COLUMBUS, OH — Today, leaders from the All in For Ohio Kids released the following joint statement in response to the unanimous Court of Appeals decision affirming Ohio’s voucher scheme is unconstitutional:

“Ohio’s universal voucher scheme diverts more than $1 billion per year to unaccountable private schools while legislators fail to fully and fairly fund our public schools, as they are legally required to do. The Court of Appeals correctly found this to be unconstitutional. Now it’s up to legislators and state officials to address this by returning to the Fair School Funding Plan, the bipartisan funding formula that is based on the actual costs of educating Ohio students. Public education families, educators, and other stakeholders will be mobilizing in 2027 to make sure the incoming General Assembly and Governor understand this is a priority of a broad coalition of public school supporters. Our students are counting on state leaders to finally do their job and deliver on the promise of the great public schools they all deserve – no exceptions.”

COLUMBUS — A strong majority of staff at Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) voted to form their union, CML United, according to secret ballot election results released today by Ohio’s State Employment Relations Board (SERB). The results showed that 86% of valid ballots voted in favor of the union. The new union includes approximately 600 librarians, customer services specialists, youth engagement specialists, materials services associates, drivers, sorters, and other library workers.

Congratulations to our 2026 Tom Mooney Memorial Scholarship winners: Roland Hyun Stevenson and Donovan Callahan!

COLUMBUS — Members of the Ohio Education Association (OEA), the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT), and the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors (OCAAUP) spoke today at a virtual mock hearing on House Bill 719, which would reverse the legislature’s unconstitutional move to strip educators of their rightful voice on the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board by eliminating most elected Board positions and replacing them with political appointees.

Educators took the initiative to organize a mock hearing on HB 719 after the Ohio General Assembly went into recess on June 10 without holding a hearing allowing proponents of the bill to testify. All Ohio legislators were invited to join and hear the testimony that educators would have shared in the House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee, had they been given the opportunity.

Ohio’s public colleges and universities are under attack — again! First legislators passed SB 1, a new law that gives politicians unprecedented influence over what is taught and discussed on campus, bogs colleges and universities down in unfunded administrative regulations, forces the elimination of some majors programs, and severely weakens tenure and collective bargaining rights for faculty members. Now, they’re trying to make a bad situation even worse with HB 698.

UPPER ARLINGTON, OH — Library workers at Upper Arlington Public Library have ratified their first contract after nearly two years of bargaining. Members of the union, Upper Arlington Public Library United Staff (UAPLUS), voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratification last week. The contract makes huge gains on the issues that motivated library staff to form their union, including improved paid time off benefits for part-time employees, paid parental leave, guaranteed raises, and protections against unfair discipline.

“As a bargaining committee, we worked hard in negotiations to make the improvements in our workplace that we and our co-workers need so our libraries can be workplaces where we can thrive and build a career,” said Josh Stewart, a training and support coordinator at Tremont Road Library. “We’re excited to work together to implement and enforce this contract and to negotiate an even stronger contract when we’re back at the bargaining table in a couple of years.”