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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
Thanks for joining us for this episode of Public Education Matters. I'm your host, Katie Olmsted, Aand I'm part of the communications team for the Ohio Education Association and its nearly 120,000 members. Those public school educators are bonded by many things, first and foremost, a dedication to their students, their communities, and to public service as public employees. And as public employees, nearly all of our members pay into public pension funds, either the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), the School Employees Retirement System (SERS) or the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). Those pensions are also funded by employer matches. And it is imperative that those contributions from both sides of the equation continue at at least that same level to ensure that every public educator - today's retirees, today's active teachers, and those who will join the profession in the future - can rely on an adequate pension they can't outlive once they retire. But the explosion of vouchers in Ohio is a very real threat to the future sustainability of our public pension systems, especially after the state legislature approved near universal vouchers in the last state budget, making it so a lot more wealthy families who already have their kids in private schools can take more public tax dollars to pay for their private school tuition. To help us understand why the voucher problem today should be making big flashing warning signs for the retirees of tomorrow, and for our lawmakers, we sat down with OEA Secretary-Treasurer Mark Hill. Take a listen.
Katie Olmsted 2:36
Mark Hill, thank you for helping us understand this entire situation.
Mark Hill 2:40
Sure.
Katie Olmsted 2:41
Let's rewind a little bit so that everyone's on the same page about how Ohio educator pensions are funded in the first place. What goes into this?
Mark Hill 2:52
So there are three sources of funding for Ohio pensions. One is the employer contributions and Ohio's employee employers, excuse me, contribute 14% of all their employees payroll into Ohio's public pension on behalf of the employer contribution, the employee contribution is also 14% of their salary. So combined, that's 28% of any public school employee salary going into their retirement system. In addition, there are the investment returns that the system earns over time. Those add into the pension system. And those are the three major funding sources for the pension.
Katie Olmsted 3:39
And the TL;DR on how a pension works in the first place is that you can't have more money goi ng out than you have coming in.
Mark Hill 3:46
No, there's no magic -
Katie Olmsted 3:48
The people who are active teachers now have to be funding the pension for the people who are retired and their own future retirement.
Mark Hill 3:53
That's correct. So yeah, the pension formula is really simple: inputs have to equal outputs, right. So you can't pay more benefits than your earn and contributions and investment returns over time.
Katie Olmsted 4:05
And that's why vouchers are scary. Universal vouchers especially are scary because there's really no cap on the amount that the state is spending on these - the vouchers to pay private school tuition to send kids to private schools. It comes out of the same line item in Ohio's budget as our public school funding. So when we say vouchers hurt pensions, vouchers hurt pensions. How?
Mark Hill 4:33
Absolutely. So when kids don't go to public schools, they end up being taught by non public school teachers so that they otherwise if they had been in a public school would have been taught by a public school teachers. You're essentially swapping out public school for non public school teachers. And so that 14% of their salary that I talked about earlier from the employee and the other 14% from the employer, 28% is no longer going to the pension system for every public school employee that is no longer working in the system.
Katie Olmsted 5:11
But even more than that, because we actually haven't seen a huge decrease in the number of public school students, at least at this point - More than that is we're seeing a finite amount of money now having to pay for the vouchers and for public schools. And there's the potential that we see smaller salaries for educators coming out of that, which means smaller contributions to the pension system.
Mark Hill 5:33
Right. The pie is the pie, right? So if you, each school district has a budget that they they set aside for their employee salaries and benefits. And pensions are included in that. And if there are too many straws in the drink the drink goes down faster, and there's no money to fund salaries. And yeah, the payroll would go down. And also what you would see that we've seen over the last few years is when there's a big decrease in funding, like a shock, like there was like 2010, when Governor Kasich cut the budget for education, mass layoffs at that point. So we cut back on positions, and we've never really gained back the number of public school employees now that there were at that point, yeah. The other thing is, like you say that it's we haven't lost a lot of public school students over time. Over the last 10 years, or since 2006, excuse me, we have about 10% fewer kids in public schools than we'd had back then. And so the scariest part is this is, is that you don't really realize it on a year to year basis. It's not a single shock. It's just a slow decline over time. And if we're pushing students to go to private schools, then that's going to accelerate the decline.
Katie Olmsted 6:57
Yeah. And there's a lot of reasons behind the declining numbers. I mean, among other things, a declining birth rate is a big driver of that, a lot of homeschoolers are driving that. So it's not a question of like, 'private schools are enticing students away from us.' But the bottom line is when we have fewer public school students, fewer public school educators making less money, the inputs aren't matching the outputs.
Mark Hill 7:20
That's correct. So the you know, we're, we're burning both ends of the wick here, right? Like, number one, we're really providing some very rich incentives for students to go from public schools to private schools with like the vouchers for every one campaign.
Katie Olmsted 7:38
Who doesn't love free money?
Mark Hill 7:37
Right? Back up the truck, huh? So and then on the other end of the wick is, as you mentioned, it's a decline in the money available to public schools in general. So that means fewer dollars for school districts to hire public employees and fewer public employees to pay into the system.
Katie Olmsted 7:57
The bottom line is that should be concerning for both our active educators now - we're looking at what our situation is, and also retirees who are depending on the system, and future educators, if we don't have retirement security, if we don't have a pension, that actually makes us a pretty attractive, sustainable career, we're going to continue to struggle to get people in.
Mark Hill 8:22
Absolutely. The one big benefit that that teachers in Ohio have is a pretty strong pension system that has decent benefits and a promise of retiring at the end of the career and having a very, very strong, guaranteed income for life, that you can't outlive, which is you know, kind of a rarity out in the world to have that kind of benefit. And that's that's a huge reward for for teachers and to have it be diminished means that teaching becomes less attractive to people entering the profession.
Katie Olmsted 8:54
Well Mark, as always, we appreciate your expertise.
Mark Hill 8:56
Sure, whatever I can do. Free and worth every penny.
Katie Olmsted 9:04
Or thanks again to Mark Hill for helping us understand this issue. And our congratulations to him on his own upcoming retirement as his term as Secretary-Treasurer ends this summer. Obviously, pension security takes on extra importance to him at this point. But it's a big deal for every public employee at every stage of their career. They often deal with lower salaries now in exchange for the promise of more comfortable retirements down the road. But here's the thing. Some public educators in Ohio make such low wages that they can't make ends meet today. We're talking about education support professionals, especially, many of whom work two or even three jobs for right around minimum wage. In Ohio, that's $10.45 an hour. Do the math: $10.45 for 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year is still less than $22,000. While the minimum living wage in Ohio - that's the income needed for a family of one adult and one child to have a modest but adequate standard of living in the most affordable metro area - that is more than twice that amount. It's at about $58,500. Something has to change. Our ESPs deserve a living wage, and they need a living wage, and so do so many of the families of the students all OEA members serve. That's why the Ohio Education Association is supporting the One Fair Wage ballot initiative, which is currently collecting signatures to put forth a ballot measure setting minimum wage at $15 an hour in 2026, with future increases tied to inflation. It would also put an end to sub minimum wages for employees. We were fortunate to hear from the One Fair Wage campaign manager Mariah Ross a few months ago at OEA's Fall RA. Let's listen to what she told the delegates at that time.
Mariah Ross 11:11
First off, I wanted to thank OEA for allowing me to address this body today, especially being in front of so many educators. It's very important that I'm able to talk to people who not only understand why we're doing this, but it also going to work to help us keep this movement along. So today I stand before you to discuss a pivotal initiative that transcends economic boundaries, reflects our commitment to justice, and directly impacts the lives of countless working individuals across our great state. It's a cause that aligns with the principles of fairness and equality that I believe that we all hold dear. Were truly in a historic and inspiring moment of worker revolt all across the country, not only in the 25 states that we are in, but in all 50 states. This movement is truly something that we can all use to create some real transformative change on a plethora of issues, not just raising minimum wage. In the coming months, Ohio will have the chance to make a transformative change in the lives of its citizens by voting on a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour and, equally important, to end a sub minimum wage for tipped workers, people on disability and youth in our entire state. Our initiative will raise wages for 1.56 million Ohioans and we'll add over $4 billion to Ohio's economy. And once we end the sub minimum wage, 1.2 billion additional dollars. This initiative is not just about dollars and cents, though. It's about dignity. It's about respect. And it's about providing a fair shot at a better life for those who have been so long undervalued. I grew up in Cleveland up in Cuyahoga County, as I know many of you are from today, in an impoverished neighborhood where teachers would do a lot more than just educate. Right? They wouldn't be makeshift childcare, because you have use your volunteer hours to create programs for after school so the kids have a place to go. They would buy school supplies for students who didn't have them. They would create projects and buy the supplies for those projects and host fundraisers so the school would have enough money to even be able to function. And I'm sure that many of you here today still do those things for students in your districts. As educators, you understand the profound impact that a stable and living wage can have on individuals' wellbeing and the ability to thrive. Our campaign strives to extend this principle beyond the classroom, advocating for fair compensation for all regardless of their occupation. It's not just about economic stability. It's about creating a better home environment, the foundation upon which students can flourish academically at all levels. Over 71% of low wage workers are women, with the majority being single moms. When parents and guardians are struggling to make ends meet the stress of financial insecurity often permeates the home environment, it can create a climate where children are more focused on their family's economic struggles than on their studies. By ensuring that every working individual receives a fair and living wage, we contribute to creating stable and supportive homes where all students can thrive equally. Imagine a future where no child has to worry about a family's next meal, or whether they'll have a roof over their heads next month. By advocating for a $15 minimum wage and ending the sub minimum wage, we're actively working towards breaking the cycle of poverty that can hinder a child's educational journey. Research consistently shows that students perform better academically when they come from stable supportive homes. By addressing the economic challenges faced by working families, which are the majority of families in Ohio, we not only invest in the wellbeing of these families, but also in the future success of students. Consider the hard working individuals who toil in jobs that often go unnoticed. Consider the waitress or the waiter who relies on tips to make ends meet. Consider the young person entering the job market for the first time, and being told they should make less for doing the same exact job. Consider a person who was a disabled worker who deserves equal pay for equal work, but currently gets paid less. They all contribute to the richness of our society. The restaurant industry has been one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the United States for decades. Nationwide, it was 14 million workers pre pandemic, which is actually one out of 10 American workers. I'm sure more than half of you in this room have at some point, or maybe even part time as well, in addition to being an educator, have worked in a restaurant. In Ohio, it was 585,000 workers pre pandemic. But it's been the lowest paying employer for generations and still is. Let's take a moment to delve into the roots of sub minimum wage, a concept that traces its origins back to a time when our nation struggle with the dark stain of slavery. The subminimum wage, particularly for tipped workers, is a legacy of slavery and emancipation. The practice of tipping originated from Europe actually, you know how people say people don't tip in Europe. Well, tipping came from Europe. It came from feudal Europe in particular, but it wasn't just tipping, it was a wage with tips on top. But when it came to the United States, it was used as a means to circumvent paying recently freed slaves a fair wage. We saw this done to recently freed black men with the Pullman Train Company. And then we saw this done to newly freed black women with the restaurant industry. Instead of receiving a salary or even an hourly wage, they were forced to depend on the generosity of their white customers. This system perpetrated a cycle of economic inequality that still lingers today, disproportionately affecting women and people of color. In 1919, an entity was formed to make sure that this system stayed in place. I don't know if any one of you could guess. But it's called the National Restaurant Association. We refer to it as "The Other NRA." Yeah, but they're actually older than that other NRA with that gun show across the street. They were founded with this Express mission and intent in mind. And in 1938, they made it the law after lobbying for years. When everyone else got a federal minimum wage with the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, as a part of the New Deal, guess who were left out? Tipped workers, but primarily black women. They were left out and they were told, you get nothing. You don't get to have a minimum wage, you still get to get paid tips. And you know what the sub minimum wage was back then and 1938 $0. Okay, so you still get to make $0. And you're at the behest of your customers. In 1938 That's what it was, and guess what it is today, and extraordinary $2.13 federally? That's right. People in America are making $2.13 an hour. In Ohio, we had a recent initiative so now it's $5.05, particularly in Ohio, but $5.05 is still not enough to feed a family. Ending the sub minimum wage isn't just about rectifying a historical injustice. It's about dismantling a system that continues to perpetrate inequality. No worker should be left dependent on tips to survive, and no one's worth should be tied to the whims of patrons. During the pandemic, we saw an increase in harassment in an industry that was already the number one for harassment. Imagine becoming like the number one plus for harassment. And we saw a 50% decrease in tips. Our members have often told us about how customers will ask them to pull down their masks so they can see how pretty they are before they would tip. We had one particular member who when asked this question said no. And they said, Well Guess who's not eating tonight? Yes, that is the kind of things that people have to put up with. Things like that, combined with low wages are what have made millions of workers across this country leave the industry. That is why we have the unique moment to support these workers as they say, I deserve better. We are mobilizing hundreds of 1000s of people in Ohio. Millions across the country who don't don't usually vote, to go vote themselves a raise in 2024. Now, it's very exciting because people in this particular demographic, service workers, they actually vote at a rate of 12%. And we have been increasing that as much as 300%, with telling people to go vote themselves a raise. This is a population that has seen Democratic and Republican administrations go by, and their wages have been frozen at the same rates. So I asked all of you if you are a single mom, where maybe some of you are, which is the majority of people in the restaurant industry and the majority of service workers, and you are making $5.05 an hour, and you work two to three jobs so that you can get enough tips to get by, would you leave your job on election day, and won't be paid to go vote when you have not seeing the change, and your basic ability to provide for your family, and your basically ability to afford the basic human rights that we all deserve, food, shelter, health care? A lot of people say, Well, don't they understand how important all these issues are? Yeah, they understand. They're not dumb. They know. Unfortunately, though, when you're weighing, should I work a day so I can afford food versus should I go participate civically, even, I am going to choose food. Okay. Um, so we can't, you know, try to hold them to another standard and make them feel ashamed for not participating civically if we're not fighting for the issue that will actually affect their day to day life. In 2024, they're actually going to turn out the vote. We've seen it happen in Michigan, we've seen it happen in DC, and we saw them come out to advocate for where we recently won in Chicago a month ago. But this has to come first, and they will also go and vote for other issues and candidates that are progressive and support this issue. The initiative is an opportunity to break free from the shackles of an outdated system and build a more just inclusive and equitable Ohio. Ending the sub minimum wage isn't just a matter of economic justice, it's a strategic investment in the educational outcomes of the next generation. A living wage for all working individuals ensures that children can focus on their studies without getting the burden of financial instability hanging over their homes. And furthermore, ending the sub minimum wage for tipped workers, people on disability and youth is an essential step towards eradicating inequalities. No one should be forced to rely upon the generosity of others to make up a wage that falls short when they're working 40 hours a week. By ensuring a fair wage for all. We will foster an environment where hard work is rewarded, and where everybody has the opportunity to build a brighter future. As advocates for education, you understand the impact that a supportive home environment can have on a student's ability to learn and succeed in this state. I urge you all as representatives of the OEA to stand with us and support this critical initiative, so that we can create a future where every student has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed, unburdened by the economic challenges that too many families in Ohio face today. With that, I have a few asks of all of you, as we all do. I ask that you for one. If you haven't already, I know many of you have seen many of you at the table. But if you haven't went to our table in the hall to sign our petition so that we will be on the 2024 ballot, please do so before you leave here today. There's only two or three people over there. So of all people at the same time, it might be a little while, but I asked you to wait the two to three minutes to pull out the petition for you to sign. I ask you to continue to donate to the OEA so they may continue to provide resources to us. And we also asked if you donate to our organization, you do need a minimum of $15 so that that equivalents to the minimum wage that we're fighting for. And we simply ask that you go vote in November in 2024 when we're on the ballot. So thank you all for your time, your dedication to education, and your consideration of this important cause. Together I know that we can all build a future that truly affects the values we hold dear. Thank you.
Katie Olmsted 24:16
To learn more about the One Fair Wage campaign and how you can get involved, check out the link in the show notes for this episode. And stay tuned for our future episode of this podcast for our conversation with the other big ballot initiative campaign group this year as Citizens, Not Politicians works to finally ban gerrymandering here in Ohio. Until then you can keep up with all of OEA's priority issues on our social media pages. We're @OhioEA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Until next time, stay well. And remember, in Ohio, public education matters.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai