Author

Melissa Cropper
Melissa Cropper is the president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT), which represents 20,000 members in 55 locals across the state, including public school educators and support staff, higher education faculty and support staff, and public employees. Before being elected state federation president in 2012, Cropper was a library media specialist in Georgetown, Ohio, for 14 years, a longtime president of the Georgetown Federation of Teachers, a member of the OFT executive committee and the chair of the federation's retirement committee.
Now is the moment to fully and fairly fund Ohio’s schools
By: Melissa Cropper and Scott DiMauro - April 28, 2021
For decades, Ohio’s legislature has spun its wheels trying to “fix” our public schools. They’ve increased standardized testing, based decisions off a school report card system that fails to measure if we are meeting our students’ needs, and finally, when schools or districts fall short on these arbitrary metrics, legislators have harmed them even more […]
Honoring Black history and fighting for the future of education
By: Melissa Cropper - February 3, 2021
On Feb. 1, as Black History Month began in Ohio’s classrooms and virtual classrooms, Gov. Mike DeWine unveiled his proposed budget for the next two years, which continues the education funding policies that systematically underfund public schools that educate Black students and even shift some of that funding away toward unaccountable, for-profit private schools. Black […]
Without taking proper precautions, reopening schools carries some big risks
By: Melissa Cropper - August 21, 2020
It’s one of the most tired tropes in TV and movies. An expert, usually a scientist or doctor, desperately tries to get the authorities to take an impending disaster seriously. They are ignored until it is too late and heroic action is needed to save the day. As hackneyed as that plot device is, it’s […]
An SOS (Save Our Schools) to U.S. Sen. Rob Portman from education groups
By: Lois Carson, Scott DiMauro and Melissa Cropper - July 8, 2020
Editor’s Note: This is a joint commentary from Lois Carson, president of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, and Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. On Thursday, March 12, Gov. Mike DeWine announced that Ohio schools would be shutting down physically and four […]
Community learning centers will help school districts cope with COVID-19 disruption
By: Melissa Cropper - May 21, 2020
Earlier this month, Gov. Mike DeWine announced $355 million in budget cuts for K-12 education for the last two months of this fiscal year. While these cuts are mitigated by federal funds under the CARES Act, the majority of Ohio school districts will lose funding overall. The public education community is bracing ourselves for even […]