Political Action

Throughout the years, our Associations have been fighting for the rights of teachers. Many of the things that we take for granted today have come about through long hours of lobbying legislators to promote the issues that bring about improvement in public education. At the same time the Associations are striving to improve the work place for our members and the children they work with. The following are some of the highlights of our accomplishments.

In 1919, OEA was successful in helping create the State Teachers Retirement System.

OEA secured continuing contract provisions as well as a recodification of school laws including sick leave for teachers and payment when schools were forced to be closed due to calamity days in the 1940s.

The 1950s proved to be a significant decade of lobbying successes when we had a hand in the creation of the State Board of Education. During that period, OEA also lobbied successfully to gain the right to a thirty-minute, duty-free lunch period for teachers.

In the 1960s, the OEA was successful in securing passage of provisions requiring written contracts for all teachers. It also lobbied successfully for adoption of a state minimum salary schedule and for authorization for teachers to render corporal punishment and other force necessary to defend themselves, other persons or property.

During this time, OEA lobbied to establish joint vocational school districts. In addition, the legislature accorded several benefits to education employees, including life insurance, hospitalization, and dental and surgical insurance.

The 1970s produced an abundance of legislation favorable to education employees due to OEA’s efforts. The legislature passed a state income tax to broaden school funding, established a student/teacher ratio and provided for impartial referees in contract termination hearings for teachers.

The OEA also successfully lobbied and helped pass provisions for retirement severance pay based on unused sick leave, and unemployment compensation for teachers, as well as an equal yield school funding formula.

Other successes in the 1970s included indexing the state minimum salary schedule, inclusion of cost-of-living factors in the state teachers’ retirement benefit formula, and provisions for assault leave.

In the 1980s we successfully lobbied to establish Ohio’s public employee collective bargaining law, an early retirement incentive program, increases in the state minimum salary schedule, and placement of eligible teachers of the mentally retarded/developmentally disabled on the state minimum salary schedule.

We also lobbied to improve benefits for members of the School Employees Retirement System (SERS), to implement several cost-saving measures to offset the rising cost of health care for School Support Personnel, for passage of a bill to guarantee an increase in benefits for STRS members, and to provide payment of survivor benefits to spouses of STRS members with more than 10 years of service.

OEA has lobbied in the 1990s for an increase in the state’s expenditures for public education. With the growing medicaid and prison expenses, the percentage of the state’s funds for education has been declining. OEA joined with other groups to challenge the state to make the education funding formula more adequate and equitable for all children in Ohio.

In March of 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court declared Ohio’s system of funding its public schools to be unconstitutional. The OEA has lobbied for additional state funds to address potential remedies to the DeRolph decision of the Ohio Supreme Court of March 24, 1997.

We continue to lobby to maintain public schools for Ohio’s children; to fight attempts to eliminate teacher tenure, due process rights and the right to collectively bargain; and to fight for professions standards and status for teacher.

OEA has promoted, in and out of the legislature, the need for ongoing education and increased professional skills for teachers. OEA has promoted the establishment of Local Professional Development Committees to approve teachers’ continuing education plans. In addition, OEA has lobbied to ensure that any changes to certification meet OEA policies and objectives.