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SEOEA e-Pad Update 

(Vol 1, Issue 11)

  

Greetings! 

 

The Senate Bill 5 referendum process has begun.  Over 3,000 signatures were filed by the "We Are Ohio" Coalition on Monday April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, a strong proponent of workers' rights.  More than 1,400 came from OEA members.  This filling will allow the coalition to begin collecting the 231,000+ signatures necessary to put the referendum on the November ballot.  The next steps will be the kick-off rally at The Statehouse this coming Saturday April 9th, noon to 3:00 PM and getting members to the signature collection trainings listed below.

  

For those of you in Representative John Carey's House District 87, you may want to contact him now regarding the budget bill House Bill 153 and the inclusion of a provision requiring school boards and ESCs to develop pay scales for each licensure level of teacher.  These will go into effect for the 2011-12 school year and supersede any collective bargaining agreements and going beyond the provisions in Senate Bill 5. 

 

Kasich and company are making it clear that they will go to whatever lengths necessary to get SB 5 provisions passed, even if they have to embed them in other bills and pulling more political chicanery.  Typically, budgetary bills are not subject to referendum but Ohio Supreme Court precedent has found that non-budgetary items attached to such bills may be subject to referendum.  Obviously, by including SB 5 items in other measures, it will force multiple referendum campaigns which they hope will confuse voters into allowing SB 5 to stand.

 

Jeff Slattery, SEOEA Communications

In This Issue
Senate Bill 5 Hearings
Weekend Rallies
OEA-R Meetings Planned
Referendum Signature Collection
STRS Electiion
New Legislation
Upcoming Events
Senate Bill 5  
Referndum process under way.  Rally April 9, noon.
 
Upcoming Rallies
Ohio Statehouse:  Saturday, April 9, noon to 3:00 PM - "We Are Ohio" Rally to kick off referendum campaign.

OEA-R Plans County Meetings
Christine McVicar, our board representative for OEA-Retired has announced a series of county meetings to initiate the formation of an SEOEA-Retired group to focus on concerns of our retirees.   All meetings will be held from 1:00 - 3:00 PM in each county.  Meetings will be held next week in Hocking County April 12 at Logan Library, Pike County April 13 at Wilson Library and Morgan County April 14 at the Public Library.  The full list of dates and location information for the upcoming meetings may be viewed here.
 
Please spread the word to your retirees, especially those who currently may not be members of OEA-R.

 

Referendum Signature Collection Training

OEA has instructed the LRCs to find 2 members from every local who are willing and able to be trained to be an official signature collector for a Referendum if SB5 passes (which is quite likely). A Referendum would put the issue of SB5 on the ballot so that the voters in Ohio can decide whether or not it is to become law. Obviously, a Referendum campaign is a massive and costly undertaking!

The two volunteers from each district will be responsible for attending one of two trainings that will be offered the week of April 11. They will then be given the tools and knowledge needed to collect signatures from valid voters in your District.

The volunteers do NOT have to be officers in your locals, it can be any member! These individuals just have to be able to attend a training and willing to collect a signatures from your district! We are looking for each volunteer to collect a minimum of 50 signatures.

The trainings that are being offered are going to be as follows:

 

Athens UniServe Area:

Wednesday April 13, 2011

The Athens OEA office (in the Plains directly across from Athens HS)

From 5-7 p.m.

OR

Thursday April 14, 2011

Belpre Heights Methodist Church Fellowship Hall

Belpre, OH

From 4:30-6:30 p.m.

 

 

Waverly UniServe Area:

 

Wednesday April 13, 2011

The Waverly OEA office

From 5:30-7:30 p.m.

OR

Thursday April 14, 2011

Jackson Ponderosa

Jackson, OH

From 5:00-7:00p.m.

 


Contact your local president or your local LRC if interested.

 

 
STRS Election Ballots In The Mail
Ballots for the election of an active member of the STRS board have gone out in the mail this week.  The OEA endorsed candidate is Taiyia (Tai) L Hayden who is also the only candidate who is an ACTIVE classroom teacher.  Please consider this when filing your balllot by mail or online.

 

Other Legislation Introduced 04/07/11
HB 191

SCHOOL YEAR  (Hayes, B.)   To establish a minimum school year for school districts, STEM schools, and chartered nonpublic schools based on hours, rather than days, of instruction and to prohibit public schools from being open for instruction prior to Labor Day or after Memorial Day except in specified circumstances. Am. 2151.011, 3306.01, 3313.48, 3313.533, 3313.62, 3314.03, 3317.01, 3321.05, and 3326.11; to enact new section 3313.481 and section 3313.621; and to repeal sections 3313.481 and 3313.482

Full Text

 

House Speaker's Appointments

Ohio Public Works Commission: Appoint Mike Keenan and John Wandalowski

Commerce and Labor: Remove Reps. Coley and Blessing; Appoint: Reps. R. Adams and McGregor

 

(Note that Senator Bill Seitz was removed from another committee  earlier this week in punishment for his opposition to SB 5.  Sometimes it is very hard to put the greater good ahead of self.  Thanks Bill for your support!)

 

SB143

FRAUD DAMAGES  (Hughes, J., Oelslager, S.)  To provide for the recovery of damages and civil penalties for defrauding the state of money or property and to authorize private persons to bring qui tam civil actions in the name of the state to remedy the frauds.

Full Text

 

SB144

PARENTAL RIGHTS  (Skindell, M., Grendell, T.)   To ensure that court orders and decrees that allocate parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the care of and access to children provide for equality between the parents except where clear and convincing evidence shows that equal legal and physical access would be harmful to the children.

Full Text

 
district mapUpcoming Events
SEOEA Representative Assembly, Tuesday, April 12, 5:30 PM, Westview Elementary, Jackson
OEA Representative Assembly, Friday/Saturday, May 6-7, 9:00-4:00, Vet's Memorial, Columbus
NEA Representative Assembly, June 29 - July 5, Chicago,IL
SEOEA Presidents/Treasurers Workshop, Tuesday, July 26, 9:00-2:00, Ohio University Inn, Athens - Mark your calendars.