Republican Educators

Vote Public Education Values

Amy Acton for Ohio Governor

Jay Edwards for Treasurer of State

Personal Safety Net & Lifeline: "As a kid, public schools saved my life. It was the safety net I needed. So I know exactly why we owe it to every child in Ohio to ensure we're providing them with the best possible education."
Equal Access Across Zip Codes: "Public schools serve every child, in every community, no matter their zip code. Many counties in Ohio do not have a private school. We should be strengthening our public schools, not starving them. They saved my life. When I'm governor, they'll be fully funded."
Public Schools as Community Foundations: "Our public schools are the foundation of our communities... Investing in public education isn't just the right thing to do, it's how we build a stronger Ohio for everyone."
Personal Connection to Educators: Acton frequently highlights her personal tie to public education through her husband, Eric, a lifelong middle-school teacher and track coach in Bexley Public Schools, as well as her own background as an award-winning university educator.

Teacher Board Governance & Voting Rights: Acton strongly opposed state legislative maneuvers aiming to alter board appointments and limit educator governance, opposing "the 11th hour attempt to strip teachers of their voting rights on their retirement system board."
Representation on Pension Boards: She advocates for direct teacher representation on state pension boards, arguing that educators who spend 30 to 40 years in the classroom must have an active voice in managing their own retirement security.
Protecting Retirement Funds: Supported by the Ohio Education Association (OEA) and Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT), Acton emphasizes appointing qualified, transparent leadership to the STRS board to safeguard funds and restore trust in the state's retirement administration.

Respect for Teachers: "You can't love education if you don't have respect for educators, and so you know this is something that I think we're talking about our future here, and so I want to be a voice."
Personal Connection & Background: “It was an honor of a lifetime to receive that, and you know it was an honor in my family. I have a lot of school teachers in my family. I always joke that you know I'm a product of public schools in Appalachia, Ohio, and Nelsonville.”
Impact of Teachers on Policy: “Not all of us come from the same household, and teachers experience that every day. You know, we always tried to keep that in mind when we got here in the legislature and tried to affect public policy.” “And it's really where a teacher steps up and takes that role. And I was very fortunate to have some of those great teachers in my school growing up.”

Teacher Contributions & Commitments: "I think there is this misconception that you know that that teachers get Social Security. That's not true. They get state teacher retirement system. They don't pay into Social Security. They don't get that. This is their one retirement pool. There's also this misconception that the state funds these retirement plans, and it's just not true. The schools themselves, the employer funds 14% of the retirement system, and 14% comes from the teachers themselves. It just so happens that that the that the 14% that comes from the schools happens to be on the lower tier across the country, and the 14% that comes from the teachers tends to be on the higher tier of the country. So the teachers are putting a lot of their paycheck into their retirement system. It should be there for them, and it's a promise that that was made. It's their money. It's not the state's money.”
Teacher Autonomy: “Teachers just have some say in who's controlling their money, not the people downtown Columbus.”
Honoring Promises: “It's more about the transparency piece that I really really want to hit on, and want to make sure we're being respectful to the people, the promises that we've made people along the way.”

Protecting Retirement Funds: “It's 100 billion dollars at stake that we want to take very seriously. And the realization that it's not the state's money; it is your retired teachers' money that have put in 30, 40 years into the into the classroom. We want to protect that with everything we have.”