Latest news with #OhioOrganizingCollaborative
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Town hall meeting planned to discuss future of education for children with disabilities
NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ A town hall meeting is scheduled to discussion the future of education for children with disabilities. The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Lacey PAC Adaptive Movement Center, 152 N. Broadway, New Philadelphia. "The goal of the event is to gather parents, caregivers and especially parents with kids with disabilities to discuss the uncertainty of Department of Education funding for local schools," said Bria Bennett, communications director for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, one of the sponsors of the event. "This is an opportunity for parents to be in the room with each other." The event will run for two hours with presentations by representatives of the groups sponsoring the event, followed by a town hall question and answer session where parents can ask questions of the panelists and each other. Bennett said public officials have been invited to attend, but none have committed to attend as of Aug. 8. Event sponsors The event is sponsored by the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Parents United for Public Schools, Policy Matters Ohio, Red, Wine & Blue, Ohio Education Association, American Federation of Government Employees, and Vouchers Hurt Ohio. 'Parents deserve a seat at the table," said Nick Tuell of Parents United for Public Schools. 'Our nation has come so far in how we treat children with disabilities that we cannot allow politicians to roll back the clock on our kids' futures.' Organizers said these town halls will bring together parents, caregivers, educators and community members to share their stories and spotlight the growing barriers families face, especially those raising children with disabilities, from special education teacher staffing shortages and retention, delays in IEP evaluations, weakening oversight and inaccessible transportation. With both state and federal education policy at a tipping point, the event is a chance for the people most impacted to speak directly to the leaders shaping their children's future, organizers said. This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Education for children with disabilities topic of Aug. 13 meeting Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Good Trouble' protests scheduled in Columbus and elsewhere in central Ohio. Here's where
Several protests are planned Thursday, July 17, in Central Ohio to honor the memory of John Lewis, the late congressman and civil rights icon, and to continue to protest the actions of President Donald Trump's administration. Tens of thousands of people are expected to turn out for the "Good Trouble Lives On" protests in dozens of cities nationwide on July 17. The date also marks the five-year anniversary of the death of Lewis, who coined the term "good trouble" when speaking of nonviolent protests and acts of civil disobedience as a way to shine a spotlight on and challenge violations of civil rights. Organizers are calling the "Good Trouble" protests a response to "the most brazen rollback of civil rights in generations" by the Trump administration. The central Ohio protests are being organized by several organizations, including the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Indivisible Central Ohio, the Amos Project, Columbus Stand Up!, Common Cause Ohio, and the Ohio Women's Alliance. Some of the organizations were also behind the "No Kings" demonstrations, which drew millions of participants across 2,100 locations, according to the group's estimates. As of Tuesday afternoon, July 15, national "Good Trouble" protest organizers said their RSVP count was at 126,000 people nationwide, with more than 1,600 events planned. Where will central Ohio 'Good Trouble' protests be held? There are at least nine Good Trouble protests scheduled in central Ohio. Here are the locations and times: Columbus: Second Baptist Church, 186 N. 17th St., from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Columbus: Ohio Statehouse rally, 1 Capitol Square, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Delaware City: By the Rutherford B. Hayes statue and adjacent street corners on William and Sandusky streets - Noon to 1 p.m. Hilliard:- Warehouse 839 parking lot - 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. London: Madison County Courthouse - 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Newark: Licking County Courthouse Square - 6 7 p.m. Reynoldsburg: Reynoldsburg City Hall/Municipal Building - 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunbury: Intersection of North Columbus and East Cherry streets in the Delaware County community, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Westerville: Westerville City Hall, 21 S. State St., from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@ at ShahidMeighan on X, and at on Bluesky. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 'Good Trouble' protests planned in Columbus, central Ohio. See where Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Many unaware of threats to Ohio Medicaid, advocates say
Dozens gathered at the Ohio Capitol to protect Medicaid benefits. (Photo by Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal.) As threats build to Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor, even many Ohioans who stand to be affected don't know it, advocates said Saturday. Dozens gathered on the west lawn of the Ohio Statehouse to raise awareness that a massive spending bill passed by Republicans in Congress could end up ending health care for more than 750,000 Ohioans. 'People say, 'Oh, I'm not on Medicaid,'' said Bria Bennett of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. 'But when they hear Caresource (Ohio's biggest Medicaid managed-care provider), they say 'Oh yeah, my kids are on Caresource.' That's a problem everywhere. People are so focused on 'How am I getting to work? Is my car going to get me to work? Is my uniform clean for work?' They're worried about all those things that trying to dip into the policy things that our politicians talk about is difficult.' The U.S. House-passed Republican reconciliation budget — President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' — would hand out $4.6 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years. The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School estimated that 70% of the benefit would go to the richest 10% of Americans. Republicans, such as Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, have denied that the budget would cut health benefits for Americans. But then she undermined her own argument by saying 'We all are going to die.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Parts of the bill, including a strict new work requirement, led the independent, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to conclude that it would cost about 10 million Americans their health insurance. That's nearly half of the 24.6 million Americans who are covered under the Medicaid expansion that was passed as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Most Medicaid recipients have jobs, and a 2018 assessment in Ohio said that health coverage made it easier for those people to seek and keep employment. Meanwhile, work requirements have been shown to be ineffective for anything other than hassling people off of the system. Researchers at Harvard University and the Urban Institute found that Arkansas's work requirement did nothing to boost employment in the state. The federal government covers 90% of the cost of the Medicaid expansion. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine proposed that if a significant portion of that funding were eliminated, the state would cut those people off — ending health coverage for 770,000 Ohioans. That's nearly 7% of the state. It might come as a surprise for many, but 26% of Ohioans are on Medicaid, and low-income residents are so numerous that 30% of households make 200% or less of the federal poverty level. Bennett of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative said it's jargon like that that obscures the dire reality in which millions of Ohioans live. 'I don't know what 200% of whatever is,' she said. 'That's just a number to me. We're trying to make things relatable because people don't necessarily know that it affects them.' For the record, for a family of four 200% of the federal poverty level is $62,400 a year. Bennett said such households would be devastated if they lost Medicaid benefits. 'I know folks who have four-plus kids. Because of what they make, all of their kids are on Medicaid,' she said. 'If that's taken away, there are no more doctor's appointments. There's no more dentist's appointments.' And, she said, those life-saving services shouldn't be axed to pad the pockets of the wealthy in an era of exploding income inequality. 'We should not be giving tax breaks to the wealthy when the poorest and most vulnerable of us cannot even afford health care,' Bennett said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
