Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers and reelected secretary-treasurer of the Ohio AFL-CIO, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the OFT's annual local leaders conference, the Nov. 3 mid-term election and the stakes for Ohio school funding.
The OFT conference brought together down-ballot candidates, including those running for state treasurer, auditor, attorney general and secretary of state, with a surprise visit from U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown. Cropper described renewed energy among the conference attendees that she had not felt in a long time. There was a genuine belief that the endorsed candidates have a real shot next month. On school funding, she discussed the local levy races in Cincinnati, Cleveland Heights and Toledo alongside the long-term structural fight for a fair school funding formula. If Amy Acton wins the governor’s race, Cropper said there would be a real chance to implement a fair funding formula.
Cropper identified six Ohio House seats where the Democrat candidates have a chance to win, which would break the Republican supermajority, as well as four Ohio Senate seats that would further reshape the chamber.
- The OFT local leaders conference featured a panel of Democratic candidates running for state offices: treasurer, auditor and attorney general. The next day, the conference met the secretary of state candidate and had a surprise visit from U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown. There was higher member engagement compared to previous conferences, Cropper said, driven by a sense that the endorsed candidates can win and that real change is within reach.
- She also identified three local school levies on the November ballot: in Cincinnati, Cleveland Heights and Toledo. All three levies are due to inadequate state-level school funding, Cropper said. Given rising property taxes and cost-of-living pressures on voters, she acknowledged it’s a difficult time to ask voters to approve levies, but she said the schools need the additional revenue, and the fight for fair state funding continues. If Amy Acton wins the governor's race, Cropper predicted it would be the first time she has had a governor willing to put forward a budget that the OFT can fully support.
- Breaking the Republican supermajority in the Ohio House requires flipping six seats. Cropper named J. Noah Spinner, Mike Baker, Megan Coy and Samantha Solomon as critical state house races in the northeast, along with Daquan Neal and Rose Lounsbury near Dayton as the other two. On the State Senate side, multiple seats are worth watching: Joe Miller against Gayle Manning, Mike Roberto in the Lorain area, Stacie Baker in Columbus and Thomas West near Akron. Cropper also connected school funding to broader working family issues, including Medicaid, housing and healthcare. A child's ability to learn is directly tied to the stability of their family's economic foundation, she explained.
A Conference with Unexpected Company
The Ohio Federation of Teachers held its annual Local leaders conference, with an agenda focused on the Nov. 3 election. Cropper described the weekend as focused on down-ballot races that OFT members often know less about than the top of the ticket. But these are the offices whose occupants can shape education policy, school funding formulas and the regulatory environment in which teachers and students work.
Friday evening featured a panel discussion with Seth Walsh, running for state treasurer; Annette Blackwell, running for state auditor; and Jon Kulewicz, running for state attorney general. Saturday brought Allisson Russo, the secretary of state candidate. U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown was a last-minute addition. His appearance was phenomenal and largely unexpected, Cropper said.
The energy in the room was different from what Croper had experienced at previous conferences. Members were more engaged, more animated and operating with a sense of genuine possibility, she said. For the first time in a long time, OFT members feel like the candidates they are supporting have a real shot at winning, she said. That feeling produces hope, and hope drives action, she said.
The Immediate Fight: Three Levies
Before the structural school funding fight can be won at the Ohio Statehouse, Cropper singled out three school districts that need financial help. Cincinnati, Cleveland Heights and Toledo all have school levies on the November ballot. Cropper said the levies were necessary because the state has not adequately funded the schools. They are not the solution, but the cost of the current system's failure, she said.
She acknowledged that the conversation is difficult. Property taxes are rising. Families are stretched. Asking voters to approve additional property tax levies in the current environment is genuinely hard. But the schools cannot wait for Columbus to fix the school funding formula. They need money now, and that money has to come from somewhere.
Her message to voters in those three communities: support the levies, because your schools need it today. And then, when you vote for governor and for your state representative and senator, remember that who sits in those seats determines whether the next levy is necessary at all.
A Fair School Funding Formula and What an OFT-Endorsed Governor Could Mean
The Fair School Funding Formula has been in a phase-in process. Cropper said that process has consistently been undercut by governors proposing budgets that do not reflect what the formula requires. If Amy Acton wins the governor's race, Cropper said it would be the first time in her tenure as OFT president that she would have a governor willing to submit a budget she can fully support and rally her members around.
The governor does not act alone, however. The state legislature takes its own pass at the budget. That is why the composition of the Ohio House and Senate matters as much as who is in the governor's office. A governor committed to fair school funding, working against a Republican supermajority in the legislature, faces obstacles. Change both at once, and the conditions for finally completing the Fair School Funding Formula phase-in become different.
Six Seats in the House, Others in the Senate
Cropper identified the specific races that could break or reshape the Republican supermajority control.
In the Ohio House, six seats would eliminate the supermajority. In northeast Ohio, the four critical races are Noah Spinner, Mike Baker, Megan Coy and Samantha Solomon. Near Dayton, Daquan Neal and Rose Lounsbury round out the six. Cropper described all six as genuine opportunities where Democrats have a real shot with good voter turnout.
In the Ohio Senate, multiple seats would be up for election, further reshaping the chamber. Joe Miller is running against longtime incumbent Gayle Manning. Cropper said Manning has at times been a friend to public education, but has consistently followed Republican leadership when it counted. Meanwhile, Miller is a former schoolteacher and longtime supporter of public education, making him the right choice. Others that have a decent chance to win include Mike Roberto in the Lorain area, Stacie Baker in the Columbus area and Tom West, who is running near Akron. All four, she said, would be critical to the future of the state’s schools.
School Funding Is a Working Family Issue
Cropper pushed back on the idea that school funding is a narrow education issue. A child's ability to learn is shaped by what is happening at home, she said. When Medicaid is cut, children lose healthcare, and that instability follows them into the classroom. When housing programs are underfunded, families face economic insecurity that children absorb. When working families cannot afford to live decently, the foundation that makes learning possible erodes.
That is why she said electing Sherrod Brown to the U.S. Senate matters as much as the statehouse races. It is why electing candidates committed to working families up and down the ballot matters. The fair school funding fight and the broader fight for economic stability for Ohio families are not separate campaigns. They are the same campaign, she said.
The 2006 Comparison
Cropper said she has been knocking on doors and plans to continue every day until Nov. 3. She described the experience this way: doors open and people will talk. They express a desire for change and frustration with the current political atmosphere. She said it feels like 2006 — the midterm year that produced a significant sea change in Ohio politics. People are tired, she said. They are struggling. And they are ready for change.
More information on the Ohio Federation of Teachers is available at oft-aft.org.
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