Public Education Partners (PEP) is the leading volunteer advocacy group for public education in Ohio. PEP is a statewide coalition of parents, grassroots citizen groups, school board members, educators, and school administrators that advocates for high quality public education.
All children deserve a quality public education and equitable public schools. Unfortunately, so-called education reform often stands in the way of this goal.
Traditional public schools have been suffering with an unreasonable number of education policies dealing with high-stakes testing, expansion of school vouchers, unaccountable charter schools, and other mandates which compete for district resources already diminished by drastic budget cuts.
Students have never been under more developmentally inappropriate and highly stressful policies than what we see in our public schools today.
Because Ohio’s school children have essentially become guinea pigs for poorly developed educational legislation, a growing number of public school advocacy groups have formed all over the state to raise awareness of what’s at stake in public education.
Public Education Partners (PEP) is a statewide organization that was created to help connect and unite activists in this grassroots movement. PEP supports publicly accountable Ohio schools for all students, advocates for equitably funded public schools that offer a full and rich curriculum to all children, and promotes the elimination of high-stakes tests for the evaluation of students, teachers, and schools.
PEP’s ideology is closely aligned with the Network for Public Education (NPE), which has built strong alliances with grassroots groups like us across the nation. We stand with NPE in opposing high-stakes testing, privatization of public education, mass school closures to save money or to facilitate privatization, demonization of teachers, lowering of standards for the education profession, and for-profit management of schools.
Like our friends at the Network for Public Education, Public Education Partners of Ohio supports:
• public schools that are democratically controlled by their local community and are open to all
• a full and rich curriculum for ALL children with the resources that students need
• equitable funding of public school districts, with extra resources for students with the greatest needs
• schools that have reasonable class sizes and services for children
• high standards of professionalism for teachers, principals, and superintendents
• assessments that are used to support children and teachers, not to punish or stigmatize them
• helping schools that are struggling, not closing them or taking them over
• parent involvement in decisions about their children and confidentiality of student information
• teacher professionalism in decisions about selection of curriculum and teaching methods
The Network for Public Education recognized Public Education Partners of Ohio with the 2023 Phyllis Bush Award for Grassroots Organizing.
WHAT DOES PEP BELIEVE?
The Board of Public Education Partners believes that ALL students should be empowered to become resilient, lifelong learners who make positive contributions to our society.
We believe that our children deserve a proper and accurate understanding of our nation’s history and governmental institutions.
We believe that a culturally responsive curriculum will reflect the history and background of every student, and thus will empower children to value all cultures, not just their own.
We believe that the path to equity begins with a broad understanding of the history of inequalities and inhumanity and how they impact current society.
We believe that white supremacy culture, hate speech, hate crimes, and hateful violence deserve no place in our country, state, and school system.
We believe that the public school system is a public good that is fundamental to our democratic society- it must be dedicated to equity and thoughtful teaching of future citizens that racism and bigotry are unjust and will not be tolerated.
The Board of Public Education Partners believes that its continued involvement in public education advocacy should emanate from a perspective of equity, anti-racism, and anti-bias.
(Inspired by the State Board of Education of Ohio’s 2020 Resolution to Condemn Racism and to Advance Equity and Opportunity for Black Students, Indigenous Students, and Students of Color)
PEP Board of Directors
Barry Alcock – Groveport, Ohio
Anita Beck – Worthington, Ohio
Debbie Bernauer – Brecksville, Ohio
Michelle Dillingham – Cincinnati, Ohio
Marti Franks – Reminderville, Ohio
Pam Gayheart – Fairborn, Ohio
Dan Greenberg – Sylvania, Ohio
Lynn Keen Greenberg – Springboro, Ohio
Kevin Griffin – Dublin, Ohio
Russ Harris – Grove City, Ohio
Katie Hauer – Mason, Ohio
Darold Johnson – Dublin, Ohio
Jeanne Melvin – Columbus, Ohio
Eva O’Mara – Brecksville, Ohio
Bill Phillis – Columbus, Ohio
Maureen Reedy – Columbus, Ohio
Denis Smith – Westerville, Ohio
Frances Strickland – Columbus, Ohio
Andy Wilson – Fairborn, Ohio
Donna Wilson – Fairborn, Ohio
Public Education Partners is on social media – please join in its advocacy initiatives:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OhioPEP
Twitter – https://twitter.com/OhioPEP
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/publicedpartners/