President of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, Melissa Cropper, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about Columbus’ designation as a workforce hub. Cropper also discussed the OFT’s ongoing battles with the Freedom Foundation and her concern for groups seeking to undermine the educational system in America.
Columbus and Central Ohio were named one of five workforce hubs by the Biden Administration. These regional hubs are designated areas for growth and investment from the infrastructure and CHIPS and science acts that will help increase jobs in the region. Along with investing in future jobs, there is a need to better educate area residents in the skills needed to fill the jobs created by these new facilities. Government and education leaders are working together to develop plans and programs to assist in the training needed.
The Freedom Foundation has sent a lot of mail over time to the members of the OFT as part of a concerted effort to make members drop the union. The issue has always been that they include Cropper’s name and return address on the documents despite her not being involved. Recently, the Foundation sent a letter that appeared to be a refund statement from the OFT. However, the letter asked members to sign to “receive a refund for dues,” but signing the form would force members to drop the union. In return, Cropper outlined the steps the OFT is taking to prevent these letters from being sent again and believes there’s a potential for fraudulent charges to be filed against the Freedom Foundation.
Cropper concluded by discussing several groups seeking to undermine the ability of teachers and educators to educate students properly. The groups sought out several seats in School Board races across the country, and while they overwhelmingly lost a majority of the battles, they still won nearly 20 percent of the seats they targeted. Cropper warned that educators and parents should be concerned about these groups as they are trying to eliminate the idea of free education and will only harm students.
Interested in more from Cropper? Press play on the episode above.