The OEA-Retired is sponsoring three virtual webinars in October 2023. This year will feature five OEA active and retired members sharing their stories of courage and determination against adversity. Join us virtually on Zoom on Wednesdays, October 11th, 18th, and 25th at 5pm-6:30pm for an hour and half of inspiration and commitment to advocacy for public education. Click here to register for the OEA-Retired 2023 Virtual Fall Conference. https://www.ohea.org/series/oea-retired-fall-conference/
Category Archives: OEA-R News
OEA-Retired Spring 2023 Elections
NEA-Retired Delegate Elections
OEA-Retired Advisory Council Elections
The OEA-Retired election for Spring 2023 is being conducted by Election America. Online voting opens on March 1, 2023, and closes on March 30, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Election notices will be mailed (and emailed, if on file) to OEA-Retired members with an individual Election Code and Voting PIN (you will need these to vote). For technical assistance with the voting process or to request a paper ballot, please contact Election-America at Help+OEAR@election-america.com or call (877) 466-7875. For questions regarding your membership or election guidelines, please contact William Baird at bairdw@ohea.org.
The Ohio NEA-R delegation to the NEA Representative Assembly on July 3 – 6, 2023 in Orlando, FL consists of seven delegate seats, the Chair, Mary Binegar, is a delegate by virtue of office. There are 25 candidates running for the remaining 6 seats. Six candidates are from NEOEA; seven from WOEA; five from SWOEA; two from ECOEA; two from NCOEA; two from Central; and one from Capital.
NEA-R Delegate candidates from NEOEA:
- Marsh Buckley, Mentor TA-R
- William A Dorsey, Painesville City TA
- Marti Franks, Twinsburg EA-R
- Peg Ham, Lorain EA-R
- Steven Mitchell, East Cleveland EA-R
- Jené Wilson, ACCESS-R
OEA-Retired Advisory Council Positions: AT-LARGE – OEA-R AC Representative:
- Jeff Corbin, CAPITAL
- Carol Kinsey, ECOEA
- Becky Mayer-Radel, NCOEA
- Chuck Steinbower, CENTRAL
OEA-Retired Advisory Council Positions:
- ESP – OEA-R AC Representative
- Higher Education – OEA-R AC Representative
Note: Terms for the above non-vacancy seats are effective starting July 15, 2023 and ending on July 14, 2026. The vacancy for ESP will fulfill a term ending July 14, 2025. The vacancy for HE will fulfill a term ending July 14, 2023.
The above offices serve as an automatic delegate to the OEA Representative Assembly and Respective District Representative Assembly by virtue of office. The OEA-Retired Chair serves as an automatic delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly by virtue of office.
Download the candidate biographical information for OEA-Retired 2023 Election (expand last item): https://www.ohea.org/retired/.
OEA-R Delegate Election Results
OEA-R Delegate election results are in! See the OEA-R Delegates from NEOEA-R on our Delegates page.
OEA-Retired Delegate Election Results – 2022-2023 OEA Representative Assemblies
The Ohio Education Association’s Division of Retired (OEA-Retired) is allocated a total of 36 delegates to the 2022-2023 OEA Representative Assemblies. The OEA-Retired Guidelines state that the following members of the OEA-Retired Advisory Council shall serve as automatic delegates by virtue of office:
OEA-Retired Advisory Council:
- Chair, Mary Binegar
- Vice Chair, Phil Long
- Secretary, Judy Buschle
- Past President/Chair, John Hoyes
- CAPITAL Representative, Carol Dixon
- CENTRAL Representative, Barry Alcock
- ECOEA Representative, Kathleen Purdy
- EOEA Representative, Rita Walters
- NCOEA Representative, Judy Novak
- NEOEA Representative, Donna Smoot-Walters
- NWOEA Representative, Lisa Scott Marshall
- SEOEA Representative, Jane Miller
- SWOEA Representative, Becky Brown
- WOEA Representative, Joni Watson
- At-Large Representative, Beverly Woolridge
- OEA Board of Directors Representative, Deloris Rome Hudson
Ballots to elect an additional 20 delegates were conducted by Yes! Elections.
There were a total of 1430 votes cast – (831 paper ballots received).
OEA-Retired Delegates:
- William A. Dorsey, 916
- Carol Kinsey, 819
- Jeff Corbin, 665
- Christina Wall Swank, 657
- Mary Kennedy, 610
- Marsh Buckley, 594
- Willie Terrell, Jr., 575
- Peg Ham, 575
- Marti Franks, 572
- Nancy Wonson, 571
- Gretchen Y. Washington, 570
- William S. Lavezzi, 533
- Becky Mayer/Radel, 533
- Jene Wilson, 516
- Hank Haynes, 508
- Steven Mitchell, 505
- Chuck Steinbower, 495
- Cheryl Hill, 464
- Doris L. Moore, 459
- Ed Sims, 456
OEA-R Retired Alternates:
- Tina Adams, 453
- Lori Moodie, 412
- Karen Shires, 402
- Becky Cashell, 400
- Norman Hillstrom, 390
- Clarice Thomas, 386
- Wil Vickery, 384
- S. Jefferson Slattery, 287
- Yuverdia Irving, 244
OEA-R Delegate Election
OEA-Retired Delegate Election
- Vote During October
- Please Support Candidates from NEOEA
OEA-R delegates will be elected during October by online and mail-in ballot. In October, look 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 2020 Elections” from “Ohio Education Association <help@yeselections.com>”. Everyone will get a postcard or an email with an explanation and instructions for requesting a paper ballot by October 15. The email and the postcard provide an “Election Code” and a “Voting PIN” along with a link to the voting page. Please vote online no later than 5:00 PM Friday, October 31, 2022. For more information, candidate biographies, and to vote online; go to https://www.ohea.org/cms/assets/uploads/2022/09/2022-Retired-Delegate-Bios-9-21-22.pdf.
OEA-R members will elect 18 Delegates to the OEA Representative Assembly from a field of 29 candidates. The 18 OEA-Retired Advisory Council members are automatic delegates by virtue of office, for a delegation of 36 delegates and 11 alternates by order of votes.
Please support the 11 candidates from NEOEA. Here are the candidates: Marsh Buckley, William A. Dorsey, Marti Franks, Peg Ham, Hank Haynes, Cheryl W. Hill, Norm Hillstrom, William Lavezzi, Steven Mitchell, Jene Wilson, Nancy Wonson.
Also on the ballot are candidates from other OEA Districts: 6—WOEA, 5—NCOEA, 2—Central, 2—ECOEA, 1—Capital, 1—SEOEA, and 1—SWOEA.
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.
The OEA Representative Assemblies will be December 3, 2022 and May 12-13, 2023 (revised dates.). The NEOEA Representative Assemblies will be November 12 at Lorain HS and April 22 at Mayfield HS.
Please check for meeting summaries and minutes of the OEA-R Advisory Council, OEA-R Delegate Assembly, and the OEA Board of Directors on the Documents/Reports page of the OEA-R website at http://oea-r.ohea.us/.
OEA-R Fall Conference
Register now for the OEA-R Fall Conference.
Tuesday, September 6, 2022 9:30 AM—2:45 PM at OEA Headquarters, Columbus. The Theme for 2022-2023: Relevance, Engagement, and Visibility (R.E.V.). Pick three of four sessions:
- Mental Wellbeing by Building Resilience—De Lena P. Scales MPA, TRCC II, Neighborhood Program Specialist, Department of Neighborhoods, Columbus Public Health and Kristen Hicks, LISW, TRCC, CTRP-C, Owner of Seasons Counseling & Consulting, LLC;
- OEA-R Opportunities for an Active Retirement—Mary Binegar, OEA-R Chair and Makia Burns, OEA Organizer;
- Physical Wellbeing Through Movement—Janine Harris, Degitz M.S. ,TRCC – II
- What I Want My Loved Ones to Know—Guy Kendall-Freas, NEA Member Benets.
$25 registration fee. Register by August 30 with Cvent: https://web.cvent.com/event/4ec6ccdc-6243-44fd-8f70-978972d9e746/summary.
Or you can download a registration form: OEA-R 2022 Fall Conference registration form
STRS Retired Elections
Vote Rita J. Walters for STRS Board of Directors.
You should have received your STRS ballot in the mail. Vote NOW!
The stability of STRS is at stake. Rita is the OEA endorsed candidate. She has served OEA’s Retired members faithfully since 2017. Rita understands her responsibility to protect your STRS funds and will not support the risky schemes proposed by some.
While Rita has served on the STRS Board, STRS was able to survive the financial crisis and come out strong enough to reinstate a COLA and health care premium rebates.
Vote Rita J, Walters to continue a strong and stable STRS.
More information: : https://www.ohea.org/get-involved/oea-strs-board-endorsements/
Read Across America
OEA-R – Read Across America
To celebrate Read Across America, OEA-R members have recorded themselves reading books for school kids. Enjoy! https://www.ohea.org/resources/all/oear-read-across-america/
If you are interested in recording a reading, please contact OEA-R Vice Chairperson – by February 14.
OEA-R Guidelines
On May 6, 2021, the OEA Retired Delegate Assembly approved amendments to the OEA-R Guidelines, subsequently approved by the OEA Board of Directors:
- Added—Recall procedure for officers and members of the Advisory Council – Article VIII, Sec I
- Changed—From one year to three years, to establish a three-year term for appointed, non-voting, positions on the Advisory Council, e.g. Newsletter Editor, Webmaster, SERS Observer, and STRS Observer – Article IX, Sec A.2.
Download the new current 340.040-Guidelines-for-OEA-R-Rev.-7-25-21
SERS Health Care Rule Change
The SERS Board approved a new health care rule earlier this year impacting some non-Medicare retirees who are currently on the SERS health care plan (approximately 500 current retirees are affected.) SERS is currently mailing all of the impacted individuals and following up by phone, but a majority are not reading the letter.
Non-Medicare plan enrollees whose gross benefit amount is below the income amount established for Medicaid eligibility will receive a letter telling them to contact HealthSCOPE Benefits (1-888-236-2377). HealthSCOPE Benefits will evaluate benefit recipients’ Medicaid eligibility using healthcare.gov.
There are three possible outcomes:
- If determined potentially eligible for Medicaid, HealthSCOPE Benefits can forward the application to Medicaid. SERS HC eligibility will end December 31, 2020, unless the member requests an earlier termination date by submitting a health care waiver form.
- If determined NOT potentially eligible for Medicaid, HealthSCOPE Benefits will inform SERS’ health care and coverage will continue as is.
- If a benefit recipient fails to contact HealthSCOPE Benefits, their SERS’ health care coverage will be terminated effective December 31, 2020.
HealthSCOPE Benefits will report all of its findings to SERS.
Also posted information on the SERS website: https://www.ohsers.org/have-you-been-contacted-by-sers-about-medicaid-eligibility-if-so-you-need-to-take-action/
It is in the News and Events section on the homepage and is now the featured article in the Retirees dropdown menu.
Join OEA Retired and NEA Retired
Talk to Your Friends. Encourage them to join OEA Retired and NEA Retired. Members of OEA-R and NEA-R save well over the $350 Life Membership fee when they take advantage of discounts on home insurance, car insurance, or appliance discounts through the Association.
Watch the new OEA-R Membership video on YouTube: “OEA-R Working for your Future” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkBsrsn4uVs .
Download the new OEA-R Membership Flyer at http://neoea-r.ohea.us/files/2016/02/OEA-R-Membership-Flyer-.pdf or for more information or visit the OEA-Retired website at http://oea-r.ohea.us/ .
If you are not a member of OEA-R and NEA-R, consider joining now. Join online with a credit card at https://sites.nea.org/JoinNea/.