OEA & CPEA MEMBER ON JUSTIFICATION/LACK OF JUSTIFICATION
FOR EDUCATORS TO ENDORSE SCHURING
UPDATE: 2:36 PM/10/29/2018 - SEE COMPLETE SCHURING/FRIEDMAN CONTRIBUTORS LIST
IN APPENDIX
OHIO EDUCATION ASS'N "SCHURING" CONTRIBUTION OF $8,000 A "SURPRISE"
TO
CANTON PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION ASS'N
TO
CANTON PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION ASS'N
SEE "COMPLETE" CONTRIBUTIONS REPORT FOR BOTH CANDIDATES IN APPENDIX
NOTE: THE SCPR ASKED THE OEA HOW IT COULD ENDORSE SCHURING LIGHT OF HIS SUPPORT OF "FOR PROFIT" CHARTER SCHOOLS THEREBY DEPRIVING STARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICTS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE CONTEXT OF HIS HAVING RECEIVED SUBSTANTIAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE OWNER OF ECOT (ELECTRONIC CLASSROOMS OF TOMORROW
From: Martin Olson <tramols@att.net>
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2018 9:52 AM
To: Prater, Michele [OH] <praterm@ohea.org>
Subject: OEA contribution of $8,000 in pre-general CFR to Kirk Schuring
Here is a LINK to a SCPR blog citing one of your member's opposition to Representative Kirk Schuring on the his of his past support of ECOT and the general "for profit" charter school movement in Ohio.
Why is the OEA supporting Schuring with campaign finance donations?
As you will note in reading the SCPR blog linked to, OEA/CPEA member says that the CPEA endorsed the Democrat Lauren Friedman.
Why the difference?
Martin Olson
Stark County Political Report
tramols@att.net
330 430 9378
OEA RESPONSE
Prater, Michele [OH] <praterm@ohea.org> Today at 2:05 PM
To: Martin Olson
“The decision to endorse Kurt Schuring was made by OEA members who are on the local screening committee, which includes a representative from CPEA, based on their belief that Rep. Schuring is, and will continue to be, an effective advocate for OEA members and their students.” -Becky Higgins, president, Ohio Education Association
LOCAL CPEA MEMBER'S REACTION
greg soper <greg.soper@...> Today at 2:30 PM
To: Martin Olson
I will forward this to the CPEA members who sit on the screening committee for their opinions.
However, I can say that I am troubled with the notion that Kirk Schuring is an effective advocate for educators and students when he voted for
- SB 5 and HB 70(which is SB 5 on steroids).
- HB 70 will prohibit CPEA from negotiating class size, curriculum, and will remove an elected school board in favor of a commission which will have at three members not be from Canton City and turn the district over to CEO who will have “complete operational control”.
ORIGINAL BLOG
On the face of it Democratic "upstart" Lauren Friedman (a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy) appears to be a "competitive" candidate to 25 year Republican Stark County Ohio General Assembly (OGA) member J. Kirk Schuring.
However, the "big" take-away is that staunch, conservative Republican Kirk Schuring has done what no other Stark County Republican has ever done.
And, what is that?
Become the darling of "organized" labor, the "bedrock" of Democratic Party candidates.
A number of years ago, a noted Stark County "elected" Republican once opined to the leadership of the Stark County union movement: "Why don't you folks consider supporting Republican candidates?"
Schuring's Republican stablemate Scott Oelslager has had some success getting support from "organized labor," but this time around (pre-general cycle 2018) Schuring has hit the jackpot!
And why is that?
The Professional Football Hall of Fame project (HOF-VP) for the construction trades union, but, for the Ohio Education Association (OEA) thing is "inexplicable."
It is understandable that David Kirven (quoted in local media as a HOF-VP enthusiast) would use his influence within the construction trades union (i.e. East Central and others) to encourage union's supporting Schuring.
It would be interesting to know whether or not there was any internal debate as to the East Central contributing $3,500 to a "not exactly union friendly" Republican in the overall sense?
Think maybe Kirven (a former president of the Stark County Democratic Party's Jefferson/Jackson Club) will tell the SCPR whether or not any of the 18 unions which compose the East Central Ohio Building & Constructions Trades Council dissented from making the contributions to Republican Schuring?
EXTRACT FROM EAST CENTRAL WEBSITE (HIGHLIGHTING ADDED)
So the union campaign support of some pretty significant connected with the PFHOP either directly or indirectly individual contributors (e.g. C. David Baker and Stu Lichter) makes it virtually impossible to think that Schuring Democratic opponent has "a snowball's chance in Hell" to defeat Schuring even though she appears to (for being a political neophyte) have done a pretty good job of raising campaign money herself.
The hope undoubtedly in construction trades and related unions rushing "pell-mell" to support Schuring is that Schuring some way, somehow can figure out a way (i.e. government financial intervention) to save the staggering HOF-VP and the hundreds if not thousands of union jobs that likely will materialize if the project through its $1 billion completion.
Apparently, Schuring has convinced the OEA that he is a friend of public education notwithstanding the fact the he and fellow Republican Oelslager (let's trade districts [Senate/House and vice versa to defeat term limits]) have received thousands of dollars of campaign finance contributions while supporting Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), recently gone belly up and being pursued for some $80 million in overpayments based on faulty attendance numbers by Republican gubernatorial candidate (now attorney general) Mike DeWine.
Stark County public school districts have lost millions of dollars in revenues at the hand of "for profit" charter schools. And yet Schuring has the chutzpah to put out a couple of campaign flyers claiming to be a friend of public education.
One Canton City Schools teacher has been a ardent opponent of Schuring's over the "charter school" issue.
His reaction to the OEA donation in responding to a SCPR inquiry:
If area educators believe that then and support him in political finances, with campaign workers and at the ballot box, they deserve everything they get in terms of "screwings" of public education meted out by the Republican supermajority dominance of the Ohio General Assembly.
Schuring hoodwinking educators is a big story.
An even bigger story is Schuring bringing in organized labor support.
For years Stark County organized labor has complained that Democratic candidates take their support for granted and that for all the union contributions made to them, the union movement gets very little in return.
But anybody who believes that Schuring is "truly" for "organized" labor and will rein-in charter schools and go full-throated for public education is having a hallucination, no?
APPENDIX
2018 Pre-general Contributors Report SCHURING
2018 Pre-general Contributors Report FRIEDMAN
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