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Committee Updates

OMEA Advocacy: August Update

Austin Ahlborn
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OMEA's advocacy efforts, both nationally and locally, have been quite extensive this summer. Our advocacy team continues to work on behalf of students and educators throughout the state to ensure access to music education. While we've had some significant successes, we also recognize that funding issues throughout our state continue to create challenges and possible cuts in many districts.

Federal Advocacy

In June, Team OMEA had the chance to travel to Washington, DC, to advocate as part of the NAfME Hill Day. In each of our meetings, we spoke with legislators about the importance of federal Title I, II, IV-A, and IDEA funding, discussed developing legislation such as the "Guarantee Access to Arts and Music Education Act," and presented the challenges faced by educators.
We visited DC alongside music educators from all over the country, and together these advocates met with over half of Congress on Wednesday, June 24. Whether we personally agreed with each representative's views was beside the point: we were there to make sure they knew that music education matters, that all students deserve access to a high-quality music education, and that our current and pre-service educators urgently need additional resources and support.
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School Board Roundtable

More recently, on Sunday, August 17, OMEA members had the opportunity to learn from Deb Cain, Mark Abate, and Bill Wittman: leaders who currently serve or have previously served as school board members and in public school roles across Ohio. This was a wonderful conversation, and I would strongly encourage our members to go back and watch the whole discussion, which can be found on the OMEA: Advocacy website page. Although Team OMEA was able to advocate at the national level in June, local-level advocacy is, in my opinion, both the most accessible and most essential way our members can engage in advocacy efforts.
Personally, this conversation reinforced that there is more we can be doing at the local level to engage school board members, both as an organization and as individuals. A recurring theme throughout the discussion was that school board members are people too: community members driven to serve their schools and communities. This isn't to say they're perfect, or that we'll always agree with our local boards, but rather to reinforce that they're accessible to us. Teachers, students, parents, and community members shouldn't shy away from engaging with their school boards.
According to our panelists, school board service is an oversight role. Board members are there to guide the district, not to interfere with day-to-day classroom operations. But while those daily activities aren't their focus, school board members do care about what's happening in their communities and classrooms. Our panelists encouraged music educators to invite board members not just to performances, but into classrooms on a "normal" day, to see everything happening throughout the learning process. Don't be afraid to keep your board members in the loop because the long-term relationships you build now matter most in a crisis.

Advocacy Challenges

Unfortunately, more than a few districts in our state are already in crisis, through no fault of their own. As the state legislature continues to cut the amount of funding schools receive, districts are increasingly forced to rely on voters to fund schools. As a result, several music education positions and programs are at risk, even in historically strong communities. If you're an OMEA member in a district facing significant cuts, please don't hesitate to reach out to me, OMEA President Danielle Shaub, or Executive Director Jay Wardeska. We will do everything we can to support you and your community in the fight to keep music education accessible to all students. Until our legislature acts and fairly funds our schools, these issues will likely continue statewide. If you hear of impending cuts or other actions that would harm access to music education, please keep our team informed. We are stronger together, and we must all commit to being advocates to ensure a strong future for music education in Ohio.