Dear Colleagues,
Thank you to all who were able to show up at the Board meeting on Tuesday. I am pretty sure that the Board noticed that there were a lot of people concerned about the decisions being made. Even if they did not acknowledge this publicly, I am sure they are having ongoing conversations asking in private what they do not want to say in public. We will be discussing next steps at our Executive Board meeting this afternoon.
What everyone forgot about was the adoption of the new school calendars for the next two school years. The Board voted to accept the administration's recommendation to start early next year. I am sure this comes as a shock. If you already made plans for August 18, then you might need to reconsider, if possible, or start the year using up your personal days.
The Bargaining Poll is being finalized for our teachers unit. I will send it out today or tomorrow. It will take about 5-10 minutes and is completely anonymous. This is one survey we will not publish because we use this information when negotiating to guide important decisions. We will ask about salary, benefits, Retirement Incentives, Standardized Testing, Peer Evaluation, and about you. This is a much shorter poll than usual and we hope that you take the time to help us.
Lastly, you should have received a ballot for the STRS Board election. The following statement comes from OFT.
A delegation of the Retirement Committee and retirees from the Northeast Ohio Retirees chapter interviewed STRS Board member Tim Myers, a candidate for the STRS Board. After the interview process the committee recommends Tim Myers for selection. Tim is running for re-election and has been very willing to help address concerns of active teachers. These are complex days full of hard decision so having someone with experience is helpful. Tim is a part of OEA’s leadership team. Cory King, a classroom teacher, the other candidate running is also an OEA member but wasn’t endorsed by OEA.
Fraternally,
Ari Klein
CHTU President
