Saturday, December 09, 2006

Tom Curtis: Letter to Sen. Schuring

From Tom Curtis, December 9, 2006
Subject: 120806 Sen Schuring, Tom Hall & STRS Unfunded Liability
December 8, 2006
Dear Senator Schuring,
Congratulations on your re-election to the Senate. In my mind, knowing your willingness to work with your constituents is the reason you were re-elected to continue your fine work. Further, I compliment you on your campaign commercials, as they were above board and represented you well.
I am writing to request that you please consider and support others who will be recommending Dr. Thomas Hall to fill the vacated position on the STRS board. According to SB133, The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House appoint this position. Geoffrey Myers, the former CFO of Ohio Manor Care recently resigned from his appointment. In my opinion, Mr. Myers though very pleasant when we have spoken, was far removed from the level of income garnished by educators and their concerns for the much-needed reductions in spending and staff at the STRS. He was far to supportive of the spending practices that occurred in the past and continue to this date. During a regular board meeting, he recently told Dennis Leone that issues he has brought to the board were a waste of time, such as actually viewing contracts before voting to approve them. We absolutely do not need board members that will rubber-stamp the continuance of the spending practices and management style that Herb Dyer established. Much of it still exists today and is a cancer fails to respond to stakeholder requests. In my opinion, Tom Hall will not support such actions and will represent the membership with far more experience and knowledge in business practices and finance then others that were elected to the board.
Tom Hall is a professor of economics at Miami University. He has a very adequate background in various areas of finance and should prove to be beneficial to the board. Please review his vitae, which follows. Further, Tom is a contributing member to the STRS and understands the many issues that need to be addressed. Senator, our retirement system is at risk. I personally believe the problem can be corrected, but not by doing business as usual.
In closing, because you are a member of the ORSC board, I would like to bring to your attention an issue I have grave concerns about, the STRS unfunded liability. The most recent 2006 STRS valuation report from Buck Consultants indicates that the unfunded liability has been reduced to 47 years, from 55.5 due to the outstanding returns on investments over the past two years. In my opinion, this is incorrect and needs immediate attention. One of the numbers used in figuring the unfunded liability, the percent of payroll increase at 4.5% is far from the correct number. The actual number as I view it from the 10-year history listed on page 43 of that report should be 3.2%. If this is true, the STRS unfunded liability is at infinity and that is very disturbing to me. Would you kindly respond to my request and concerns?
If I could arrange a time to speak with you by phone, I will gladly contact you at you convenience. If you would permit me some time to talk with you about the STRS during the Holidays when you are back home in our area, I would appreciate it. I view our unfunded liability as something to be very worried about. Beginning in 2001, STRS retirees started loosing the benefits they were promised when they retired and this has never stopped. We have lost more ground each and every year, while management continues to justify their poor performance in running an efficient operation.
Sincerely,
Thomas Curtis
North Canton, OH

December 9 Tributes to Tom Mooney in Cincinnati

From Dennis Leone, December 9, 2006
To all: Memorial Hall in Cincinnati was packed today in memory of Tom Mooney. It was not a service, it was a Tribute. People were standing around the back and on stairs between the aisles. Before the Tribute began, a slide show of Tom Mooney's professional career ran continuously for an hour with 1960's music as a backdrop. There were 11 speakers on the program, including Tom's brother Don Mooney, State Senator C.J. Prentiss, former Governor John Gilligan, National AFT President Ed McElroy, and Governor-elect Ted Strickland. Several state senators and state representatives also were in the audience. I did see STRS Board members Jeff Chapman and Tai Hayden, plus Rhonda Johnson, John Grossman, and Dennis Reardon. Many other dignitaries were present. Television stations and cameras were kept out. I sat with Damon Asbury and Sandy Knoesel. It was a very, very nice Tribute. Speeches centered around Tom's beliefs in social justice and professional/political activism. In this vein, OFT has set up a scholarship fund in Tom's memory. Contributions can be made to the Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Ohio Federation of Teachers, 1251 E. Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43205.
Dennis Leone

Friday, December 08, 2006

A teacher and leader dedicated to improving Ohio schools

Akron Beacon Journal
December 8, 2006
Tom Mooney
A teacher and leader dedicated to improving Ohio schools
Ohio lost a passionate advocate for public education with the sudden death of Tom Mooney at age 52 on Sunday. As the president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers the past six years, Mr. Mooney sought to ensure that all those with a responsibility for public education, from state lawmakers to classroom teachers, lived up to the mission of serving the best interests of students. He worked to give substance to goals that often remain abstractions, such things as ``accountability'' and ``high quality.''

Mr. Mooney proved unrelenting in exposing the flaws of the community school experiment, demanding these charter schools be held to the same standards and scrutiny as traditional schools. He didn't gloss over the shortcomings in the teaching profession, either. He recognized that if teachers didn't take the lead to improve the quality of their performance in the classrooms, others outside the profession would eagerly take up the task.

As president for 21 years of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, Mr. Mooney established innovative practices such as the peer assistance and evaluation program, enabling expert teachers to apply their skills and experience to the benefit of colleagues. Another initiative, the Career in Teaching Program, altered the traditional path for professional advancement, reducing the need for the best teachers to leave the classroom for administrative positions.

Mr. Mooney knew all too well the frustrations with public education. In a speech earlier this year, he voiced some of those concerns: ``Parents are alienated by the rigid, impersonal, bureaucratic nature of our school systems. They are frequently told we can't do this, or you can't enroll here, or the school can't offer this course or program anymore.''

In the face of many challenges, Tom Mooney made his priority clear -- to equip teachers and schools to do their best work. He sought common ground among competing interests. The drive to improve Ohio schools has lost a tireless champion.

Memories of Tom Mooney


OFT has posted on their website comments people have submitted about Tom Mooney. C
lick on Memories of Tom Mooney. (http://oh.aft.org/)

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Memorial set for education union leader Tom Mooney

Family requests scholarship memorial contributions in lieu of flowers

Cincinnati Post, December 7, 2006

A memorial service for educator Tom Mooney will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St. in Over-the-Rhine.

Mooney, 52, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, died Sunday at his home in Columbus of an apparent heart attack.

He became active in union activities soon after he started his career in the Cincinnati Public Schools.

He was elected a vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and, in 2000, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. Before that, he was president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers for 21 years.

Mooney took a tough stand against using public money to fund private school vouchers and pushed for tougher standards for publicly funded charter schools.

The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o The Ohio Federation of Teachers, 1251 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43205 or to Friends of WWOZ (New Orleans Community Radio), Box 51840, New Orleans, La., 70151.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

OFT News Release: Saturday services set for Tom Mooney

Dec. 6, 2006
Contact: Lisa K. Zellner
614-257-4195
Saturday Services Set for OFT President Tom Mooney
Memorial Fund to honor vigorous public education leader who died Dec. 3
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday Dec. 9 at Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., in Cincinnati Ohio 45202, for OFT President Tom Mooney, who died unexpectedly Sunday of an apparent heart attack in Columbus.
Mooney, 52, became OFT president in 2000 and previously had been a longtime president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (CFT).
"Tom was intensely passionate about improving public education. His voice, his leadership and his friendship will be truly missed," said Kathy Young, OFT Vice President.
Mooney was a strong proponent of greater accountability for charter schools in Ohio, leading a coalition of education, parent and civic groups that was critical of their academic failure. He dedicated his life to increasing teacher resources and raising student outcomes. He was a vigorous and outspoken voice for students, parents and teachers.
Ohio Governor-elect Ted Strickland made the following statement regarding Mooney's death: “I am deeply saddened to hear of the unexpected passing of Tom Mooney, an outspoken advocate for improving our education system in Ohio and across the country.”
A Memorial Fund is being established in Mooney’s honor to support the education of those who further his beliefs in social justice and political action. Contributions can be made to the "Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship Fund" and sent to the OFT office:
“Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship Fund”
c/o Ohio Federation of Teachers
1251 E. Broad St.
Columbus Ohio 43205
Mooney was highly regarded nationally as well. In a statement, AFT President Edward J. McElroy wrote: “We have lost one of the nation’s most forceful and eloquent voices on behalf of teachers, students and public education. Tom never lost the youthful vigor that catapulted him to leadership positions from which he took courageous stands on many worthy causes. That makes it especially difficult to accept this loss – Tom was so vibrant and had so much yet to contribute.”
--more---
Mooney was elected to the AFT's executive council in 1990 and since 1998 served on the council's executive committee. He earlier served on the council's human rights and community relations committee and also as chair of the AFT Teachers program and policy council. He additionally participated in the union's Futures II process during the 1990s, and served on the council's organizing committee and the affiliate accountability committee.
Under Mooney's leadership, the CFT became a national leader in advancing teacher professionalism. The local negotiated the country's second Peer Assistance and Evaluation Program and built a four-tiered career ladder for teachers, the Career in Teaching Program. In Mooney's last term as local president, CFT and district administrators developed a rigorous teacher evaluation system which expects higher levels of performance from experienced teachers.
Tom leaves behind his wife Debbie Schneider; a son, Ruairi Rhodes of Cincinnati, his daughter Lielah Mooney in New York City; his mother, Marguerite Mooney of Hyde Park; his brother Don Mooney of Cincinnati and two sisters, Leslie Mooney of Philadelphia and Christine Mooney of Mount Washington. In addition he leaves behind a staff of 11 who not only respected and admired him but loved him.
The Ohio Federation of Teachers represents more than 20,000 members in 54 local unions across the state that include public education employees, higher education faculty and support staff, and public employees.
More information about Mooney, his work and his legacy are available on the OFT website at www.oft-aft.org.

Tom Mooney's memorial service

December 6, 2006
The word from the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (Sue Taylor) is that there will be no visitation or funeral, only the memorial service.
Information from Don Mooney:
The service will be at 11am Saturday 12/9 at Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.

Lisa Zellner to John Curry re: Condolences

Lisa Zellner to John Curry, December 6, 2006
Subject: RE: your loss is also STRS retirees' loss
John - thanks for your note. I have been very fortunate to have had lots of great personal and professional influences in my life, but Tom was by far my greatest mentor and a wonderful friend.
Below are details on a service planned for Saturday and a memorial fund to honor him in case you'd like to share this info. I am gathering comments about Tom to post on our website - may I take some from your email to post??
- L
Saturday Services Set for OFT President Tom Mooney
Memorial Fund to honor vigorous public education leader who died Dec. 3
[Full text of this article is published two posts above this one. KBB]
---
John Curry to Lisa Zellner, December 4, 2006
Subject: your loss is also STRS retirees' loss
Lisa,
I write this with a fond memory of Tom. I only met him once -- at an STRS meeting in October. Retiree Kathie Bracy and I were seated at a booth and Tom asked if he could have lunch with us. We were both shocked that a person of Tom's stature and leadership position would choose to sit with a couple of STRS retirees when others of leadership capacity were also sitting at other booths.
Tom recognized our names as creator of Kathie Bracy's STRS blog and myself as a contributor of many articles to Kathie's STRS blog. Tom went on to say how he did read Kathie's blog and that he did understand the plight of the STRS retiree. He was sincere -- very sincere. He was interested in reform at STRS and in all STRS retirees. In short -- this great man with kind heart took the time out of his day to converse with the folks at the low end of the totem pole. He was for the "little man." I will never forget that day, NEVER. Your tragic loss is also our tragic loss. Every educator in the State of Ohio (whether they realize it or not) has suffered a tremendous loss. For the OFT, please keep on "keeping on" in his memory.
Sincerely,
John Curry
An STRS retiree and member of Concerned Ohio Retired Educators

Schuring, Oelslager seek stricter rules for charter schools; want the new legislation to be named after Tom Mooney

Canton Repository
December 6, 2006
By PAUL E. KOSTYU COPLEY COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF

COLUMBUS-- A coalition that fought the constitutionality of charter schools for years has withdrawn its remaining litigation in the wake of an Ohio Supreme Court ruling that said the schools are constitutional.
Instead, Mark Hatch, vice chairman of the Coalition for Public Education said the group will back the efforts of two Stark County lawmakers to find legislative and regulatory solutions to address accountability issues with charter schools.
State Rep. Scott Oelslager, R-North Canton, and state Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Jackson Township, said they will introduce substitute versions of their House Bill 213 and Senate Bill 129, respectively. Both were introduced in April 2005 and have languished in committee in their respective chambers.
The likelihood of either bill passing before the end of the Legislature’s term in the next few weeks may be slim.
“There is disparity between charter and public schools,” Schuring said at a press conference Tuesday. “The common denominator is that both receive public tax dollars and that taxpayers have a right to demand accountability. I’m happy to join the fight.”
Schuring suggested the legislation be named for Tom Mooney, 52, the president of the coalition and the Ohio Federation of Teachers who died Sunday of a heart attack.
“Tom took this issue very passionately,” Schuring said.
Oelslager said charters have to be “accountable to the taxpayers and accountable to the children of the state of Ohio.” He called test results among students attending charters “abysmal.”
Oelslager accused supporters of charters of being hypocritical. He said they justified the formation of the schools saying they could help at-risk students where public schools had failed. Now that the charters have failed, he said, they blame it on having to deal with too many at-risk students.
“They have failed miserably,” Oelslager said.
The two bills will:
• Extend the cap on the formation of new charters until July 1, 2009;
• Prevent the operator of a charter school from opening another school if an existing school is on academic watch or emergency, closed or owes the state $10,000, or if the operator failed to administer state tests, is convicted of a management-related crime or failed to report complete and accurate data to the state;
• Prohibit a for-profit entity from opening any new charter schools;
• Require disclosure of an operator’s past experience managing a charter school;
• Require operators to report if a school closes or if the operator is convicted of a crime and the Department of Education must maintain a list of such operators.
• Reduce from 105 to 30 the number of consecutive hours a student can miss before being automatically withdrawn from a charter school;
• Limit to five years the length of a contract between a school’s governing authority and sponsor;
• Set performance standards the Department of Education must use to rate charter schools;
• Require teachers in core subject areas be “highly qualified” as defined by state law;
• Require teachers to teach only in their licensed subject areas or grade levels;
• Specify the student-teacher ratio in Internet/computer schools be no larger than 50 to 1. Current law sets the ratio at 125 to 1;
• Require a school’s governing authority, not the operator, employ teachers;
• Require a school certify it only employs teachers who hold provisional or professional licenses issued by the state;
• Prohibit relatives of a school’s governing board or operator from being on the board and requires members to reside in the county where the school is located.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Memorial service being planned for Tom Mooney

From Sue Taylor [President, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers]
December 5, 2006
The memorial service for Tom Mooney will be in Cincinnati this Saturday the 9th of December. The exact location is to be announced. We are putting out an e-mail and posting this on our web site tomorrow so people can make arrangements to be in Cincinnati. Check the CFT website at www.cft-aft.org
Further, OFT will begin a Tom Mooney Memorial Fund to which people will be able to make donations. We are setting that up first thing in the morning and then will get the official name and address to send the donations. Don will have that information for when they put out their information as well.
Sue Taylor, CFT President

Monday, December 04, 2006

AFT Mourns the Death of Tom Mooney

AFT Mourns the Death of Tom Mooney
President of Ohio Federation of Teachers and AFT Vice President
A Statement from AFT President Edward J. McElroy
December 4, 2006
WASHINGTON, D.C. – With AFT vice president Tom Mooney's death, we have lost one of the nation's most forceful and eloquent voices on behalf of teachers, students and public education. Tom never lost the youthful vigor that catapulted him to leadership positions from which he took courageous stands on many worthy causes. That makes it especially difficult to accept this loss—Tom was so vibrant and had so much yet to contribute.

Tom was in the middle of some of the most contentious issues confronting public education—the unchecked growth of charter schools in many places without regard to their quality, the rise of taxpayer-funded school vouchers, and debates over the best ways to strengthen struggling schools. Tom was a master strategist who staked out and advanced well-reasoned positions.

As we try to come to grips with this tremendous loss, we remember and rededicate ourselves to Tom's commitment to the social causes he championed, to the teachers and children for whom he consistently fought, and to the union family he served.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Tom's family, to whom he was so devoted.
From Union Librarian blog, December 4, 2006

Links to other articles on Tom Mooney

OFT Mourns Sudden Death of President Tom Mooney

From the OFT website http://oh.aft.org/
Monday, December 4, 2006
Ohio Federation of Teachers President Tom Mooney, 52, died of an apparent heart attack Sunday at his apartment in Columbus. Mooney, who became OFT president in 2000, previously had been a longtime president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers.
"Tom was intensely passionate about improving public education. His voice, his leadership and his friendship will be truly missed," said Kathy Young, OFT Vice President.
Mooney had been a strong proponent of more accountability for charter schools in Ohio, leading a coalition of education, parent and civic groups that was critical of academic failure among students attending privately operated charter schools in the state.
"We're just devastated by this," his brother, Don Mooney, a Cincinnati attorney, told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We’re just stunned and disappointed that somebody who had so much to give to his friends, his family and his profession would die so young."
Mooney's leadership went beyond state level as he took on various roles at the national level.
"Tom was such a vibrant force that it's hard to believe that he is gone," AFT president Edward J. McElroy wrote in an e-mail message to staff and AFT leaders. "We are all in shock. As we try to come to grips with this tremendous loss, it is important to remember Tom's commitment to the social causes that he championed, to the teachers and children and schools for which he consistently fought, and to the union family to which he devoted so much of his energy and spirit."
Mooney was elected to the AFT's executive council in 1990 and since 1998 served on the council's executive committee. He earlier served on the council's human rights and community relations committee and also as chair of the AFT Teachers program and policy council. He also participated in the union's Futures II process during the 1990s, which culminated in a report released in 2000, and served on the council's organizing committee and the affiliate accountability committee.
Under Mooney's leadership, the CFT became a national leader in advancing teacher professionalism. The local negotiated the country's second Peer Assistance and Evaluation Program and built a four-tiered career ladder for teachers, the Career in Teaching Program. In Mooney's last term as local president, CFT and district administrators developed a rigorous teacher evaluation system which expects higher levels of performance from experienced teachers.
Funeral arrangements will be posted when information becomes available.

RH Jones re: Untimely death of Ohio's #1 educator

From RH Jones, December 4, 2006
Subject: The tragic loss of Tom Mooney to education
To all:
Here is one multi-teacher union member who is deeply saddened by the untimely death of the number one educator in the State of Ohio, Tom Mooney. And, as a retired teacher, I am very sorry that Tom, so close to retirement, will not be able to enjoy it here on earth.
He has been the champion of all public school children, their active and retired teachers. He has been the untiring critic of a government, in the name of education, that takes money away from taxpayers an puts it into the pockets of entrepreneurial political friends. The major brunt of this tax "rip off" has been local property owners. They, like the children and their teachers, have suffered the most. While other union leaders remained nearly silent, he fought a rather long and lonely battle to reform public spending for public schools.
Heart attack deaths, at such a young age of fifty-two, can be caused by extreme stress. Gaining a correct, and proper, funding mechanism for public education was a major factor in this most strenuous effort. Lobbing politicians, who unrealistically have tried to run schools without adequate funding, may have caused some of this stress. However, Tom was successful in the recent election to "retire" most of them. And, for so many long years before the election, it has been extremely strenuous to communicate with a seemingly indifferent public. Active and retired teachers who have "been too busy", and neglectful to assist him, added weight for him. One wonders, if these folks will sleep well over the holidays. Tom Mooney's family is now without a joyful holiday. All of Ohio's citizens share their loss. We all grieve for Tom Mooney, the utmost champion of Ohio's greatest task: that of educating of children. Heaven now has gained a bright education star; may he enjoy his retirement there.
With heartfelt condolences to the Mooney family,
Robert Hudson Jones, an Ohio retired teacher

Tom Mooney

Ohio Federation of Teachers president dies
Associated Press
Akron Beacon Journal, December 4, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Tom Mooney, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers the past six years, has died, his brother and a co-worker said. He was 52.
Mooney died Sunday [12/03/06] of an apparent heart attack at his home in Columbus.
Mooney, who spent 21 years as president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers before moving to the state union, was a critic of using public money for private school vouchers. He also had been pushing for tougher standards for publicly funded, privately run charter schools.
"Tom has worked so hard for so long and to have this happen and to have him not see the fruits of his labor is so sad," union spokeswoman Lisa Zellner said.
Mooney started his career in education as a Cincinnati high school government teacher.
"We're just stunned and disappointed that somebody who had so much to give to his friends, his family and his profession would die so young," said his brother, Don Mooney, a Cincinnati attorney.
Besides his brother, Mooney is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter, his mother and two sisters.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
The Ohio Federation of Teachers represents more than 20,000 members, including public education employees, higher education faculty and support staff, and public employees, according to its Web site.
ON THE NET
Ohio Federation of Teachers: http://oh.aft.org/

Mooney addressed CORE September 14, 2006


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To see a synopsis of Tom Mooney's remarks (contained in CORE minutes), click here.

Teacher advocate dies

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Tom Mooney was president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
From
Cincinnati.com
BY STEVE KEMME
ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Dec. 3, 2006; 10:35 pm
Tom Mooney, a strong and passionate force in public education in Cincinnati and throughout Ohio, died Sunday of an apparent heart attack in his apartment in Columbus.
Mooney, 52, had been president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers for the past six years. He served as president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers for the previous 21 years.
His death shocked and saddened his family, friends and professional colleagues.
“We’re just devastated by this,” said his brother, Don Mooney, a Cincinnati attorney and a local Democratic Party activist. “We’re just stunned and disappointed that somebody who had so much to give to his friends, his family and his profession would die so young.”
Sue Taylor, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, praised Mooney for his leadership and for his concern about the quality of public education.
“So many of us learned so much from Tom,” she said.
John Gilligan, former Ohio governor who is a member of the Cincinnati Board of Education, called Mooney “an enormously effective and charismatic leader. He’s going to be badly missed.”
A graduate of McNicholas High School in Mount Washington and Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Mooney started his career as a Cincinnati high school government teacher. He quickly became active in the teachers union.
As president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, Mooney earned a reputation as an articulate and fearless advocate for teachers and public education. His positions occasionally caused him to clash with school administrators.
“He would be out on the teacher picket lines,” Gilligan said. “He took a lot of abuse over the years for the stands he took on behalf of teachers.”
As president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, Mooney was a critic of charter schools and fought to make them more accountable.
In addition to his brother, Mooney leaves his wife, Debbie Schneider; a son, Ruairi Rhodes, of Cincinnati, by his first wife, Virginia Rhodes; his daughter Lielah Mooney, who is attending Barnard College in New York City; his mother, Marguerite Mooney of Hyde Park; and two sisters, Leslie Mooney of Philadelphia, and Christine Mooney of Mount Washington.
Ruairi Mooney is following his father’s footsteps in union activities. He is an organizer in the Service Employees International Union.
David Little, a Cincinnati political consultant and Democratic activist, was a close friend of Mooney’s.
“Tom was a bright shining star for progressive thought in politics in the state of Ohio,” he said.
On Sunday evening, Little invited some of Mooney’s other friends to his house to console each other. They played some of Mooney’s favorite recordings, including “Carry On,” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
“That’s what Tom would want us to do,” Little said. “He’d want us to carry on with the things he believed in.”
Mooney was extremely proud of his Irish heritage and had an encyclopedic knowledge of Irish history and culture.
In his honor on Sunday evening, Little and his friends had a sip of Irish whiskey. “I never drink it,” Little said. “But I always got it out for Tom.”
Funeral arrangements are pending.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Tom Mooney 1954 - 2006

Tom Mooney, teachers' union president, dies at 52
From Cleveland.com
Sunday, December 03, 2006, 11:30 p.m.
Tom Mooney, leader of the Ohio Federation of Teachers and a national figure in education, died Sunday at age 52.
Mooney rose from a teacher activist in Cincinnati to vice president of the American Federation of Teachers. He also was president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, a post he was elected to in 2000. Before that, he had been president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers since 1979.
National groups took note of his view that teachers unions should take an activist approach, leading reforms and working to raise teaching standards. He took a strong stand against the use of public money for private school vouchers and recently was pushing for tougher standards for publicly funded, but privately run, charter schools.
Lisa Zellner, spokeswoman for the teachers union, said staffers at the union were devastated by the loss. Mooney died at his Columbus home Sunday morning, apparently of a heart attack.
He had spent part of the day Saturday at a union executive council meeting and the group's holiday lunch, Zellner said. News of his death spread quickly in the state's education community.
The recent election victories for Democrats statewide gave teacher unions hope that the tide is starting to turn, Zellner said, which she said makes Mooney's death such a shame.
"Tom has worked so hard for so long and to have this happen and to have him not see the fruits of his labor is so sad," she said.
Janet Okobenjokoben@plaind.com.
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Sincere condolences to the family and many friends of Mr. Mooney. A leader of great integrity and outstanding ability, whose influence reached far and wide, his untimely loss will be keenly felt in the education community. An incredible loss for all of us. KBB

One solution to the poverty problem for seniors not yet eligible for Medicare

Pension or Penitentiary?
By Barbara Ehrenreich
Curent Affairs Magazine 10/16/06
Talk about a cry for help: Timothy J. Bowers robbed a Columbus OH bank of $80, handed the money over to a security guard, and waited for the police to come and arrest him. In court on October 11, he pleaded guilty and told the judge that he would like a three-year sentence - just enough time to get him to the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits. The judge graciously obliged, demonstrating compassionate conservativism at its warm-hearted best.
Bowers, almost 63 years old, is no wacko. He passed a court-ordered psychological exam and explained that he had not been able to find a new job since his old one ended when his employer's company closed in 2003. "At my age," he said, "The jobs available to me are minimum wage jobs," adding that "There is age discrimination out there."
Bowers had hit another kind of "doughnut hole," like the one that plagues Medicare recipients: He was "too old" for the above-minimum wage workforce and too young for Social Security. Thanks to rampant age discrimination, "too old" can mean as young as 45, leaving a 20 year gap before Social Security kicks in.
Leaving aside the obvious disadvantages of incarceration - having to pee in public, being unable to send out for pizza, etc. - Bowers made a perfectly rational choice. The minimum wage in Ohio is $5.15 an hour, or $824 a month before taxes, which won't get you much of a dwelling space in Columbus, at least not if you intend to maintain a regular schedule of meals. Prison, on the other hand, offers a free bed, free food, and, however inadequate, free health care. We can expect a rash of similar bank robberies as the elderly and the middle aged seek ways to wait out the years between the onset of age discrimination and the arrival of their first Social Security check.
There's nothing new about using about prison as a solution to poverty. Over 2 million Americans are presently incarcerated, the great majority of them from the lowest income brackets. In fact, incarceration is expanding as the welfare state shrinks: while the U.S. offers 2 million prison beds, it provides public housing to only 1.3 million households, and that number is dropping rapidly. Bowers could have applied for a Section 8 housing voucher, but the waiting list for those exceeds, in some cities, his three-year prison term.
In short, we are reaching the point, if we have not passed it already, where the largest public housing program in America will be our penitentiary system.
If Bowers' choice was rational, the same cannot be said of our social policies. The cost of incarcerating an elderly inmate is about $69,000 a year. A compassionate - or merely rational--state would give Bowers a stipend to live on and save its prison beds for actual bad guys.

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Gaps persist in teacher salaries


Districts' tax wealth sets standard for pay rates
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Ellen Jan Kleinerman and Angela Townsend
Plain Dealer Reporters
[To view 2005-2006 pay scales for Cleveland area teachers, click here.]
Look at the averages and Ohio's teachers seem to be doing pretty well:
The state is ranked 14th in average teacher pay by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The average salary of $47,791 is 2.6 percent higher than the U.S. figure.
Over the past five years, salaries rose 19.3 percent, according to the Ohio Public Expenditure Council, outpacing the 13 percent inflation rate.
But not every teacher reaped big benefits. In Northeast Ohio, pay varies widely along with the money brought in by property taxes. For example, teachers in suburban Beachwood are paid considerably more than teachers in rural Newbury. Yet, students in both districts perform well on the state's standardized tests.
Rookie teachers in the tax-wealthy suburb of Beachwood get the highest starting pay in the state. Pamela Ogilvy, 24, landed a job as a social studies teacher in August. Ogilvy – who graduated in May from Columbia University with a master's degree in education – is making nearly $47,000 a year. Without the master's, she would earn about $40,500.
Just 14 miles away in rural Geauga County, Rebekah Miller, 22, is earning $30,666 teaching middle school language arts and math. The Newbury district signed Miller in April as she completed her bachelor’s degree at Ursuline College.
Miller already is feeling the squeeze with daily living expenses and college loans coming due.
“I love where I am,” she said. “The only reason I could see myself leaving here in a few years is if I could make more money somewhere else.”
The gap persists as teachers climb the steps of the salary scales their unions have negotiated for them. More years on the job and additional degrees automatically bring bigger paychecks, aside from any systemwide raises approved by school boards.
Teachers with 11 years on the job and a master’s degree — the typical experienced teacher — make more than $68,000 in Beachwood compared to $49,000 in Newbury. About half the teachers in most districts are in this category.
Teachers with doctorates and even more years on the job can earn more than $90,000 in Shaker and Aurora.
The disparity between districts is common in Ohio, said Tom Mooney of the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
The widest gap is found between suburban and rural districts because of the difference in property values, which determine how much money a district can reap beyond what it gets from the state. Urban districts generally are somewhere in the middle.
The candidate pool is full for most subject areas
But wherever they fall, districts in Northeast Ohio have little trouble finding candidates for the few open positions that pop up. The usual exceptions are in math, science and special-education, where a limited supply of candidates are in high demand.
That’s a huge contrast with other parts of the country, such as South Carolina and Nevada where signing bonuses are used to help fill scores of openings. Mooney said Ohio today has 8,000 fewer public school teachers than in 2001 due to falling population, job cuts in financially ailing districts and competition from charter and voucher schools.
Teachers in private schools and charter schools without union representation typically have lower salaries.
Beachwood called Ogilvy on Aug. 9 about an opening in a 10th-grade social studies class at Beachwood High School. Two weeks later, she made her classroom debut, winning the job over 11 other applicants.
Ogilvy said she considers herself lucky. She probably is, given the fact that wealthy districts like Beachwood rarely hire entry-level teachers.
Miller said the Newbury district offered her the job the day of her interview. Though she knew other districts like Hudson and Solon paid more, she feared Newbury could quickly find another candidate if she decided to look around.
“I have friends who had to move out of state to find [teaching] jobs,” she said. “One of them applied to 30 different school districts here.”
Ohio graduates are commonly courted for teaching jobs elsewhere. About half the recruiters at last spring’s Northeast Ohio Teacher Education Day were from outside of Ohio, said Katherine Krejci, who handled registration for the event.
Beachwood Human Resources Director Phillip Wagner said he received more than 200 unsolicited applications last school year for possible openings in Beachwood. He hired 10 new teachers for this school year, seven of whom replaced teachers who had left.
The high salaries and good benefits are likely reasons why there’s not much movement in the teaching ranks, he added. Thanks to a new contract ratified in June, Beachwood teachers will get 3 percent raises in each of the next three years — aside from step raises.
You might assume the Elyria school district would have a much harder time attracting candidates, considering it had one of the lowest starting salaries in Northeast Ohio last year. But Human Resources Director Gary Taylor said that a typical year will bring more than 150 unsolicited résumés. The lower salaries are still competitive and haven’t affected the district’s recruiting efforts, he said.
Like every Ohio school district, Elyria relies heavily on local property taxes. Because its community wealth lags behind places such as Beachwood, Solon and Orange, the salaries it can pay lag, too.
Elyria residents passed a tax increase last year, but district employees agreed to a pay freeze to keep expenses in line. The freeze is still in effect.
“People don’t generally get into education for the motivation of ‘I’m going to make a killing financially,’ ” Taylor said.
Mooney estimates it takes 16 years on the job for a teacher in Ohio to reach a “livable middle-class salary.” He thinks pay scales should be adjusted to compress that timeline and keep teachers in the profession.
Mooney is quick to point out that teachers had to fight for higher pay over the past several decades.
Now, they’re increasingly being asked to give up some of the generous fringe benefits they negotiated in lieu of big paychecks.
But others note that teachers’ pay is competitive with other professions requiring similar education. A government study puts Cleveland-area teachers’ hourly wages ahead of registered nurses, reporters, engineers, social workers, and librarians. Accountants and computer analysts earn slightly more.
James Guthrie, a professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University, said teachers have job security and are not paid badly, especially when benefits are factored in. Nationwide, they often get 80 to 90 percent of their pay once they start collecting a full pension after 30 years of service — “very luxurious” in his estimation.
Jay McLoughlin, dean of Cleveland State University’s College of Education and Human Services, agrees teacher salaries in Northeast Ohio are “decent.”
“This is a nine-month salary with health benefits, stability, tenure,” he said, adding that many people are willing to trade a higher salary for the work environment and summers off.
Nevertheless, McLoughlin said teachers are “definitely underpaid” considering what is expected of them.
“They have the added pressure to make the community look good. The real estate industry watches the [state school report card] ratings like crazy,” he said.
Cleveland Teachers Union President Joanne DeMarco said pay doesn’t always reflect the rigors of the job in a high-poverty urban area, where students are often ill-prepared for school.
“We should be the top pay in the state because of the challenges in our schools,” she said.
Educators point out that money is key to attracting and retaining the best and brightest to the field.
“We have not established education as a high priority when you look at the dollars we have allocated as a state,” said Rebecca McElfresh, an education instructor at Ursuline College.
Ogilvy, the Beachwood teacher, said her salary says a lot about how much the district and the community value her work.
Newbury’s Miller said she never considered another profession, despite the financial strain.
“I was a struggling math student until the ninth grade when I had a fabulous teacher who made me love math. I’m teaching today because of her.”
To reach these Plain Dealer reporters: ekleiner@plaind.com, 216-999-4631
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From John Curry, December 03, 2006
Subject: Re: A better copy of the Cleveland area teacher pay scales
Those nice salaries along with many of their school districts picking up all or part of their 10% STRS contribution ALONG with picking up much of their single and family health care plans gives them a false sense of retirement security. Most of those teachers don't have the slightest idea what STRS retirees have to pay for healthcare insurance - out of sight, out of mind. They will only find out when they retire. In short, ignorance is bliss! John
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From: June Hughes To: John Curry
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006
Subject: Re: A better copy of the Cleveland area teacher pay scales
I started teaching at the Willoughby-Eastlake school at $4800. My my how salaries have changed! :-))) I'd like their retirement checks, what a difference that would make in my living economics.
Larry KehresMount Union Collge
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