Some of the Facts on Issue 2

Its Election time again and everything I see is about Issue 2 in Ohio.  If you are not aware about it (and if you're from Ohio, you should at least know it exists by now), its a bill that addresses the rights and wages of public employees such as schoolteachers, firemen, and police officers.  There has been a lot of misinformation on both sides of the issue which makes it harder to find the facts.  Fortunately, you can find a copy of the bill (Senate Bill 5) that is up for debate.  Its nowhere near as bad as its being made out to be but there are some stipulations that make me wary, especially after witnessing years of incompetent and corrupt Ohio government.



Contrary to what some of the people for issue two (for Issue 2=for Senate Bill 5) have said, there ARE restrictions to collective bargaining rights.  While the bill does not restrict collective bargaining on wages and hours, there are many exceptions where they are limiting and/or prohibiting collective bargaining.  It limits collective bargaining on issues such as employee qualifications, work assignments, the amount of students in a classroom, and vacation days.  It also outright prohibits collective bargaining on issue such as the number of workers required to be on duty, health care benefits, and felons will have absolutely no collective bargaining rights.

Another big issue is that 100% of the employment decisions will be performance based.  This idea is nice in theory, but there is the issue of evaluating what "performance based is".  For teachers, they will be judge by several factors including the level of license they have (i.e. how much they pony up to the state), "value-added measurements", and whatever else the school board decides.  The most common kind of value added measurement is standardized tests.  So they will be judged based on subjectivity, standardized tests, and how much they want to give to the state.

Redefines what a "management level employees" are and the term is defined very loosely.  A management level employee is exempt from collectively bargaining rights.  A management level employee is involved in "personnel decisions, selection or review of administrators, planning & use of physical resources, budget preparation, and determination of educational policies related to admissions, curriculum, subject matter, and methods of instruction and research". This is blatantly targeting university professors, but can also affect high school teachers.  At colleges, the teachers have a say in who is the school president.  They also have a say in the curriculum and the subject matter, as they should have.  The last part is also true of heads of departments at many high schools.  These people shouldn't be exempted because they perform these few functions.


Lastly, I fear the power they give the government to deal with strikes and will paraphrase the law. No public employee can strike.  An employer can get an injunction against the strike.  Anyone who strikes or still strikes once the injunction is in place is subject to fines, disciplinary action, or legal action.  Anyone who is punished in this way is not allowed to have the penalties waived in a strike settlement.  Any public employee who isn't at work on the day of a strike or leaves early (both without prior notice) is assumed to be going on strike.  Approving of a strike, condoning a strike, or advocating a strike is just as bad as being part of it.

Once you are thought to be striking, they will take double the pay of whatever time you missed.  An employee can protest this by filling out an affidavit and the affidavit is subject to the penalty of perjury, a 3rd degree felony.  If the chief executive has doubt about the validity of the statement & it favors the employee, they appoint a hearing officer.  In this hearing, the employee has the burden of proof to prove they are innocent.


Now to sum up the last part about striking.  Striking is illegal and you can go to jail for it.  If you were falsely accused, the person accusing you gets to appoint an officer to try you.  You are guilty until proven innocent that you were on strike.  If you are found guilty, the affidavit is false and you are charged with perjury, a felony.  Guess what then?  you don't have any collective bargaining rights.  I am from Cleveland.  I am wary of giving that kind of power to a government when Cleveland's government was under investigation by the FBI.  The FBI!

Just a last side-note.  People aren't realizing the fact that prohibiting a teacher to strike can be considered unconstitutional (depending on the judge's interpretation and their political sway).  Police and firemen aren't allowed to strike, but that's for rational public safety reasons which don't exist for teachers.  A vote for issue 2 is a vote against the first amendment.