Looking back, she knows her passion was not a vocation that paid well and there was no equitable.
“If a man and a woman taught in the same building, doing the same job, the woman made much less than the man did,” Gann said. She fears Senate Bill 5 may be a step back to those days.
Gann said teachers are highly educated with masters’ degrees and yearly continuing education.
“Teaching is a gift. Most people I work with were born to be a teacher and are really good at it. They don’t say they want to be a teacher just to get three months off,” Gann said.
SB5 is aimed at teachers, firefighters and police officers because it takes away their right to bargain many issues, including working conditions and consequently the conditions in which children learn, Gann said.
“We are making decisions for children because they are sitting right beside us in the classroom,” Gann said, noting that could mean larger class sizes and less skilled teachers because they cost less to hire.
She said she has continued to advocate for an evaluation process that is fair and objective.
“It is needed to keep great teachers and get help for those who are struggling,” Gann said.
“Collective bargaining makes this type of collaboration necessary and possible.”
Hamilton City School Superintendent Janet Baker said, “Our district continues to monitor the implications of SB5 and is waiting for the voters to determine the outcome this November.”
“Potential implications of SB5 served as a backdrop for our negotiation process this year. This spring we signed a new contract with our teacher’s union which will be in effect for the next three years,” Baker said in a prepared statement.
Richard Packert, a Middletown Middle School eighth-grade teacher and president of the Southwestern Ohio Education Association, said he believes SB5 and Issue 2 is a direct attack on the middle class who have negotiated fair pay and better working conditions through the collective bargaining process.
“This is a direct attack on teachers, police and firefighters,” Packert said.
“Everything we do is geared around the classroom and educating children. That’s what it is all about,” Packert said. “We know the bargaining process is a give and take and we understand the financial situation that the board and district are facing.”
Middletown City Schools Superintendent Greg Rasmussen did not return calls for comment after several messages were left with his office.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2168 or lpack@coxohio.com.
About the Author