Lt. Gov's aide answers questions on S.B. 5, fracking

Following is an interview with Mike Chadsey, Northeast Ohio regional representative in Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor's office. The interview was conducted by Athens NEWS summer reporting intern Anne Li during Buckeye Girls State at Mount Union College in Alliance, June 17. Li, who will be a senior at Athens High School in the fall, is chief editor of Matrix, the student newspaper at the high school.

Q: While eating dinner during Buckeye Girls School, my friends and I had a discussion about our individual (Ohio public) schools, and I was surprised to find that most of my friends' schools were suffering. Many schools can't pass their levies, and one school has already laid off 55 teachers and is planning on cutting 17 more. How will Senate Bill 5 help schools and teachers like these?

A: If it makes it through the referendum, S.B.5 will give the tools necessary to handle changes with budget reductions. Part of [S.B.5] deals with teacher tenure, contracts, wages, bargaining They can still bargain for wages.

Q: Teaching on a high school level or below is usually not considered a prestigious career. Many teachers are worried that S.B.5 will make the teaching profession seem even more unattractive than it was before, and that adequately educated potential teachers will choose to apply their skills elsewhere rather than spread their knowledge to the next generation.

A: I think that the opposite is going to be the case. (With S.B.5), teaching will be (a profession of) higher stature. Teachers will receive higher pay and will be encouraged to be creative (with the merit pay system. Right now), teachers are not [viewed as] doctors or MBAs, but they should be. People's mindsets will have to change.

Q: Speaking of merit pay, how does one measure "merit"? At my school, we have some really good teachers, who have to teach students who don't care about education. How will these teachers be "graded" on merit? (The latter question was asked by Abigail Gibson, who accompanied Li to the interview).

A: The details have yet to be worked out. It will probably be in another bill or a part of an education bill. The legislature is working with a committee of teachers; merit will likely be determined by a combination of standardized testing, student review, principal review and other factors, not just by one factor. We're trying to ensure that we can differentiate between teachers who care with students who don't care, and teachers who don't care with students who care. We want to reward the good teachers.

Q: Even with all the factors, do you think merit pay can ever be a truly objective system?

A: You have to consider objective versus subjective. People need to take into consideration that people are people. Merit should not just be based on test scores, attendance but the people who will be reading the review of teachers are people. When schools cut teachers, it's usually last hired, first fired. Let's try to merge experience with young but good teachers.

Q: Another concern that some teachers have is that by limiting bargaining rights, unions will become less popular and membership will go down that indirectly, S.B. 5 will cause the elimination of unions.

A: That's just an assumption. S.B.5 allows teachers to keep all bargaining rights except for the right to bargain for health care and pensions. What you just said is simply an assumption, and I don't agree with it.

Q: Why?

A: Because public workers will still be able to bargain for working conditions and wages, and those are the most important.

Q: If the S.B. 5 referendum passes (and rescinds the legislation), does Gov. John Kasich have a Plan B concerning union rights?

A: Some of the financial details of S.B.5 are included in the Budget Bill, but there's no Plan B [for the non-financial details].

Q: H.B.153 allows for fracking (horizontal hydraulic fracturing for natural gas) on Ohio state lands. While natural gas drilling may help reduce our $8 billion budget shortfall, is reducing the debt worth damaging the environment and hurting Ohio in the long run?

A: The fracking that we're using will be horizontal fracking, which is less damaging to the environment than vertical fracking. People are right to have concerns about fracking, but we'll learn from Pennsylvania's mistakes. Pennsylvania had regulations regarding fracking, but they were not enforced. Our fracking will be structurally reinforced with layers of concrete so that the pipes damage the land as little as possible. We have to be real careful. We also have to make sure that property owners don't get screwed when a gas company asks to use their lands; property owners need to be aware of their rights.

Q: Do you think it's realistic to expect that heavy regulations on natural gas and oil companies will be set and enforced? After all, [Citizens Untied v. Federal Election Commission] allows companies to donate unlimited amounts of money to politicians' campaign funds, therefore pressuring politicians to vote in favor of sponsoring companies. Oil companies are pretty powerful in the U.S., and it seems apparent that they will have some say in Ohio's drilling and fracking regulations.

A: I believe that money doesn't bother votes. I believe that our representatives go to the legislature to vote for what's right.

Q: So, back to the original question, even if horizontal fracking is less harmful than vertical fracking, it unarguably will damage our environment to some extent. Although fracking may help our economy in the short run, in my opinion saving the environment will help our economy in the long run. Do you think it's worth it to damage the environment if it will help us reduce our deficit in the short run?

A: Yes, if we're careful and enforce our regulations.