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Ohio's public schools serve 1.6 million children - 90 percent of students in the state! What happens in the classroom has impacts far beyond the walls of the K-12 school building or higher ed lecture hall. So, on behalf of the 120,000 members of the Ohio Education Association, we're taking a deeper dive into some of the many education issues facing our students, educators, and communities. Originally launched in 2021 as Education Matters, Public Education Matters is your source for insightful conversations with the people who shape the education landscape in Ohio. Have a topic you'd like to hear about on Public Education Matters? Email us at educationmatters@ohea.org
Intro - Various members and students speaking 0:08
Public education matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters because every student matters. Public Education Matters. Public Education Matters because it is the foundation of our democracy. Public Education Matters because we are stronger when we speak in one voice. Public education matters. Public education matters. Public education matters. Public education matters. This is public Education Matters, brought to you by the Ohio Education Association.
Katie Olmsted 0:41
Welcome back to Public Education Matters. I'm Katie Olmsted, and I have the privilege of working as part of the communications team for the Ohio Education Association and its 120,000 members across the state. Every day, those public school educators pour their hearts into serving Ohio students. A handful of them are also dedicated to serving their constituents in their roles as state or local leaders. Our communities need educators in those decision-making roles because who better understands the needs of our public school students, educators and families than the people who have dedicated their lives to improving our public schools every day. But running for office can be a daunting task. And a lot of educators may not even know where to begin. That's where the National Education Association's See Educators Run program comes in. Educators from around the country come together to learn more about what it takes to run a campaign and more about themselves as potential candidates. Orange Teachers Association member LaShun Collins, who goes by Ship, attended NEA's See Educators Run conference late last year. And then he immediately went on to lead a session at NEA's Women's Leadership and Minority Leadership Training program. He's currently serving as Vice Chair for OEA's Legislative Committee, and he co chairs OEA's Minority Leadership Training Cadre and program as well as running the Male Minority Leadership Group for his students at Orange High School. And while Ship says he doesn't have any current plans to run for office, he would if the right opportunity came along. We sat down with Ship when he returned to Ohio from his whirlwind NEA conferences to get his thoughts on his experiences and the changes he's trying to make for the future of Ohio's education workforce and students, whether he ends up running for office or not.
Katie Olmsted 2:47
Ship, thank you so much for sitting down with us. Let's start with the big picture question. What is See Educators Run?
Ship Collins 2:57
Oh, my goodness. First, it is a great opportunity for educators to come within a group of individuals who have maybe some political aspirations and/or have run for political office, to teach someone who's interested in it, like myself, what it takes and particular guidelines that you need to follow.
Katie Olmsted 3:22
What does it take? Was there anything eye-opening through this experience for you?
Ship Collins 3:26
The trainers there were incredible. We started off with a just trying to build what would your plan be? What would what would your statement be? And the things that they did to get you to give the information up and to tell a little bit more about yourself was great. So we'd start with that. Being able to canvass, fundraising, budgeting, things that as far as your website, what should be on their content, where buttons should be on the website. Oh, my goodness, it was it was jam packed.
Katie Olmsted 4:08
How long were you at this training? What was it like in that community?
Ship Collins 4:12
So it was in Phoenix, Arizona. It was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You know, you flew out and you had a reception where everyone greeted one another and you had individuals who have run from anywhere from school board, school board president, city council, the mayor in their community, state legislative community, the Senate, the House, with just a plethora of backgrounds, dealing with political issues.
Katie Olmsted 4:50
How important is it that we have educators trying to fill those roles?
Ship Collins 4:55
Now, this is another pillar of why this is such a great opportunity. As an educator, we have things given to us, and explained to us, and then we have to kind of put it where it needs to be within our lives, within our classrooms. But when you are asked to go through this process to be on the side of a politician along with your experience as a teacher, and you bring those two together, it is very powerful. Because now, not only do you know what you're talking about, you know how they put it together to talk about it. And when you explain it to the children back in the classroom, or within your community, or the parents, they're like, Oh, that makes sense. Because sometimes we run through these things. And it's too quick. We don't give it its due diligence.
Katie Olmsted 5:53
So what made you want to do this in the first place?
Ship Collins 5:57
You know, there were a couple people that said, hey, shoot, have you ever thought about running for political office? I said, No. They said -
Katie Olmsted 6:07
I mean, that's an honest answer. Okay, good.
Ship Collins 6:09
Oh my goodness, no. Because, again, I didn't know what it took. And a lot of those things were revealed to me. And if I were to choose to run for something, which I'm not, I'd have the information right there, and the experience right there. But they presented this opportunity. They said, Hey, there's a program called See Educators Run, and we think you would be a perfect fit for that. So I accepted the challenge and took it on. And it was - I do not regret a minute of it.
Katie Olmsted 6:45
And the skills you learn there, the information you learned there, doesn't have to necessarily be for a political campaign, we were just talking about how it can make you a more effective educator.
Ship Collins 6:55
Exactly. It's it's about being a leader and being transparent and being able to move people from one place to another without negativity, but giving them positive outlook and hope. But at the same time, being down there with them and let you know, you're fighting. And you'll fight in multiple ways, whether it's in political office or classroom or school board or wherever it may be.
Katie Olmsted 7:25
Do you mind if I ask why you're not running?
Ship Collins 7:28
Hmm. Perhaps the opportunity hasn't presented itself. Now, this is one thing that I did really learn, that you have to make sure that you have individuals around you that know the land, because those ideas, those great ideas as politicians have, they come from some individuals that are right there on it, and they can help explain, some of them prior teachers. So they are really are teaching a lesson. And they see the leadership ability, perhaps in yourself, to be the face of it, to lead it, and to deliver a feeling to individuals that would deliver that hope. So I hope that I have enough people in my surrounding community, in my camp, whether it's in the union or in the schools, or in my neighborhood, that would say, Okay, I don't want to run but Ship, I'll support you, and we'll continue to teach you how to do it. So when the opportunity comes, I hope I have people there to point it out to me, because sometimes I'll miss it.
Katie Olmsted 8:40
For other educators who are thinking maybe opportunity is knocking for them sometime soon, and they're thinking maybe they want to run for something, A) What would you tell them about how important it is that they just do it? And B) Would you recommend the See Educators Run program for them?
Ship Collins 8:58
Oh, one, Definitely. Because, again, they make a joke about it, but a lot of the politicians don't exactly know what they're doing when they jump in there. So by you being there and being taught, it kind of reveals, I can do this. You know if things were aligned, right, yeah, I can do this. And for an educator, definitely, because we are lifelong learners, lifelong learners. This is something especially with the climate and education being attacked the way that it is to help yourself deliver that awareness and increase your knowledge of how you can help society.
Katie Olmsted 9:52
And educators have to have a seat at the table when decisions are being made, whether that's in their school building, or in the statehouse.
Ship Collins 10:00
Teachers voices are extremely important. As President DiMauro says all the time, based on the statistics, teachers are trusted, whether we're under attack by certain groups or not. But teachers voices are trusted. And when it's time to make a decision, they do come to us to ask, What would you like to see?
Katie Olmsted 10:27
Is that something that gives you pause, as you consider a potential run in the future, is just knowing how educators sort of get used as pawns? How you're targeted? And, frankly, the mean things people say? I don't think I have the heart of a politician because I don't like when people say mean things about me. And that's kind of what you have to deal with as somebody who's running for office. Does it give you pause?
Ship Collins 11:00
No, because of the lived experiences that I've had. You know, having been in several leadership positions, you are aware that people are going to twist your words around, and people are going to try to use you but you have to stay near and dear to what it is that you want to serve and who it is you want to serve, and very aware of who it is, and what would like to do. So no, I don't pause at it. If someone from my camp that, as I said, trusts, that I trust that says, hey, I think you should jump on that. Yeah, I would.
Katie Olmsted 11:47
Do you actually take it as maybe a challenge to accept that knowing that you might get beat up a little bit, it makes you more motivated?
Ship Collins 11:56
Yes, because you just have to sit and wait. And people will show themselves. And you have to make sure that when they're trying to knock you down, that you're supporting one another, that you create, not a negative cycle, but a positive cycle. Someone supporting you, uplifting and bringing community along with them. And then it's your turn, and so on and so forth. But it has to be for positive reasons. That will create change.
Katie Olmsted 12:26
And that's obviously outside of the political sphere - It speaks very, very closely to what I know about you outside of the See Educators Run. For people who are not familiar with your work, and we will, of course link the video about your program in the show notes for this episode, ut can you talk a little bit about that cycle of uplifting that you brought to Orange High School?
Ship Collins 12:50
Oh man, thank you very much. I just believe - I do believe in people. And I want to give individuals the chance. But if you start with our students, depending upon their nationality, they're judged before they even do one thing. They're doubted before they even do one thing. So there's obstacles placed in front of them. And that's part of the reason the Male Minority Leadership was created almost 20 years ago is because I want to make sure that those voices are heard, like we said, having voices in the room. But perspectives. You can't learn much of you always looking just from your perspective, you have to see the perspective of others. And it will make you feel uncomfortable. But especially when we're teaching our kids, you're gonna feel a little bit uncomfortable because you don't hear this all the time. Or it's not like the algorithm on Facebook is always going to show you exactly what they want you to see or what you've been looking at. So you don't know that those ideas are out there. But what do you do with your social emotional skills? What skills do you have, talents and abilities? And bringing those talents and abilities to the group to uplift others as well as yourself. Not changing what your talents and abilities are, but to enhance them.
Katie Olmsted 14:29
You, of course, also brought your talents and abilities to other NEA programs. You had a very busy end of 2023. What can you tell me about the other thing you went to?
Ship Collins 14:43
Yep. Women's Leadership Training and Minority Leadership Training program. I was able to speak to more of our colleagues, across - excuse me -across the nation, United States from - oh my goodness, you talk about networking and teachers just feeling the same thing. This particular training program gives minorities as well as women, or marginalized groups, the power, the know how, the what ifs, taking any of that insecurity away and saying, Hey, this is what I can do. I can do this. And part of my past was being a coach. I guess I'll always be a coach. But I do love seeing people succeed, and overcoming challenges, and I'm always rooting for the underdog.
Ship Collins 15:36
So talk to me a little bit about what you did while you were there.
Ship Collins 15:40
So when I was there, there was a topic that we're presenting, talking about building community relationships. So a group of teachers would come in, sign up for the particular session, and we would deliver information to the teachers, but it's interactive. So you know, you get to talk to them, walk around, instruct, they instruct. So it's just a great opportunity to lead and then build people up to say, I can do this too. I can lead also.
Katie Olmsted 15:47
Obviously, making a more diverse workforce in Ohio has to be a top priority. We have, I think the stat is less than 1% of educators in Ohio are Black men. And that is nowhere near representative of the beautifully diverse student bodies that we serve.
Ship Collins 16:42
Yes, ma'am.
Katie Olmsted 16:43
How do we fix this? How do we make more people empowered to become educators?
Ship Collins 16:50
Hmm. Speaking as a Black man, when invitations are done intentional, but you also see a path of someone who represents you, that has gone through it, and those obstacles that stopped them from perhaps reaching or taking them so long to get to a certain level, seeing some of those removed, so your path is just a little bit cleaner, a little bit truer, a little bit pure. It creates those leaders in the, you know, for the for the future, especially as a Black man. You always would ask the question, why? Or where, why? Why are there no Black men? What happened? And if you tap on tap on that nerve, and nobody wants to talk about it, then that's probably what you need to be talking about. So what do we do, let's talk about the things that don't want to be talked about. And make everyone feel included. No matter their socio economic status, no matter their education, whatever it may be. Because if we're gonna get out of this mess, we're gonna do it together.
Katie Olmsted 18:17
Now, you're saying that about diversifying Ohio's workforce but sure sounds like all of that really works for diversifying our leadership in our state, in our Congress, like, we need people who represent the people they serve. And we need to get things out of the way that are stopping all sorts of people from achieving those offices, right?
Ship Collins 18:41
Absolutely. As we spoke about earlier, we have to be able to see different perspectives. Can't have one dominated perspective. Because there's a lot of things that go on and like the Male Minority Leadership group, there are a lot of leaders out there, that for some reason, were turned off. And now, I would like to know the reason why. Do I really want to know? I don't know. But I know that's how do you stop the issue. You know, allow people to heal.
Ship Collins 19:15
And maybe how you start moving forward is sending people to See Educators Run, right?
Ship Collins 19:21
That's exactly it. The more knowledge you can gain, the more awareness you can gain, the more that you build your camp with people who support you, and who actually want to see society move in a positive way. That's what you want to do. That's what you want to be part of. And they have the right people in place at See Educators Run right now. And I would I would highly recommend it to those who may be starting or thinking about a career in politics, but also even if you don't just raise your awareness so you can deliver correct information and messaging to your colleagues.
Ship Collins 20:07
Knowledge is power.
Ship Collins 20:09
Yes, it is.
Ship Collins 20:11
Well, Ship Collins, thank you so much for sitting down to share your knowledge with us today.
Ship Collins 20:15
Thank you so very much. Thank you for your time. And knew it was a pleasure to be here. And let me know if there's anything else that I could possibly do. I'm always of service.
Katie Olmsted 20:27
I mean, getting back to it, it's clear to me that you have the heart of a servant. And we need people like you who serve your students, serve your community, who can take it to a level where they can amplify the good, right?
Ship Collins 20:44
Yeah, I love the way you put that. That is exactly what I want to do is - a lot of pictures that you see, I'm in the back not because I block everybody else.
Katie Olmsted 20:57
Sure. You're a pretty big person.
Ship Collins 20:59
But just because I don't, I don't need the photo ops. I'd rather be when it's time for action, let's get to it. Let's, let's ask the hard questions. Let's sit down and have the hard conversations. That's, that's where I like to be not just in the picture, because the group took the picture. Just I do want to hear at the end of the day, Ship you're very effective in what you did for the betterment of everyone else, including yourself. Sometimes I can be selfless.
Katie Olmsted 21:43
Betterment of everyone, whether that's at school or on city council, or wherever this takes you
Ship Collins 21:48
Wherever it may be, in the Senate, in the - I don't know where it would go.
Katie Olmsted 21:52
The intergalactic Senate, it'll be fine. Who knows where we'll be in a few years,
Ship Collins 21:57
Like Star Wars, who knows? Galactic.
Katie Olmsted 22:00
Well as as long as you're, you know, not Palpatine it's fine.
Ship Collins 22:05
So I just took down a picture I have back here because my favorite character in Star Wars. And Darth Vader is my favorite, favorite character. And he talks about a leader. And he's got him with all the stormtroopers in the back, he said, I'm not afraid of, of what is it? 1000 sheep, leading a lion but a lion leading a 1000 sheep. So it's kind of like you only need one person to get out there be the voice to help bring people together, but then people have to be willing to. Okay, I saw him kind of get lambasted there. I have know that they're going to try that with me or maybe not as much. But Let's all stay together and stay strong. So every now and then one person has to take the hit for so everybody else can move along. But at a certain point, you stop playing defense and start playing offense. Now, and I think, what's been going on? Teachers, we've been playing a lot of defense. So we need to go and promote what it is that we do. This is what we do. This is our livelihood. We fought for higher wages. We've fought for so many different things that, start telling people what we do. And because most of us, we are so very selfless want to be of service. Let's play some offense.
Katie Olmsted 23:34
Our thanks again to Ship Collins for sharing his thoughts. As Ship mentioned right there, it is so important for educators to really educate others about what they actually do. And now more than ever, that is so important for educators who work in higher education in Ohio. That's because Senate Bill 83, better known as the Higher Education Destruction Act continues to make its way through the Ohio State House. So OEA members have to continue to stand up and fight back against this attack. OEA Manager of Government Relations Dan Ramos joins us now to get us all up to speed.
Katie Olmsted 24:13
Dan Ramos, thank you so much again for sitting down with us. Help us understand, why is SB 83 such a big deal?
Dan Ramos 24:21
Thanks, Katie. Happy to sit down with you. So Senate Bill 83, if you're not familiar with the bill, is a bill that is proposed by Senator Jerry Cirino from Lake County. And it has to deal with a whole host of regulations around public institutions of higher learning, both for our four-year and our two-year institutions. We, and when I say we, it's the coalition partners, the coalition that OEA is a part of, and that includes the We Are Ohio family, and specifically working with AAUP and the Ohio Federation of Teachers to oppose this bill. We are calling this bill the Higher Ed Destruction Act, because of what it does to our higher ed campuses. Primarily, we are looking at this bill as the largest single attack on collective bargaining rights since Senate Bill 5 in 2011. If this bill were to pass, faculty at our higher ed institutions would be prohibited from bargaining over core working condition issues. That includes retrenchment, which is the university's ability to RIF individuals and programs, over evaluations, and post tenure review. Those are some pretty core components of collective bargaining that we see in contracts both at the K-12 and at the higher ed level. And if this bill were to pass again, like I said, it's the single largest attack on collective bargaining rights since we you know, the bill we defeated in 2011, with Senate Bill 5. In addition, it also interferes with the classroom. You know, it really takes a an ax to our higher ed faculties and, you know, students to have an honest and truthful education, and it really seeks to regulate and kind of censor, what is what has, you know, been, you know, a popular thing on our universities and campuses. You know, those are areas of free thought and discussion and dialogue. So we are working as I mentioned in coalition with We Are Ohio like we did back in 2011, and with AAUP and OFT to defeat this bill. The bill is currently in front of the Ohio House. It was passed by the Senate, and it was unfortunately passed by the House Higher Education Committee, but we are working diligently every day to make sure that bill does not make it to the House floor. And OEA members and our allies have been a critical part of that. You know, we have an active Action Alert on the OEA webpage where you can go and send your members of the House an email, urging them to oppose Senate Bill 83. And then also our partners with We Are Ohio and with the Honesty for Ohio Education Coalition have been really actively urging voters and Ohioans to contact their state representatives and urge them to oppose this bill. So we encourage you to do so. Additionally, we have scorecarded this bill. So as I mentioned in previous podcasts, on the OEA Scorecard which at scorecard.oea.org you can see how your state representative and your state senator may have voted on this bill. State Senate obviously voted it out. And if you're if your rep was a member of the House Higher Education Committee, you can see their vote. OEA is giving this one a lot of weight. Normally we do a minus one and a plus one. But this one is a minus three and a plus three on our scorecard because of the gravity of what this would do to our higher ed setting and collective bargaining rights. Some very notable votes from the House side. We had all the Democrats on that committee vote no on favorable passage of that bill. They were joined by Representatives Justin Pizzulli and Gail Pavliga, who were both Republicans on the committee in voting no, to not report the bill out of committee.
Katie Olmsted 24:50
And our thanks to them cannot be overstated.
Dan Ramos 27:58
To the Democrats and to those two representatives, thank you so much for standing up for our members rights and for honest education. Unfortunately, Representative Gayle Manning from Lorain County voted yes to report that bill out.
Katie Olmsted 28:10
She was a changed vote on that one, too. She was originally with us.
Dan Ramos 28:14
That's correct. She did, she did switch her vote. She was originally one of the three Republicans on the committee opposing the bill but then switched her vote towards the end of November, beginning of December of last year. And you know, we've expressed our disappointment in that vote, not just OEA but our coalition partners with We Are Ohio. And if you live in her district, we urge you to call Rep. Manning's office, and you know, encourage her to stand up with, you know, working people and higher education and faculty and staff in voting no, if this bill were to come up for a vote again in that committee or on the floor of the House.
Katie Olmsted 28:46
And that's the bottom line on this one is we have to keep standing up for working people, for the - our entire higher ed institutions are at risk if this bill passes. Who - in the last few seconds we have, who are you hoping steps up to help us fight back against this attack?
Dan Ramos 29:04
You know, you know, we've we've done a lot of work over the, you know, the this last year and building a coalition of members of the Ohio House in particular, to oppose things like this. And we're really hoping that the coalition that we built that's pro-labor, pro-public education stays strong and votes no to oppose this bill and in support of our collective bargaining rights.
Katie Olmsted 29:25
Dan Ramos, thank you so much.
Dan Ramos 29:28
Thank you, Katie.
Katie Olmsted 29:31
Remember, you can keep up with all of the big issues we're watching the State House and OEA's Legislative Watches, and you'll find the link in the show notes for this episode. New Public Education Matters episodes drop every other Thursday this season. Until next time, stay well. And remember, in Ohio, public education matters.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai