COLUMBUS – Hours after the union representing its teachers announced it was planning to strike two days before the scheduled start of the new school year, officials with the Columbus City Schools unveiled their plans for conducting classes in the event of a work stoppage.
Pointing out that a teachers’ strike is “not a valid excuse for a student absence” in the eyes of state law, the district says, if teachers go out on strike, learning will be carried out remotely, guided by full-time substitutes, administration personnel or teachers who don’t go on strike.
The Columbus Education Association, which represents nearly 4,500 teachers and other professionals in the state’s largest school district, filed on Thursday a notice of intent to strike on Aug. 22 if no agreement is reached in contract talks.
Union spokesperson Regina Fuentes says the Board of Education failed to respond to a CEA proposal at the most recent bargaining session on Wednesday, while board president Jennifer Adair cited a “lack of good faith efforts by CEA” for the breakdown in talks.
“The Board is deeply troubled to learn that the Columbus Education Association filed a notice of intent to strike with the State Employment Relations Board,” Adair said. “A strike is disruptive and hurts our students more than anyone else. The Board is determined to reach an agreement, and we will continue our preparations for opening day on August 24 in hope that our teachers will be in their classrooms with our students.”
The two sides broke off negotiations on July 28,but a federal mediator called them back to the bargaining table on Wednesday.
“CEA has consistently maintained that we are fighting not just for CEA members, but for our students and community. That is why CEA will continue that fight until a fair agreement is reached for the schools Columbus Students Deserve,” Fuentes said in a statement.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and members of the city council both encouraged the two sides to iron out their differences so students could return to the classrooms.
“I encourage @ColsCitySchools and @ColumbusEA to negotiate until they reach a resolution that prevents further harm to students,” Ginther wrote in a tweet.
No one wins from a strike, but the real losers are the children who have already suffered so much through the pandemic. Collective bargaining works. I encourage @ColsCitySchools and @ColumbusEA to negotiate until they reach a resolution that prevents further harm to students.
— Mayor Andrew Ginther (@MayorGinther) August 12, 2022
“Kids need to be in class, in-person, safe and learning…Our kids, teachers, parents and all residents have been through some incredibly difficult years. Stability is critical and that starts with our kids headed back to school to learn,” city council members wrote in a joint statement.
The two sides remained at odds over issues such as smaller class sizes, full-time art, music, and physical education teachers at the elementary level; functional heating and air-conditioning in classrooms, planning time for teachers, the number of class periods during the school day, “outsourcing positions to private, for-profit corporations from outside the community, and recruiting and retaining the best educators for Columbus students,” Fuentes said.