is irreparable harm. And usually with finances, irreparable harm can be made whole by monies later. I really stress the part of our members. Yes, they could be made whole with the check a month, two months later, but what they couldn't do is repair their credit score. If they missed a car payment, they couldn't they missed a house payment, it's going to affect their credit. It could be foreclosed on, and mainly with inflation, being able to feed their families they have kids. There was daycares involved. There's there was a lot of my members take care of their own parents, and there's bills that go with those kind of things. So we knew that, even though it was irreparable, that could have been replaced later. We felt it was immediate, and we were very lucky that the judge saw it in that light. Well, with the injunction, we also filed a grievance, because we do want this to still be heard in the in the serve court as an unfair labor practice. Now, the district has met the requirements of the injunction. We had our first check on the 15th today, we just received our second so they are currently in line with the 26 pays that contractually they have to do this year. So we still have to sit and discuss the grievance aspect of it. Now they believe the point is moot. Since we've already had the injunction, I still want this to be heard and memorialized as an example for future precedent. If needed, our payroll department did a phenomenal job on a quick turnaround to make sure our people got paid. So we're happy with the ruling. We're happy with the implementation. If anything, it really bolstered my membership. I have probably had one. The best kickoffs of the start of a school year for membership drive. They saw the value of having a strong union and the value of having people that are willing to go and defend their rights. So that has really helped us a long way. On the short term, the district has now come out and said, "Well, next year, we're going to go to 24 pays instead of 26 so we're still going to have to work out some of the details along those lines". But I think at the end of the day, our membership has seen our value as a union as well as it shed a light on the management. I think our members now perceive our administration on a kind of a different light, saying, if they were willing to do that without communicating with us what's next. So we kind of have the feeling of the is there another shoe going to drop as we progress throughout this year? I know that's speculation, but that's kind of the pulse I'm receiving right now from my membership.

Katie Olmsted 21:00
As a reminder, those are just pieces from the conversation between Dayton Education Association president Neil Mahoney and OEA publications editor Julie Newhall. The full story will be featured in the October, November issue of Ohio Schools, which, incidentally, is going to be the first issue of the fully redesigned OEA magazine. I cannot wait for you to see it. I also can't wait to see you on October 4th for the Public Education Matters Day celebrations. And I can't wait for you to hear some of the other conversations we're having on the podcast this season, with new episodes dropping every Thursday, because in Ohio, public education matters.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai