Senate Bill 5...bad for education...bad for Ohio

I need some help here.

An Ohio state Senator, Shannon Brown, has introduced a bill, Senate Bill 5, that will drastically change the landscape of education and public service in Ohio. Feel free to take a while and read the full text of the proposed bill here. Then call OEA' action line to be connected directly to your Ohio senator's representative's office.

 Bit of an update...

• Senate Bill 5 passed out of committee by a 7-5 vote. In anticipation of the vote, one opposing Republican senator was pulled from the committee and legally replaced with a Republican Senator who voted for the bill. (Source - channel 9)
• Later that day the bill was passed by the Senate by a 17-16 vote.
• At this point the bill is pending in the House, and we don't yet know when it will come to a committee vote or a subsequent full House vote.
• A number of amendments were made to the bill before it left the Senate. Here is the Cincy Enquirer's summary of those amendments:
  
  • Allows contracts with public employee unions to be reopened in case of fiscal emergency or watch.
  • Allows collective bargaining rights for state employees on wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment, within limits.
  • Bases future pay increases on merit and keeps those merit raises within established pay ranges. Caps vacation leave at five weeks a year after 19 years of service, as opposed to six weeks a year after 24 years.
  • Caps annual sick leave at 10 days.
  • Identifies areas not subject to collective bargaining , such as health care benefits, pension pick-ups, privatization of services, and work force levels such as maximum class sizes for teachers.
  • Sets public employee pay ranges. The amendment reinstates pay ranges – but not step values and automatic increases – in current law. Employees are paid based upon merit within the ranges set in statute. Merit shall be the only basis for an employee’s progression through the schedule. Teachers are paid based upon merit and salaries may be bargained in a collective bargaining agreement. Teacher performance is measured by considering the level of license held by the teacher, whether the teacher is a “highly qualified teacher” as defined in statute, the value-added measure used to determine student performance, the results of performance evaluations or any other system of evaluation or other criteria established by the board.
  • Removes the right to strike for all public employees and sets penalties for striking that include firing and sanctions of up to twice the employee’s daily pay for each day the strike continues. Anyone who violates a court injunction against a strike could be fined up to $1,000, jailed up to 30 days, or both.
  • Prohibits length of service from being the sole factor in determining order of layoff.
  • Bases teacher layoffs not only on years of service but also performance as measured by level of license and other qualifications, student performance and performance evaluations or other evaluations set by the school board.
  • Excludes firefighters in supervisory roles from collective bargaining and establishes new bargaining guidelines.
  • Allows teachers to negotiate an initial contract of up to three years. Subsequent contracts are two to five years.
  • Clarifies public employer rights on hiring, firing, discipline, work assignments and hours, employee qualifications and other rules.
  • Excludes management-level employees of public universities from collective bargaining.

None of those changes are enough.