Staff Reports
Early Thursday morning, Columbus City Schools and the Columbus Education Association were able to strike a preliminary agreement after negotiating with a federal mediator for more than 12 hours.
If members of the CEA decide to ratify the accord, the strike will be called off, and students will resume their normal schedules on Monday.
According to the school district, there will be no break in the virtual learning that takes place on Thursday and Friday. This is so that teachers may use those days to plan to prep for a return to school on Monday. It has been communicated to members of the CEA that they are not required to show up to the picket lines on Thursday morning.
According to the CEA, a mass membership meeting is scheduled to take place over the upcoming weekend. At this meeting, the CEA Core Bargaining Team is expected to suggest ratification, which might bring an end to the strike that has been going on for the past three days. After the CEA ratifies the agreement, the board will vote on whether or not to accept it.
According to John Coneglio, President of the Columbus Education Association (CEA), this settlement would not have been feasible without the unflinching support of parents, community members, organized labor, and local businesses in Columbus. In order for CEA to obtain the schools that Columbus students deserve, it required the participation of the entire city. The almost 4,500 members of the organization include a wide variety of education professionals, including but not limited to teachers, librarians, nurses, counselors, and psychologists.
While specifics cannot be revealed at this time, the contract acknowledges the Board's commitment to enhancing student outcomes, the vital work of CEA members, and reinforcing our learning environments, said Jennifer Adair, President of the Columbus City Schools Board of Education.
The meeting took place on the first day of classes to be held districtwide, which also happened to be the third day of the strike by the teachers. At the time of the meeting, many students were having trouble logging into their remote classes, attending classes, or even picketing alongside their teachers.
We applaud the sacrifices made over the past three days by students, parents, and teachers alike as we pushed for the schools Columbus students deserve, stated CEA Spokesperson Regina Fuentes. We fight for the schools Columbus students deserve.
A copy of the unfair labor practice charge that the school board filed against the union on August 3 indicates that early on in the negotiation process, the union requested an increase of 8% per year for three years at each step of the salary scale for the school years 2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-25.
Following the 8% increase, the pay range would now be between $53,286 and $116,293.
The CEA president, John Coneglio, was on the picket lines on Monday and declined to confirm to the Dispatch that the union is still demanding an 8% salary raise.
At the last round of bargaining between the CEA and the district, which took place on August 18, before the union made the decision to go on strike, the district presented a plan that satisfied some of the union's requests.
The agreement included the following provisions: smaller class sizes in grades K-5 with classes of no more than 28 students, which would be reduced until the number reached 27; thirty days of paid leave for new parents; an agreement to hire twenty-five new full-time nurses, specialists, and other support staff; and a day set aside for teachers to plan.
When it came to salaries, the district proposed to the union an increase of 3% every year for the next three years, which would bring the range from $50,819 to $117,664 total.
The offer also indicated that the Board has contracted and/or committed monies to build air conditioning in all of the schools, with the exception of Mifflin Middle School. Mifflin Middle School was the only school excluded from this provision.
Mifflin is one of the schools that, according to the proposed facilities master plan for the district, would be demolished and replaced with a brand new middle school. It has central air conditioning in approximately half of the building.
According to the spokesperson for the district, Jacqueline Bryant, the HVAC system upgrades were planned to be finished in seven of the 13 buildings on Wednesday, with six more buildings scheduled to have their renovations finished in the middle to late part of September.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on The Daily Cable.
