Ohio AAUP Members:

We hope you are well-rested and ready to begin the new semester. It’s hard to believe that we’re already at the end of summer. Despite the legislative lull, it has been a busy couple of months for us at the state level, and we want to share a few updates.

1) Endorsement: Yes on Issue 1

The Ohio Conference AAUP has endorsed the Yes on Issue 1 constitutional amendment that will appear on the General Election ballot this November. The amendment will create a citizen-led redistricting commission, which will completely remove politicians and lobbyists from the legislative redistricting process.

Currently, we have a system through which politicians pick their voters instead of the other way around. These politicians create “gerrymandered” or “safe” districts where the primaries are the only elections that actually matter. Thus, we tend to end up with ideologically extreme lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The political party that controls the redistricting process is able to create a lopsided legislature in their favor, one that is not representative of Ohio.

Why is OCAAUP supporting a Yes on Issue 1?

By creating fair districts where voters actually get a choice, we will have much better odds of producing a balanced General Assembly with more moderate legislators who can work together. Extreme, ideologically-driven legislation like Senate Bill 83 is unlikely to be seriously considered under a more reasonable legislature.

This is about good government, not partisanship, which is why Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike are supporting the amendment. In fact, former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, a lifelong Republican, has been an outspoken advocate in favor of this amendment, much to the dismay of many of her colleagues who have benefitted from the current gerrymandered system.

We hope that you will consider voting Yes on Issue 1.

2) Endorsement: Senator Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate

The Ohio Conference AAUP Board doesn’t make a habit of endorsing in partisan elections. We understand that we represent members from across the political scope, who may not always agree with these decisions. Our endorsement policy explicitly requires a compelling rationale for endorsing candidates for elected office. The Board is a democratically-elected body that makes decisions in a democratic manner. The Board believed that Sen. Brown is worthy of the endorsement of his re-election campaign because of the issues that directly impact our members: workers’ rights and education.

First, Sen. Brown is rightfully known as the most pro-union U.S. Senator. Time and time again, he has delivered for workers when it matters. And it’s important to note that he has gone to bat for the AAUP in Ohio on a number of occasions, supporting faculty unionization, encouraging administrations to return to the bargaining table, and being on the front lines with us when we fought to repeal Senate Bill 5 in 2011. Brown even wrote the forward to the late, great Dr. John T. McNay’s book about the SB 5 battle: Collective Bargaining and the Battle of Ohio: The Defeat of Senate Bill 5 and the Struggle to Defend the Middle Class. That book is available for free here thanks to John and the University of Cincinnati press.

In addition, Sen. Brown has been an unequivocal advocate of public education at all levels. He is a strong supporter of all forms of post-secondary education, and has introduced legislation to make college more affordable and attainable. He not only understands, but also genuinely cares about, academic freedom for faculty, at a time when other lawmakers want to control classrooms and suppress forms of speech with which they disagree.

These attributes must be juxtaposed with Brown’s opponent, Bernie Moreno, who has decided to parrot the same kind of authoritarian positions on higher education as Ohio’s other Senator turned Vice Presidential candidate, J.D. Vance. Moreno is outwardly hostile toward higher education. He also was found guilty of wage theft from his car dealership employees. Given the high stakes of the upcoming elections and the stark contrast between the candidates, the Board believes that retaining Sherrod Brown in the U.S. Senate is of great importance to the Ohio AAUP.

When notified of the endorsement, Sen. Brown stated, “Ohio educators know I will always stand by their side to fight for fair wages, safer classrooms, and the resources needed for every student and faculty members to succeed. I’m grateful for the support of the OCAAUP and Ohio educators across the state as we continue fighting for the Dignity of Work and quality education for all Ohioans.” 

Here are important election dates:

-Military & Overseas Absentee Voting: Begins September 20

-Deadline to Register to Vote: October 7 (Boards open until 9:00 p.m.)

-Early In-Person Voting: October 8 and includes the two Saturdays and the two Sundays before Election Day.

-Absentee Voting By Mail: Begins October 8

-Election Day: November 5 (Polls Open 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.) If not returned by mail, absentee ballots must be received by your board of elections by 7:30 p.m.

Click here to register to vote, update your address, or check your registration. We strongly encourage everyone to check their voter registration, given that there was recently a significant purge of Ohio voters from the rolls.

3) AAUP Biennial Meeting and Summer Institute Recap

The national AAUP held its biennial meeting in Arlington, Virginia, in June. At this meeting, delegates elected Prof. Todd Wolfson from Rutgers the new president of the AAUP. Wolfson has stressed the need for greater solidarity across workers in higher education. He has strongly denounced the national attacks on colleges and universities, as well as the authoritarian-style takeover of higher education being touted by Sen. J.D. Vance.

AAUP members across the country, including a strong contingent from Ohio (pictured), also attended the AAUP Summer Institute in Detroit earlier this month. The Summer Institute is an annual event where AAUP members and staff attend workshops, panels, and plenaries on relevant topics. As usual, it was an excellent learning and networking experience. We thank all of the organizers, presenters, and attendees for a wonderful event!

4) No, SB 83 Isn’t Dead. Winter and Lame Duck Session are Coming.

The Ohio General Assembly is expected to be back in session after the November elections, roughly from November 13 through December 18. This is referred to as “lame duck session,” and is when a flurry of legislative activity occurs and bills are passed within a condensed period of time.

We expect that there will be another push to get SB 83 across the finish line, despite the fact that the bill’s sponsor has indicated that he’s given up on it for now, and instead will introduce a worse version in a more favorable political environment. We will need our members to be on alert once again and push back on this deeply flawed bill that seeks to undermine academic freedom, job security for faculty, student success, and higher education in general.

Stay tuned. Thanks for all that you do!

The Ohio Conference AAUP Board of Trustees has endorsed U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown for re-election. The following letter was sent to Sen. Brown’s campaign, which explains the endorsement:

Despite another intensive push to get Senate Bill 83 over the finish line, the small group of lawmakers who tried to demonstrate that the bill “had the votes” failed to get 50 signatures (a majority) on their letter that urged the bill to be brought to the floor for a full House vote.

One State Representative reportedly planned to offer SB 83 as an amendment to another bill, but the lack of support became clear and the amendment was not offered.

Throughout this legislative process, the Ohio Conference AAUP has reached out to the bill’s sponsor and other legislators integrally involved with the bill. We offered to discuss our outstanding concerns and to try to find common ground. Each of our communications was met with no reply.

Once it became evident that there would be no action on SB 83 yesterday, the bill’s sponsor stated his refusal to negotiate on it and declined to engage in interested party meetings over the summer. He even went so far as to suggest that he’d introduce a worse version in a more favorable political environment. This isn’t acceptable behavior from a lawmaker.

If it hasn’t been clear so far, it should be crystal clear now that SB 83 is nothing more than a politically-motivated bill meant to punish professors and colleges and universities. The sponsor believes that he should be able to dictate higher education policy without talking to the people his bill would impact the most.

Academic freedom, collective bargaining rights, and meaningful job protections are non-negotiable for the AAUP. SB 83 is just one piece in a broad, national, Culture-War-fueled attack on higher education, and we will always fight back to preserve our rights and quality education for our students.

The General Assembly is expected to be adjourned until after the November elections, at which point it will enter “lame duck session.” SB 83 will likely be part of the discussions during this session, in which there is always a lot of negotiating to push legislation through before the end of the calendar year. We will be on alert.

One thing that AAUP members can do in the meantime is support the “Citizens Not Politicians” effort. Next week, this campaign will turn in hundreds of thousands of signatures to place a statewide initiative on the ballot to end gerrymandering–the practice of manipulating legislative district boundaries to favor one political party over the other. We need fair districts to give us a more balanced legislature–one that will work to enhance and not undermine higher education.

Thank you for your continued activism! Your calls and emails to legislators over the last week undoubtedly made a difference. We also must thank our sisters and brothers in the labor movement who have continually gone to bat for us on this bill. They have made it clear that any attack on labor is an attack on all labor, and that a bill like SB 83 is completely unacceptable. When labor sticks together, labor wins. We appreciate the support from our other partners, most notably Honesty for Ohio Education. Against the odds, we manage to beat back this bill time and time again.

SOME LAWMAKERS WANT JUNE 26 VOTE ON SB 83

As we reported last week, a small group of lawmakers are trying to pressure House Speaker Jason Stephens to hold a vote on Senate Bill 83–The Higher Education Destruction Act–this Wednesday, June 26.

It could not be clearer that members of campus communities and the public at large oppose this bill. But some legislators care more about politics than they do policy; and make no mistake that if SB 83 becomes law, it will impose policies that take away job protections for all faculty, gut faculty collective bargaining rights, impinge upon academic freedom, and take away support mechanisms for students.

We are asking our members and allies to fight back once again and encourage the House of Representatives to reject SB 83!

Use this form to contact House members, and call Speaker Stephens to thank him for keeping SB 83 off of the House floor: 614-466-1366.

If you are able, it also would be very helpful to call these Representatives and ask them to reject SB 83:

Thomas Patton: 614-466-4895

Cindy Abrams: 614-466-9091

Sara Carruthers: 614-644-6721

Scott Oelslager: 614-752-2438

Brett Hillyer: 614-466-8035

Al Cutrona: 614-466-6107

Mike Loychik: 614-466-3488

Kevin Miller: 614-466-2500

Gail Pavliga: 614-466-2004

Jeff LaRe: 614-466-8100

Haraz Ghanbari: 614-466-8104

Monica Robb Blasdel: 614-466-8022

Jon Cross: 614-466-3819

Bob Peterson: 614-466-3506

Jay Edwards: 614-466-2158

Don Jones: 614-644-8728

Justin Pizzulli: 614-466-2124

Dave Dobos: 614-466-9690

Andrea White: 614-644-6008

Scott Lipps: 614-644-6023

Adam Mathews: 614-644-6027

Jamie Callender: 614-644-6074

Sharon Ray: 614-466-8140

Jim Hoops: 614-466-3760

Bill Roemer: 614-644-5085

The message to these Representatives is simple: Do not support SB 83. It is an anti-union, anti-free speech, big-government, bureaucratic bill that will make it difficult to keep and attract faculty and students. This will hurt Ohio’s economic competitiveness.

As a reminder, SB 83 passed the Ohio Senate in May 2023 and then passed the House Higher Education Committee in early December by an 8-7 vote. The bill has since lingered in the House Rules and Reference Committee, but Speaker Stephens has not brought it to the floor for a full vote of the House, citing that the bill lacks sufficient support.

Last week, two State Representatives began circulating a sign-on letter to show that SB 83 does have the support to pass, if brought to the floor. We have encouraged Representatives to decline to sign that letter and vote No if SB 83 is brought up for a full vote.

Use this form to email State Representatives to ask them to reject the bill and call Speaker Stephens (614-466-1366) to thank him for holding strong for unions and higher education.

THANK YOU for continuing to take action! The phone calls and emails are making a difference. Despite the odds against us, our collective activism has kept this bill at bay for more than a year, but we have to keep up the pressure through House session on Wednesday!

The Ohio Conference AAUP Board of Trustees has endorsed Michelle Flanigan for the open contributing member seat that is up for election this year on the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Retirement Board.

For 26 years, Michelle has taught government, economics and financial literacy at Brunswick High School. Prior to her teaching career, she was a financial analyst. She has been actively engaged with STRS for many years.

During the candidate interview, Michelle demonstrated a command of the issues facing STRS and articulated pragmatic approaches to addressing them. As an educator who began her career later than most teachers, she is sensitive to how pension age and service requirements impact college and university faculty differently than they impact most K-12 teachers.

We encourage our members to vote in the upcoming election and to consider voting for Michelle Flanigan. We will have more information about voting in the election in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can visit Michelle’s campaign website for more information about her candidacy and STRS issues: https://www.michelleflaniganforstrs.com/.