September 2024
Important Dates for November 5 General Election
Find your polling location here
One of the most important issues on the Ballot is Issue One. The language on the ballot may be confusing and misleading. That is intentional. If you want to get rid of Gerrymandering you must vote YES.
OEA Recommended Candidates
U.S. President/Vice President—Kamala Harris (D)/Tim Walz (D)
U.S. Senate—Sherrod Brown (D)
Ohio Supreme Court Justice
Melody Stewart
Michael Donnelly
Lisa Forbes
Issue 1—Anti Gerrymandering Amendment Vote Yes
Ohio House
HD 13 Tristan Rader (D)
HD 14 Sean Brennan (D)*
HD 15 Chris Glassburn (D)
HD 16 Bride Rose Sweeney (D)*
HD 18 Juanita Brent (D)*
HD 19 Phil Robinson (D)*
HD 20 Terrence Upchurch (D)*
HD 21 Eric Synenberg (D)
HD 22 Darnell Brewer (D)
HD 23 Daniel Troy (D)*
HD 31 Bill Roemer (R)
HD 33 Veronica Sims (D)
HD 34 Derrick Hall (D)
HD 35 Mark Curtis (D)
HD 52 Gayle Manning(R)
HD 53 Joe Miller (D)*
HD 57 Jamie Callender(R)
HD 58 Lauren McNally (D)
HD 64 Lauren Mathews (D
Ohio Senate
SD 2 Paloma De La Fuente (D)
SD 18 Katie O’Neill (D)
SD 24 Tom Patton (R)
SD 28 Casey Weinstein (D)
SD 32 Michael Shrodek (D)
US Congress
CD 9 Marcy Kaptur (D) CD 13 Emilia Sykes (D)
CD 11 Shontel Brown (D)
State Board of Education
Dist. 8 Karen Lloyd
Dist. 11 Delores Ford
* Indicates Friendly Incumbent
This listing includes NEOEA areas.
See the complete list of all Endorsed Candidates in a list that you can print and take with you to the polls: OEA Election Guide
Non-Partisan Guide to Presidential Candidates
OEA Endorsed Candidate Expanded Information Site
https://ballot.ohea.org/ballot/
OEA Past President and NEOEA-R Organizing Committee Member Patricia Frost-Brooks delivered an address on the need to pass the Constitutional Amendment to end Gerrymandering to Union Members at a Community Meeting in Sheffield on October 10, 2024.
Right now in Ohio, politicians and lobbyists manipulate voting districts to protect their interests and guarantee their re-election. As a result, incumbents running for reelection almost never lose. In other words, we let politicians choose their voters.
The Citizens Not Politicians Amendment bans lobbyists and politicians from the process and instead empowers voters to choose their politicians. Join us today to restore power to where it belongs: with citizens, not politicians.
From time to time, members may receive mailings from an organization calling itself “POP5” or “Protect Our Pensions.” POP5 is not affiliated with OEA or OEA Retired.
While there does not appear to be any inherent conflict between the stated goals of POP5 and OEA, you should also note that there is nothing that POP5 is seeking to accomplish that OEA and our allies are not already working on or have addressed in the past over many years.
OEA, represents over 124,000 educators, which includes over 9,000 retired members, and is deeply committed to protecting and preserving retirement security for all current and future retirees in the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), School Employees Retirement System (SERS), and Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). OEA has been actively engaged in current efforts to improve the funding status of all the pension systems and maintain or enhance benefits in a fiscally responsible way. OEA’s advocacy on retirement system issues benefits not only our members, but the very system of public education and the students that we serve.
(Adapted from research findings by OEA and OEA Retired)
| Names of persons interested in being considered for appointment to the position of OEA-R Newsletter Editor. This is a three (3) year term which begins Oct 1, 2024 through July 14, 2027.
Please submit your name to the OEA-R Chair Mary Binegar (binegm@aol.com) AND a copy to the Vice Chair Phil A. Long (palcisv13@gmail.com) no later than midnight September 20, 2024 indicating your wish to be considered for the appointment. Please include a brief statement listing your qualifications and reason for wanting to serve OEA-R in this position. A brief description of the position is included below. The recommendation for appointment will be put before the OEA-R Advisory Committee by Sept 27, 2024. |
Duties of OEA-R appointments by the Advisory Council
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OEA-R delegates will be elected through October 21 by online and mail-in ballot. L
ook for election information by email and US mail. Please support candidates from NEOEA-R.
OEA-R members should look for an email and/or a postcard “Vote now in the OEA 2024 Elections” from “Ohio Education Association <help@yeselections.com>”.
Everyone will get a postcard, envelope or an email with an explanation and instructions for requesting a paper ballot.
The email and the postcard or letter provide an “Election Code” and a “Voting PIN” along with a link to the voting page. If your ballot has not been placed in the US mail by October 15, please vote online no later than 5:00 PM on October 21, 2024.
Here are the Steps to Vote Online:
Please support the following candidates from NEOEA:
| Debbie | Bernauer | NEOEA |
| Karen | Carney | NEOEA |
| Marti | Franks | NEOEA |
| Peg | Ham | NEOEA |
| Hank | Haynes | NEOEA |
| Cheryl W. | Hill | NEOEA |
| Bill | Lavezzi | NEOEA |
| Steven D. | Mitchell | NEOEA |
| John A. | Ververka | NEOEA |
| Valenta G. | Ward-Gravely | NEOEA |
| Jené | Wilson | NEOEA |
| Nancy | Wonson | NEOEA |
Candidate biographies are available at 2024OEARARetiredDelegateCandidateBios
Delegates attend both the Fall and Spring OEA Representative Assemblies. On the day before, the OEA-R Delegate Assembly meets at the OEA or STRS building to carry out the business of OEA Retired and for a briefing with the OEA officers and reports from the OEA-R Advisory Council. Delegates from NEOEA also attend the Fall and Spring NEOEA RAs.
Although NEOEA Day (October 11, 2024) seems like a long way off, it will be here before you know it. If you want to be guaranteed a seat on the bus for our returning annual tour to New York City on a Budget, now is the time to make your reservation.
New York City Tour includes deluxe motor coach transportation, two nights at the
Courtyard New York Manhattan/Times Square/West in New York City, a guided city
tour, breakfast at our hotel each morning, dinner on the way home in Pennsylvania,
and an escort from 20th Century Tours.
The cost per person based on double occupancy is $775 two beds, $745 king bed.
(Single Occupancy – $1110 Triple Occupancy – $675 Quad Occupancy – $610)
A $250 per person deposit is required to confirm your reservation (make checks payable to 20th Century Tours). The balance of the cost is due by Friday, August 16, 2024.
Please call 20th Century Tours at 330.506.4259 prior to purchasing Broadway or other admission tickets. They are nonrefundable. We would want to make sure the tour has enough participants attending prior to purchasing.
DO NOT CALL OR SEND RESERVATIONS TO THE NEOEA OFFICE
Spend a long weekend in New York City this October!
There are still seats available.
Access the tour flyer and registration form here — https://neoea.org/files/NYC2024.pdf
The OEA-Retired 2024 Fall Conference will be a virtual session that anticipates inspiring creativeness in all of us, think about best practices for retirement, and learn from a civil rights activist’s journey in the fight for justice.
Join Us on Wednesday, September 25th at 10am-12:30pm to hear the 2022-2024 Ohio Beat Poet Laureate, Sandra Feen; expert advice on retirement from an STRS representative Lynn A. Hoover (Acting Executive Director and
Chief Financial Officer); and learn from freedom fighter/ Civil Rights Activist, Charles Black.
All OEA members are invited to join us during this discussion
(OEA MEMBERS ONLY EVENT).
A new OEA election year kicks off in September. There is some important election information below. If you are interested in being involved and having your voice heard, please consider running for one of the upcoming open positions:
OEA-Retired delegate to the OEA Representative 2024-2025 Fall and Spring Assemblies.
OEA-Retired Advisory Council positions that are available. There is a vacancy position available to elect this fall election and multiple Advisory council seats available to elect for the spring election.
NEA-Retired Delegate seats that will attend next year’s NEA Representative Assembly.
Things to note
Declaration of candidacy deadline dates have changed on the forms, so please pay attention to when the forms are due back to OEA.
Submitting your Forms
You are welcome to scan or take a clear picture of the forms (Front and back) and send them in that way.
You can fill out the form electronically, save it, and send them back that way.
Lastly, you are always welcome to print and mail your declarations back into us, but please remember the mail system can be slow at times. If you are emailing form in, please email them to the provided email address on the specific form. Please do not send your submission to William Baird’s personal email address.
Another change is the shortening of the election time periods. Elections will run 21 days and not 30.
You will still be afforded the option to vote online or by mailed paper ballot. Paper ballots will still be mailed to all retired members and electronic ballots will be sent to all retired members; you may choose which option you want to use.
If you are choosing the mailed ballot option, please vote and return your ballot right away. The move to 3 weeks, has several advantages, including housing preparation for delegates, allowing the delegates to attend all district representative assemblies, and it reduces the over all cost of the election.
In addition to the OEA Representative assemblies, OEA-R Delegates will attend the OEA-R Delegate Assembly in advance of each OEA Representative assembly and . OEA-R Delegates elected from NEOEA will also attend all NEOEA Representative Assemblies.
FORMS
https://oea-r.ohea.us/page/election-information/
Please direct questions to William Baird, Elections and Conference Coordinator at oeara@ohea.org. 614-227-3169
Thanks are extended to NEOEA-R members for supporting the Mentorship Program with Kent State University.
Beryl has organized the program for 15 years with a lot of help from NEOEA-R members and will be retiring from the task of Chair. This brings the need for one of our members to step forward to match students with Mentors. .KSEA will ask students in September if they want to be a Mentee this school year.. KSEA will provide names, email addresses and school addresses and their major subjects at Kent. Mentors will be matched with NEOEA-R members who have similar teaching experiences.
The last few years Mentors have not been going to Kent, but meeting virtually through e-mail, Facetime or Zoom to talk with Mentees. This year campus visits can also be
arranged. Working virtually has been successful because of students’ busy schedules and some Mentors located some distances from Kent. You will become their “Professional Friend”.
Please let us know if you are interested in becoming a MENTOR this September. Provide what grades you have taught, primary, middle school, or the subjects in high
school.
If you are interested in matching the students with retired members please let Beryl know soon. You may reply to Beryl’s message sent to previous participants or to
Thanks loads for all you have done with this program and advise of your desire to either participate as a Mentor or Chair by mid-August.