An 8-week strike that paralyzed an Ohio school district is over after the school board unanimously approved a new teacher contract, The Ohio Plain Dealer reports. The school board met and all 5 members voted to approve the contract, with the news being made public a mere three minutes after the meeting was called to order.

David Frazee, the school board president, said that replacement teachers who have been subbing in for the strikers will be given a chance to take leave of the students formally, though he wasn’t clear on the details. The new contract will be made public on the district website.

The unanimous approval of the board comes after an “overwhelming” majority of the district’s 385 union members voted to ratify it this weekend. According Tracy Linscott, president of the Strongsville Education Association, the contract is quite similar to the terms proposed by the union 10 months ago.

The contract, effective through July 31, 2015, converts the 9.3 percent contribution the district paid into the teachers’ retirement fund to salary “by increasing the base salary by 10.3 percent, an amount equivalent to the amount paid by the board prior to the conversion.”

The contract also restores raises that were frozen in the 2011-2012 school year and gives teachers who are not eligible for step increases payments of $1,200 in September this and next year. Salaries at Step 20, the highest level, range from $60,975 to $93,827 for teachers with a Ph.D.

The contract also bars any reprisals against students, parents and staff members who took part in the strike and leaves until June 1st the renegotiation of a new teacher assessment system which will put the district in compliance with the new state legislation.

In exchange, the teachers have agreed to shoulder a larger portion of their health insurance premiums in the form of co-pays and deductibles. They will also cover their own dental and vision costs.

The new contracts also omits any mention of class size and school day length limits.

Teachers met for about 2 1/2 hours starting at 5 p.m. Saturday to discuss the pact and vote on it. Those leaving the meeting after casting ballots said they could not discuss the contract, but one said, “I’m happy to be back.” Another pumped her fist and said, “Coming back!” They declined to give their names.

Union president Linscott said Sunday that she feels rejuvenated and ready to help bring the schools and community back together.

The post Strongsville, Ohio Teacher Strike Resolved After Two Months appeared first on Education News.

Strongsville, Ohio teachers are continuing their strike even as the two sides are attempting to find a way towards a compromise with the federally appointed mediator, North Ohio’s Sun News reports. Teachers have now been striking for two weeks, while those hoping for a speedy resolution are losing hope after another 5 and a half hour negotiation session failed last night.

Tracy Linscott, the president of the Strongsville Education Association, and School Board President David Frazee have both expressed frustration with lack of progress in the talks. Both said that they had high hopes that the federal mediator would bring the two sides closer, and both feel that a compromise remains out of reach at the moment.

The meeting, held at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services office in Independence, was called March 15 by the federal mediator whose been working on the negotiations since Jan. 30 and has worked with the Strongsville City Schools for a number of years.

But after the Board of Education and its bargaining team emerged, Superintendent John Krupinski said the parties remain “substantially apart” on many key issues, and no further negotiating sessions are scheduled.

The last proposal submitted by the union calls for reinstatement of step and column teacher raises as well as changing the way the work day for teachers is defined.

The raises have been frozen since the last time the union and the district butted heads in 2011. The teachers’ proposal was in response to the “best” offer submitted by the district which called for the raises to remain frozen but offered a to reinstitute Voluntary Personal Growth raises and more flexibility on how pensions are computed.

Meanwhile, parents of Strongsville seem to be split in their reactions to the strike. Many express frustration at the situation, but while some are calling on the teachers to get back to the classrooms, others are standing with the union against the district.

About 100 parents showed up at a rally the purpose of which was to show support for teachers who are willing to cross the picket lines and enter the classrooms again.

Komarek and other parents said behavior by the Strongsville Education Association’s protesting teachers – which has included two teachers getting arrested and video of teachers yelling and screaming at substituteswhile they were being escorted by police to apply the day before the strike – is setting a bad example for students, and the community.
“This strike is embarrassing the community and it’s been going on too long,” Komarek said.

Meanwhile at 7pm every night about 150 teachers, students and parents get together for a candle-light vigil which in theory was supposed to be about the students, but turned into an impromptu rally in support of the union.

Organizers of both events vowed to continue holding them daily while the strike goes on.

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Ontario teachers unions aren’t the only ones who are criticizing Bill 115, which created a more hostile negotiating environment for unions in the province. Earlier this week hundreds of students walked out of class to protest being unwilling victims in the ongoing labor dispute between the union and the province as legislation known as Bill 115 stirs controversy.

According to CTV News, the students were also expressing their dissatisfaction with cuts to extracurricular activities. Public high school teachers who previously ran the activities such as coaching sports and running clubs stopped participating in any voluntary unpaid work after Bill 115 was approved. In addition, they’ve declined to perform any administrative duties for which they are not paid.

Public school teachers are protesting Bill 115 provisions that allow the province to shut down strikes, force a contract agreement onto teachers when no compromise can be reached, and institute wage, hiring and benefit freezes.

Students said that the rescinding of extracurricular activities is hurting them.

“Our students have the right to learn before and after school, the right to play basketball, have a prom, eat breakfast at breakfast club and have fun in the gym after school,” said student Braxton Wignall.

In addition to a number of protest gatherings which took place over the last two weeks, students have also created an online petition calling for the teachers and the provincial government to get back to the negotiating table. In the words of Kourosh Houshmand, a vice-president of the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association, it is unfair that the fight between the union and the province has affected students in such a big way.

Teachers at elementary schools around Ontario are also participating in a strike action, beginning the first of the rotating strikes and launching demands that Bill 115 is rescinded.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said the one-day elementary teacher strikes are a “small price to pay” after nine years of labour peace in the province.

“While inconvenient, these one-day legal strike actions do not warrant the intervention of the government and are a small price to pay to protect full-day kindergarten, smaller class sizes and 10,000 teaching jobs,” McGuinty said in a statement.

For parents who are worried about getting caught up in the elementary school strike actions, the CBCNews Ontario website provides a FAQ explaining what they can expect. Among the tips provided are assurances that the strikes are unlikely to last for more than a day and that they will continue taking place around the province until the end of the semester on December 21st.

The post Ontario Elementary Teachers Strike, Students Protest appeared first on Education News.

Parents in Ontario, Canada will have a fairly short window in which to make alternative arrangements for their school-aged kids this December, as the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has announced that it will give just a 72-hour notice prior to going on strike. In a statement, ETFO President Sam Hammond said that it was unfortunate that the union members were put in a position to walk off their jobs, but felt that it was inevitable in light of the recent passage of Bill 115.

According to the ETFO, Bill 115 strips the union of many of its collective bargaining rights, and vests in Education Minister Laurel Broten power to force agreement upon the teachers should their talks with provincial and local school districts fail to produce results by the end of the year.

“The bill puts the government beyond the reach of the Ontario Human Rights Code, Ontario Labour Relations Act, and the courts,” Hammond said. “On November 11th, the government invited ETFO to discussions with Ministry officials and a third party facilitator. ETFO and government representatives were engaged in productive talks when the Minister abruptly shut the session down.

Although Hammond seemed to imply that a strike was all but inevitable, he left the door open for an agreement to be reached through further talks. He said that the union stood ready to continue discussions with Broten, but only if the Minister appeared willing to consider a more equitable approach to the process.

The ETFO membership is made up of 76,000 elementary school teachers and other education professionals. It is the largest teachers union in the country.

Meanwhile, education officials are saying that should the teachers walk off the job, they are prepared to take all measures open to them to “respond.” Although the power to compel teachers to return to work was given to Broten under Act 115, it is yet unclear if she will make use of it in case the strike actually goes off.

Elementary teachers in a legal strike position are expected to walk off the job next month, escalating their job action just withdrawing from administrative duties. The hope of negotiated settlements to end the labour strife in Ontario schools is growing dimmer, as the union representing public high school teachers also broke off all negotiations with school boards until further notice.

Speaking after the union announcement, Broten wouldn’t commit outright to making use of the new powers, but in the statement she reassured parents that the officials had “tools” to ensure that schools remain open.

The post Ontario Parents Will Get 72-Hour Notice of Elementary Strike appeared first on Education News.

The Chicago Teachers Union, with support from other public employee unions, held a Labor Day rally in the Loop this week, drawing thousands of supporters to an event that turned into a protest march around City Hall. David Roeder and Fran Spielman, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, report that teachers chanted labor slogans, waved placards and cheered several speakers.

One of those speakers was CTU President Karen Lewis, who took the opportunity to tear into Mayor Rahm Emanuel by calling him a liar and a bully. Lewis repeated again the claim, which Emanuel denies, that the Mayor has previously said the lowest scoring quarter of students were unworthy of educational support and the money should instead be targeted at those with more potential.

“On the name-calling, this is not about Rahm Emanuel or Karen Lewis,” said Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton. “It’s about the kids of the city of Chicago and ensuring they have a full school day and year.”

As for the teacher talks, Hamilton said, “They’re making progress. They met all weekend. They have meetings scheduled all week. The right people are at the table to reach an agreement that will keep our kids in school learning and that is fair to the teachers.”

The CTU claimed a crowd of 18,000 for the rally, while other estimates were closer to 10,000. When the rally took to the streets, police took the precaution of blocking off traffic. Teachers at the rally expressed disappointment that the media was representing their fight as being one mainly about salary concerns; they see it as being a fight for the future of public education and stronger neighborhoods.

Teachers in the crowd said the school system is treating them with disrespect and, in its drive to cut expenses, refuses to spend on needed facilities such as libraries and lunchrooms. “All the parents have told me that they support a strike. They realize it’s about the kids,” said Tiera Robinson, who teaches preschool special education at Hughes Elementary School.

On Monday, September 10 more than 26,000 teachers and other school workers are scheduled to walk out on their jobs, with the strike disrupting the second week of schools for 400,000 Chicago public schoolchildren.

While there is a possibility that the strike date may be pushed back, CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said that was unlikely considering that weekend negotiations had barely touched upon the main points of contention, instead only resolving minor points.

Chicago Public School CEO Jean-Claude Brizard has refused to comment on the situation beyond saying that people are working hard to achieve a resolution and that with academic indicators in the city finally pointing upwards, Chicago’s children can’t afford to miss a single day of school.

The post Chicago Teachers Union Pres Calls Mayor Emanuel Bully, Liar appeared first on Education News.

Monday, September 10 has been set as the long-anticipated strike date for the Chicago Teachers Union. In a press conference statement, President of the Chicago Teachers Union Karen Lewis said:

“We have said from the very beginning that we are tired of being bullied, belittled and betrayed. We have done everything asked of us and we continue to be vilified and treated with disrespect. This contract fight is about three things: A better day for our students, job security and wages and benefits for our members

You all know that we’ve been in negotiations since September of 2011. We’ve had over 45 negotiating sessions and we still have no agreement. Today our house of delegates have set a strike date for September 10th. We intend to walk out, and all of our members and our house of delegates unanimously approved this.

We’ve been telling our parents and the city to prepare for this. We do not want to strike but apparently the board does. Because if they didn’t we wouldn’t be in this situation we are today. So we intend to fight for better contracts. We intend to fight for better schooling. We intend to fight for the schools that our children deserve.”

In post statement questions, Lewis confirmed that the strike would start at midnight on September 9, meaning that no CTU teachers would be in classrooms on September 10 — the first day of the second week of school for most students in Chicago Public Schools.

Lewis also confirmed that contract negotiations would continue through the week and weekend, which, if successful, could avert the strike. While both sides would probably prefer the strike not to take place — as they both risk endangering public goodwill — there is still a substantial gulf between the pay raise that the CTU is demanding and what CPS says is the most it can possibly afford.

If the strike does go ahead it would be the first teacher walkout in Chicago in 25 years and would adversely affect more than 400,000 students and their families.

CPS has budgeted $25 million for its contingency plan. The Chicago Tribune reports that CPS plans to open 145 schools for the morning session 8:30am to 12:30am Monday through Friday to provide non-teaching student activities. In addition, the district will partner with other city agencies to provide a safe space for as many of Chicago’s students as possible.

Schools opened during a strike will be selected based on location, with preference given to schools with “strong leadership,” air conditioning, gymnasiums, cafeterias, computer labs and easy access to public transportation. Children will be invited to participate in activities such as independent reading, writing, the arts, athletics and computer work.

There will be separate facilities provided for high school students, special education students and elementary school children. All facilities will provide breakfast and lunch. However, all varsity sports and practices will be cancelled for the duration of the strike.

The post Chicago Union Leader Makes Statement on Teachers Strike appeared first on Education News.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis announced that the union had filed a 10 day strike action notice because of a smear campaign by Chicago Public Schools and the mayor against teachers.

“It has been insult after insult after insult. Enough is enough,” Lewis said.

By filing the required 10-day notice Wednesday with the CPS school board and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, teachers are eligible to strike beginning on Sept. 10, the start of the second week of school for the majority of CPS students.

The strike notice has been widely anticipated for some time, with many expecting it to have occurred a little earlier than it actually did. Having the city’s children go back to school for a week and then be out of school will likely cause considerable disruption to both their education and many of the city’s parents, but the union proceeded.

Whether the CTU will actually go on strike remains to be seen as the strike notice is primarily a negotiating tool. However, there is still such a wide gulf between the 22% two year pay increase demanded by the CTU and the 2% per year for 4 years that CPS says is the maximum they can afford that it remains difficult to foresee a compromise that both sides will agree to. Although some minor contractual points have been resolved, the major sticking points of teacher raises and a permanent system of rehiring laid off teachers remain seemingly irresolvable.

“I want to make clear that we will remain at the (negotiating) table until a deal gets done,” Lewis said. “We will have a contract and it will come the easy way or the hard way.”

Responding to the union’s announcement, CPS chief Jean-Claude Brizard issued a statement Wednesday evening, saying “everyone knows that a strike would only hurt our kids.”

Brizard went on to say that they will continue to meet with the CTU every day, striving to reach a fair resolution for the teachers and to avoid disruption to the kids’ school year.

If the strike does happen, CPS spokeswoman Becky Carroll says that they have $25m budgeted for a contingency plan that will provide a ‘safe and engaging’ environment for as many children in the district as possible. This plan seems to involve opening some city buildings, including schools, to provide breakfast, lunch and play areas. Unfortunately state law prohibits students from engaging in classroom instruction in the absence of certified teachers, so even if the daycare side of the school experience is still provided to minimize disruption for working parents, the children will still suffer educationally.

“If the Chicago Teachers Union chooses to strike, we’ll be prepared to serve our kids,” Carroll said.

Prominent CTU members were seeking the hearts and minds of local residents by campaigning at 95th Street last Friday, but it remains to be seen which side the Chicago public will blame for the strike if it occurs.

The post Chicago Teachers Union Files 10-Day Strike Notice appeared first on Education News.

The Chicago Teachers Union has yet to file a 10 day strike notice, and union President Karen Lewis has said there are no immediate plans to do so — which means students in Chicago will definitely return to school on time on September 4th. However, a strike notice is widely anticipated to occur soon as the threat of an early strike would give the union additional leverage at the bargaining table. They may also wait until the two sides are a little closer together so that the strike could be leveraged into a concrete deal.

At the moment the two sides are still worlds apart on the matters of teacher compensation, evaluation of performance and job security.

According to material presented to the union’s House of Delegates on Wednesday, the district’s latest salary offer is a 2 percent raise in each of the four years of the contract, with merit pay tying wage increases to student performance in the final year. The district also wants to eliminate automatic annual raises tied to experience.

Chicago Public Schools officials said their proposal is 2 percent over each of the contract’s four years and is not tied to merit pay.

By contrast, the union’s counteroffer remains at a heavily front-loaded 22% pay increase over two years; 19% in the first and 3% in the second. The union also wants to create a permanent system for rehiring laid off teachers.

Union leaders, including Lewis and Jesse Sharkey, the Chicago Teachers Union vice president, spent Friday morning at the Red Line stop at 95th Street handing out fliers to local commuters and trying to drum up local public support.

“Good morning brother, support public schools,” Lewis said as she handed a flier to a man walking by.

Joel Hood of the Chicago Tribune reported that the union effort had all the hallmarks of a grassroots political campaign, which is a fairly apt comparison. The union’s key bargaining chip is that of being able to strike. A teachers strike will, however, cause significant disruption to the lives of many Chicago citizens as well as impacting their children’s quality of education. The CTU is working hard to win the hearts and minds of the local community because who the Chicago public blames for the almost inevitable strike will be key to the outcome of negotiations.

“We’re relying on pressure from not only our members but also the public to improve our position at the bargaining table,” union Vice President Jesse Sharkey said. “If the public is calling for many of the same things we’re calling for, a fair contract and smaller class sizes, then that helps.”

The post Despite Strike Threat, Chicago Schools to Open As Scheduled appeared first on Education News.

The compromise between the teachers union and Chicago Public Schools over the extension of the school day is not sitting as well the with the union majority as was hoped. This last Wednesday, the union’s House of Delegates debated giving the Union President the complete power to call for a ten-day walkout at any time and without notice. Union President Karen Lewis said that the move should be taken as the expression of frustration by the membership over the pace and the direction of the talks between union representatives and the Chicago Public Schools officials.

Although a deal over the longer school day was achieved last week, the membership feels like the union was made to concede too much in the final agreement. Lewis said that two sides remain “far apart” on the issue of the longer day.

Contrary to the expectation that even a barebones agreement between the two sides would quiet the talks about an industrial action by the union, union officials recently talked to members and delegates about a strike to be called imminently. The strike vote that will be held at the next union meeting will be largely symbolic, aimed mainly at taking the temperature of the membership rather than kicking off industrial action. In reality, the union members have already given the board unilateral permission over when, or even if, the strike is called.

Currently open-meetings are being held for CPS 6th-grade staff to canvass their views on how a longer school day could be made to work. They are required to return with a plan to implement it August 30th.

At its meeting earlier Wednesday, the school board approved a strike contingency plan that would kick in if a 10-day walkout notice is filed. The plan provides up to $25 million for “supervised shelter, meals and other limited non-instructional services” to students. The district would likely use Park District facilities, libraries and churches as part of the plan. The majority of schools open Sept. 4.

Board President David Vitle said that contrary to the posturing of the union membership, members themselves aren’t eager to strike, but he feels that the time is growing closer that would make a strike a necessity. The district’s recent budget moves seem to indicate that they’re upping their preparedness level, draining dues money and cash reserves in order to make sure the union is in position to pay the salary of member who choose to strike.

“One of the things we’re hearing is the way the interim agreement is being implemented is a real problem,” he said.

Edie Smith, a first-grade teacher at Mason Math & Science Academy in Lawndale, said that at her school, the longer day has meant having children on recess without sufficient supervision.

“If you’re a building and Hurricane Isaac is coming and no one boarded the windows, that’s how it feels.” Smith said.

The post Chicago Teachers Union Conflict Far from Resolved appeared first on Education News.

Neshaminy School District teachers went on strike last week for the second time in a year and promptly found themselves the target of an ad in a local paper which listed the average Neshaminy striker’s pay and benefits at more than $100,000 a year. The $1600 ad was paid for by Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania and put together using data sourced by local taxpayers utilizing a right-to-know request.

The ad “turned the battle” against the teachers, insisted Philadelphia landlord Bob Guzzardi, who blasts pro-conservative messages to a long list of fellow activists. (The teachers said they agreed to return to work, in advance of a court order, “as a sign of good faith” in future talks with the school board.)

The school board have stated that they won’t negotiate with the teachers while they’re on strike. As reported by Joseph DiStefano writing for Philly.com, Citizens Alliance executive director Leo Knepper said:

“It really defies reason that they thought they should have access to [compensation] from taxpayers who have no hope of making that much,”

Knepper was hired by Citizens Alliance last fall after previously working for a Heritage Foundation affiliated education group.

In the Neshaminy strike, he said, he saw an opportunity to reach a broad public in a politically mixed area while supporting the school board and other elected officials who have resisted labor demands. Now, State Rep. Frank Farry (R., Bucks), a Neshaminy High grad, is among those pushing to ban teacher strikes across the commonwealth.

“We’re focusing on the labor problems we have in Pennsylvania,” Knepper told me. “We want to make Pennsylvania a more business-friendly environment.”

The Neshaminy Federation of Teaches has 633 members who work at 13 schools in the district. The two NFT strikes have so far caused the cancellation of 15 days of classes at the schools and a ‘work-to-contract’ action that obviously affected preschool and afterschool services. They have been working without a raise in the last four years but the school board says the current contract is already unaffordable. The school year will be extended to June 27 for most students and negotiations between the NFT and the district are set to continue from the end of June through all of July.

Citizens Alliance was founded in 2009 by ex-state Rep. John Kennedy. They are based in Lemoyne.

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