COLUMBUS, Ohio — Thursday morning, the teacher’s union for Columbus City Schools filed it’s notice of intent to strike and picket if an agreement can’t be made in the next 10 days.
The decision for an intent to strike, comes after months of negotiations between the Columbus Education Association and the Columbus City School Board.
The notice of intent to strike means if the union and the board can not reach an agreement in the next 10 days, then teachers will strike starting Aug. 22.
The CCS board gave an offer July 28, but representatives from the teacher’s union said they felt it didn’t address all their needs.
In response, Board President Jennifer Adair said: “The board’s offer is comprehensive, fair and respectful. It is responsive to specific concerns raised by CEA and includes respectful economic terms.”
CEA Spokesperson Regina Fuentes said the union has combed over what the board called their “final offer,” and their members don’t feel comfortable returning to the classroom without more concrete changes.
“We’ve been asking for some accountability in these conditions for years, and we’re just asking the district to actually follow through on the promises they made,” said Fuentes. “If the funds are there to fix these problems, there should be no reason why the district can’t put that in writing and say you know what we’re going to take care of these students, we are going to take care of these buildings and we’re going to make sure that it’s done by this date.”
In the event of a strike, the school board released a number of answers to questions students and parents may have.
- School will proceed Aug. 24 with remote learning
- Any technology students may need will be distributed to new students at their school the week of Aug. 15
- Full-time substitutes will be supplied with the curriculum and extra curricular activities will be postponed or canceled until the strike is over, because teachers make up nearly 60% of coaches or extra curricular advisors.
Fuentes said while this plan may address logistics, it could have long term effects on the quality of education students are receiving.
“There is no way that any plan that they come up with is equal to the professionalism and the quality of education that we know Columbus educators could give our students,” said Fuentes.
The board members said they feel a strike is unnecessary.
“With this lack of good faith efforts by the CEA, we believe announcing a strike is premature and a disservice to our school community,” said Adair.
The CEA said they want this resolved, but not at the expense of students and faculty.
“We want our kids in the classroom, that’s where we belong, that’s where they belong, but we also want them to be safe,” said Fuentes. “We want our schools to be well maintained, fully resourced, in every neighborhood. Not just a select few. All of them.”
Students in Columbus City Schools will return Aug. 24 and a Back-to-School Resource Fair is set for Aug. 20.
