A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened?:  I spent most of Saturday morning standing in the drizzle with my husband and 1,200 of my neighbors at the STAND! While We Can! rally, waving our soggy protest signs at the drivers around Lander Circle. The signs ranged in subject from general concern about the state of our democracy to specific concerns about the Ohio budget, cuts to social services, the tanking economy, job losses and some very amusing takes on Elon Musk’s overreach and our president’s subservience to Vladimir Putin. Many of the drivers honked and waved or gave a thumbs up. A few gave a “one-fingered salute”, but more mouthed “thank you.”. Why “thank you?” Probably for doing something, amid what feels like overwhelming chaos.

Why it matters? : Because we need to do something and this is as good a place to start as any. The hard right played a long game. While we were not paying attention, they were getting hard right judges and the Ohio assembly elected so that we now have an election map so gerrymandered that it is nearly impossible for progressive ideas and candidates to succeed. So now we must play a long game. We must concentrate on local elections and start flipping council seats, school boards and Judgeships. And now is the time, because discontent is strong. No matter what their politics, people in Ohio are not going to be happy with the coming economic changes. These protests are a step in reminding people that this is not what anybody voted for. 

What can we do about it?: We need to talk to people about what is happening and why.  People are upset and frustrated, we need to encourage them to harness that into doing something. Participate in protests. Call and e-mail congresspeople. Speak up at town halls and school board meetings, join local Democratic clubs and most of all VOTE (and take 5 friends with you—we did not lose by all that much).

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky

On April 3 the  Chagrin Gateway Dems were treated to an evening that was at once both inspiring and thought-provoking.  Three engaging speakers enlightened us about the true cost of the changes in education funding and policy. First, Dr. Christine Collins of Honesty for Ohio Education helped us see why we cannot allow the words DEI to be demonized.  Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are the definition of good teaching because kids are different and should learn in welcoming environments. But SB 1 ends DEI, and curtails tenure protections and collective bargaining in higher education—and while that may be a done deal pending court intervention, SB113 and HB 155 are current attempts to strip DEI out of K through 12.  Collins encouraged us to advise our schools officials to: not “discriminate in advance” out of fear of coming legislation; to consult with civil rights attorneys; to focus on what is best for kids

Dan Heintz, school board member in Cleveland Hts./University Hts., and a history teacher in Chardon, spoke about why private school vouchers are not only unconstitutional, they are harmful to Ohioans because they undermine public schools. While the state pays public schools  $600-900/year per student;  the state is paying families with vouchers $8408  per student /year. That money is coming out of school budgets. The schools that receive the money are going to have little or no oversight and many of the students receiving the voucher money were not in public schools before receiving the money. He encouraged us to make our voices heard; to run for school boards and support judicial candidates that will uphold the constitution. 

Finally, former Chagrin Falls school board member Kathryn Garvey spoke to us about the Fair School Funding Plan. This was a plan that was created by a bipartisan group of lawmakers along with education experts to create a constitutionally fair and financially appropriate allocation of state and local dollars to fund Ohio education. It was to be implemented over 6 years, but after 4 years, the Ohio Assembly decided not to cover the State’s share of the true cost—opting instead to give a only 2% increase. This leaves property owners to make up the difference—except that due to a complex sub-bill, communities with greater cash reserves would have to rebate taxpayers. That also means they would never have the cash reserves to qualify for AAA bonds needed to be used to renovate schools. Catch 22?  It cannot be that the state general assembly wants public schools to fail, can it? The Fair School Funding Plan was a good idea when it was implemented and it needs to be followed. Garvey encouraged us to tell Governor DeWine and our state representatives that.   

We ended the evening feeling both frustrated and hopeful.  Thank you to Dr. Christine Collins, Dan Heinz, and Kathryn Garvey.

– Lyn Newman

A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened? :  On April 1, 2025 Susan Crawford won her seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court despite Elon Musk having spent millions of dollars and making personal visits to Wisconsin trying to defeat her. She not only won, she won by a 10 percent margin. 

Why it matters?: Crawford’s victory maintains a 4-3 liberal advantage on the Wisconsin court for a least another year in a term that could decide cases about congressional maps and redistricting as well as reproductive rights and collective bargaining. But more than that, her victory is a sign that votes matter. Message matters. When people can see the local consequences of political action, they can be persuaded to vote for their own interests.  

What can we do about it?: Talk about issues. Avoid “us vs them language”. Talk to people about what needs doing and finding leaders that can help us get it done. We need local School Board Members, City Council Members and Judges who believe in upholding the constitution.  We all really do want to make America Great. But we want it to be great for all of us. We can do it if we all work together. Susan Crawford just proved it.

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky

A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened? : Candidate Trump told us “I have nothing to do with Project 2025” and he would be bringing down grocery prices on day one. President Trump has put a laser focus on the priorities of Project 2025 and grocery prices have soared. This week, while still doing nothing that helps lower food prices, he made good on another Project 2025 goal. He signed an executive order to shut down the Department of Education. Trump wants to give the responsibility for education “back to the states”.

Why it matters? : The Department of Education is responsible for financial aid, data collection about education, education reform, and prohibiting discrimination. Getting rid of the department puts at risk programs like Pell grants that provide financial aid for future teachers, the research that allows us to identify areas of improvement, and programs for the disabled. Poorer states get a much larger percentage of their education budget from federal monies. Leaving aside the fact that presidents cannot unilaterally end cabinet level departments without congressional approval, who does the Department of Education closure serve? Our society is best served by having a well educated workforce taught by creative and well compensated teachers. Taking money away from schools is not the way to make that happen. Especially in an environment where tax cuts are being planned for those in our wealthiest tax brackets.

What can we do about it? We can start by attending the April 3, 6:30 pm meeting of the Chagrin Gateway Democrats at the Orange Library where a panel discussion on the education and funding cuts including several current and former school board members. There we will learn how these cuts might affect our schools, and how we might most effectively target our protests.

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky

This week, a friend passed along a Facebook post that they discovered in their feed. The author of the post, almost certainly a Trump supporter, started it predictably with three words: Please. No politics. 

The phrase, apparently there to insulate the author from the irony they were about to type next, became laughable as they went on to discuss how they work with students with serious diseases who rely on the services covered by the Department of Education—services about to be cut. 

Going on to implore others to “do their research,” the author shared a post from the National Association of School Nurses detailing the impact of the dismantling of the department.

Somehow, lost in the post is the easiest research one could have done—listening to the words of Donald Trump himself. 

This is what he told you he was going to do. And this is what you voted for. 

Over the next few years, stories like this will become commonplace. Trump supporters will bemoan the cost of groceries, the loss of their jobs, the unexpected (to them) outcomes of placing total control of the government into the hands of a billionaire tech bro and a want-to-be dictator, and, in the privacy of their own minds, they’ll wonder why this is happening…to them. They’ll rationalize this as part of the eight-dimensional chess moves that they are convinced Donald Trump is playing to break the deep state. They’ll pretend that next week or next month, things will finally turn around and it’ll all make sense like the moment your eyes come into focus after looking at 3D computer art for an hour.

And when it doesn’t, and the world becomes more unstable, and the middle class collapses, one of two things will happen: they’ll either work their way out of the cult, or they’ll post more nonsense online about their plight. They’ll blame everyone but the person responsible. They’ll want you to comment and tell them how horrible it is that they are the victim, They’ll ask “how could this happen?”

And you’ll know the answer.

You’ll want to reply.

But, then you’ll remember: please…no politics.

A regular feature to the Chagrin Gateway Democrats from Lyn Newman

What happened? : Are you feeling a little dizzy right now? Maybe like you are recovering from whiplash?  Maybe you wanted to write to your congress people to complain about the tariffs, but are wondering if you need to do that because the tariffs off now?  Oh wait, they are back on, no now they are off! But the stock market crashed anyway. 

Or maybe you are devastated about the thousands of people that have been fired, supposedly for cause. But how could it have been for cause when many of them had just gotten good reviews.  But now they are being rehired, either because the people were needed or because judges are telling departments that the firings were illegal. So, are the tens of thousands of people fired or not? And, is the National Parks trip we planned for this summer on or off?  

Why it matters? : Aside from the fact that, to the world our government looks idiotic, this back and forth is destabilizing. And that may have been the point.  If one believes that government does not work, one has two choices: Work to make it better or dismantle it and privatize it on the assumption that businesspeople would do it better. I believe that our current administration is trying to make sure that the only conclusion is that the government cannot work and must be privatized. Good thing our president has so many rich businesspeople donors ready to step in and take over. 

What can we do about it? Flood our congress people with messages about doing their jobs. They are a co-equal branch of government. They have the power of the purse. They had no business allowing the president’s unelected biggest donor to tamper with government employment rolls or budgets. The Judiciary is doing their part. Congress needs to step up. They need to provide oversight, thought and deliberation. They should be calling Elon Musk in to account for his DOGE project and what savings he has actually found and what he intends to do with the access he has to our personal information. These things take time, but that is okay. We are all dizzy from the push-pull/stop-start.  “Move fast and break things” may work in the business world, but it is not a good way to manage people’s lives. 

Lyn Newman can be found on Bluesky