Ohio’s vote on Issue 2 will affect the future careers of many Ashland students. Several students were asked to voice their opinion on the issue. The response of the majority was that they were not well informed. The official arguments are as follows:

• The official argument for a vote yes on Issue 2 states that it will help to get government spending under control and make the government more accountable to taxpayers. Those advocating a yes vote believe unions should only be as strong as the groups they are working with.

• The official argument for a vote no on Issue 2 states that it will hurt Ohio’s middle class families. Public employees, especially firefighters, police, nurses and teachers, are not the reason for Ohio’s budget trouble. Their wages and benefits should not be reduced.

The effects of this legislation spread across many fields of study at Ashland University. Criminal justice, nursing and Education majors are almost certainly the groups most concerned with the outcome of Issue 2. With the issue lessening the power of unions for public employees’ ability to collectively bargain for their salaries and benefits, several students may reconsider their career choices.

Dean of the Dwight Schar College of Education, Dr. Jim Van Keuren, has confirmed that education students currently working in Ashland schools, surrounded by teachers upset over Issue 2, are concerned about their career choice.

“Whichever way the vote goes, at least it will be off the table and apprehension will be taken away,” Van Keuren said. If Issue 2 passes, Van Keuren believes that Ohio will see more teachers retiring in the next two to three years and that many new teachers will seek jobs outside of Ohio.

Recent College of Education graduate, Meghan Barnes, is one of the few who does not think Issue 2 will make teaching a less attractive career.

“I love what I do. I did not choose this career to make money,” Barnes said. Yet she also commented, “I did not choose this career to be held to unrealistic standards.” She believes that riding the teachers unions’ rights to collectively bargain for their salary and class sizes, amongst other entities, will not entice new teachers to stay motivated.

Some education students can see that Issue 2 has the potential to improve Ohio’s schools and to keep the best teachers in the classroom. Senior Integrated Language Arts Major, Tiffany Bartram, made a strong point in her acknowledgment that a good evaluation system needs to be set in place before teachers pay is changed from seniority based to merit.

“We really need to start evaluating our teachers and making sure they are doing an excellent job instead of getting by with the bare minimum,” Bartram said.

Nursing students, as well, had mixed reviews as to how Issue 2 would affect their future careers. If Issue 2 causes nurses to juggle more patients, the job’s stress level may drastically increase. Zach Hatton, aspiring to be a Q Care Nurse Practitioner, said he has seen nurses cry because they cannot provide optimum care for their patients.

“If nurses are already feeling as if they cannot provide optimum care for their patients, what will happen when the nurse to patient ratio is increased?” Hatton said. “A nurse is responsible for over 300 different jobs in one day. We have to be there for a patient physically, emotionally, and mentally; we are the patients’ advocate.”

The uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the vote is representative of the fact that many students are unclear of the provisions of Senate Bill 5 and the complete list of amendments that Issue 2 is proposing to it. Regardless of the outcome, concerned students will be able to continue their education with a clearer picture of where their future careers stand.

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