OEA to push school funding campaign proposal contrary to Governor AND GOP's wishes

OEA to vote on contributing to school-funding campaign

Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Joe Hallett

Roughly 1,300 delegates to the Ohio Education Association’s convention April 20 in Columbus will vote on a onetime $25 increase in membership dues to help pay for the campaign to pass a school funding constitutional amendment proposed for the November statewide ballot.

The board of directors of the state’s largest teachers union has recommended the increase to raise about $2.5 million for the school-funding proposal, which is opposed by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Republican legislative leaders.

The Campaign for Ohio’s Future, a political umbrella for 12 organizations supporting the amendment, hopes to raise between $7 million and $10 million for the campaign, according to Gary Allen, president of the 130,000-member OEA.

"The other organizations are all working internally in an attempt to secure funding," Allen said, calling $2.5 million "a fair share" for the OEA.