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.

The following was sent to me from our union rep. It certainly does suggest that Senate Bill 5 might not necessarily be what's best for public employees, particularly teachers...

The Fordham Institute recently sponsored a survey of Ohio school superintendents.  When afforded the opportunity to speak out, this group generally expressed the view that labor contracts and government regulations serve as impediments to their managerial authority.  Removing these barriers would allow superintendents to more completely exercise their judgment and wisdom, which, in their view would lead to a better management of resources and a measurable improvement in student achievement.

Data from ODE show:

• Eighty-four percent of the superintendents of Ohio’s K-12 school districts are male.
• Seventy-four percent of school teachers are female.
• Ninety-eight percent of male superintendents are white.

Supporters of SB5 seek to replace a democratic and representative process with one where power is concentrated among a small group of 54-year old white males.  The evidence suggests that the first item on this group’s agenda is the protection of their own economic interests.

The joint testimony of OSBA, OASBO and BASA offers strong support of SB5.  The only concern expressed by this group has to do with the proposal to prohibit public employers from paying the employees’ share of retirement.  Since this benefit is universally applied to superintendents and treasurers, this position is not surprising.

Only about five percent of OEA local CBAs provide for a pick-up-on-the-pick-up.  Since this provision is found in mostly small school districts, it is reasonable to estimate that only one to two percent of OEA members enjoy this benefit.  Moreover, only a handful of the CBAs that provide payment for the employees’ retirement, pay the full employee share.  Full payment of the employee share is the industry standard for superintendents and treasurers.

In calling for the elimination of the single salary schedule for teachers, OSBA, OASBO, BASA and other supporters of SB5 are seeking to dismantle an objective and predicable pay system that has served to effectively remove gender-based pay inequity from public education.  As an institutional norm, training and experienced-based pay ensures comparable pay for comparable work.

The Economic Policy Institute reports that teachers are paid less than those employed in comparable professions.  However, within the teaching profession, the average pay of male teachers exceeds that of female teachers by about six percent.  Among non-teacher college graduates, males out-earn females by 32 percent.

The passage of SB5 would constitute a 27-year step backward in terms of the rights of all public employees.  For females, the potential harm is much greater.  Advances made over a century’s-long struggle for equal rights could be undone by the single stroke of a 58-year old white male’s pen.

Normally, I'm all down with anything that benefits white males, but in this case, I'm thinking it might not benefit this white male.