Make Sure Your Voice is Heard: Lobby Days 2021

OEA MEMBERS | Click here to learn more about how you can get involved in OEA Educator Lobby Days on June 8 & 9, 2021.

Featured guest: 

Jeff Wensing, Ohio Education Association Vice PresidentA high school math teacher from Parma, Ohio, prior to his election as OEA Vice President in Spring 2019, Jeff Wensing served as the President of the Parma Education Association and as the President of the North Eastern Ohio Education Association. One of Jeff’s accomplishments was organizing members and the community to elect a new local Board of Education majority in 2017. This successful undertaking highlights his skill set by coordinating with local mayors, city council members, other unions, and the candidates themselves. Jeff has a history of listening to members prior to implementing decisions, communicating thoughtfully throughout the process, and engaging all stakeholders with full transparency.

In this episode:

"We need our educator voices heard. When we come together with our allies, like we did in Senate Bill 5 (2011 legislation which attempted to strip public employees of their collective bargaining rights) we accomplish our goals. And here we are again. We're talking about our issues, and one of those is school funding, which has been declared unconstitutional for over two decades, close to 25 years. We actually have an opportunity to try to make some inroads and correct that wrong."1:00 - Meet with your legislators and let your educator voice be heard.1:30 - A typical Lobby Day beginning to end3:00 - Communicating with legislators who don't agree with you on the issues4:00 - The importance of meeting with the legislators who represent your district4:45 - Leveraging your experience as an educator in conversations with lawmakers6:00 - No political savvy necessary; The more educators and retired educators who take part, the better7:00 - The Fair School Funding Plan: What it is, where it stands, and where we go from here9:00 - "We need to let our legislators know our personal stories and how the lack of funding has affected our communities, how it affects our day-to-day as educators, and how it affects our students."10:00 - Helping educators prepare to tell their stories with pre-Lobby Day briefings and talking points11:15 - Meeting lawmakers in person or virtually, there are a lot of issues to talk to legislators about13:00 - The opportunity to reduce state testing with House Bill 7316:00 - Lobbying opportunities beyond OEA Lobby Days17:15 - Advocacy around report card reform with House Bill 200 or Senate Bill 145

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About us:

The Ohio Education Association represents approximately 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.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 a 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. 

This episode was recorded in May, 2021.