January 9, 2009
You may recall that last November the Union endorsed several candidates for various state offices. Among those endorsements was a candidate for the State Board of Education district that covers CuyahogaCounty. The candidate we supported was Martha Harris, former Cleveland teacher, union activist, and a CH-UH resident. Martha lost the November election to former U.S. Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar. As you probably know, Governor Strickland has authority to appoint eight of the nineteen members of the State Board.
We were informed yesterday that Martha Harris is one of the governor’s appointees. In addition, Tracey Smith, a teacher and OFT member from our local union in Van Wert, Ohio, was appointed to the State Board as well. So we now have, for the first time, two teachers who are OFT members on the Board.
We’re looking forward to working with Martha and Tracey, and we wish them well.
Fraternally,
Tom Schmida, President