Mary E. Binegar

Ohio School Board District 5

About Mary E. Binegar

Learn more about Mary E. Binegar

Mary E. Binegar is a candidate for the State Board of Education in District 5, which includes 15 Ohio counties and a portion of one other county. She is running for this office due to her lifelong passion and dedication to public education. Binegar believes that the public education system is the foundation of democracy. The recent pandemic has highlighted many of the inequities in the current system that must be addressed.

Binegar earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Ohio State University and a Master’s in Secondary Education from the University of Dayton. Her professional career spans 35 years, during which she focused on meeting the educational needs of students.

Throughout her career, much of Binegar’s activism was through the Ohio Education Association (OEA). She served as president or vice president of the Urbana Association of Classroom Teachers for 20 years. Additionally, she held positions on the OEA Board of Directors and the National Education Association (NEA) Board of Directors. She also represented OEA on the State Advisory Panel for Exceptional Children and the Committee of Practitioners, both of which worked directly with Ohio Department of Education staff and State Board of Education members.

Now retired, Binegar remains active in OEA and currently serves as Chair of the OEA-Retired group. This group promotes quality public education for every child, regardless of zip code or income level, supports active educators, advocates for legislation that protects public education, and works to ensure pensions and benefits for retirees.

If elected to the State Board of Education, Binegar’s priority will be listening to the concerns of students, parents, and educators and recommending policies and procedures that best meet the educational needs of all students across Ohio.

Rating Mary E. Binegar

Rank-and-file OEA members from legislative districts and surrounding school districts screened and endorsed candidates based on their positions and voting records on the following issues:

Support for fully funding the Fair School Funding Plan to ensure students and educators have the resources they need and to alleviate dependency on local property tax levies
Stopping book bans, infringing on educators’ academic freedom, censorship, and ensuring the ability of students to receive an inclusive, historically accurate, and truthful education
Decreasing standardized testing
Shifting away from the State of Ohio’s report cards being based on testing outcomes
Stopping state takeovers of school districts due to low standardized test scores
Preservation of educators’ pensions to ensure a safe, secure retirement so Ohio can attract and retain the educators of tomorrow
Opposition to privatizing educational services to ensure education positions remain good union jobs
Support for unions and collective bargaining to ensure educators receive fair contracts and have a voice in the workplace
Opposition to vouchers and voucher expansion, and support for charter and private school accountability

Take Action

Tap the link for more

Election Information & Protection

Tap the link to call

Election protection hotline: 844-644-8683 or 844-OHI-VOTE

Registration Deadline:

Monday, October 7, 2024 – Deadline to register to vote and update registrations in advance of the general election. Boards of Election will be open until 9:00 PM for individuals to drop off registrations or register online at the link below before the deadline:

Election Information