Columbus teachers union returning to class after approving contract with 4% annual raises

Teachers and other members of the Columbus Education Association will return to work Monday after voting 71% to 29% to approve a new three-year contract with Columbus City Schools that includes a 4% raise each year.

The CEA bargaining team disclosed the details of the contract Sunday to members at a mass membership meeting at Huntington Park, where members of the 4,500-member union — which represents teachers, librarians, nurses, counselors, psychologists and other education professionals — voted by paper ballot.

With the agreement, Columbus City students will return to in-person classes Monday. The Columbus City Schools Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting to ratify the agreement at 8 a.m. Monday, about a half-hour after students at some schools will have begun in-person classes.

Highlights of the three-year Columbus agreement

• A 4% raise each year of the three-year agreement.
• A contractual guarantee that all student learning areas will be climate controlled no later than the start of the 2025-2026 school year, including installation of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in buildings currently without HVAC, and in buildings that currently only have partial HVAC.
• Reductions in class size caps in all grade bands, lowering the number of students in every classroom by two over the course of the contract. 
• The first-ever limitations on the numbers of buildings assigned to each elementary art, music and physical education teachers, with scheduling intended for one specialist per subject area per building.
• The first-ever contractual limitation on the number of CEA positions that can be outsourced to out-of-town corporations, "thereby ensuring that our students are educated by experienced professionals from our local community."
• A paid parental leave program for teachers.

“It is important to remember that just ten short days ago, at our last bargaining session before the strike, CEA was told ‘no’ on guaranteed air conditioning and heat in every building, ‘no’ on class size reductions in middle and high schools, and ‘no’ on improved access to art, music, and P.E. at the elementary level.” said CEA spokeswoman Regina Fuentes.  “More than 4,000 of our members stood strong on the picket line, our community joined the fight, and we won victories on all three of these issues."   

Columbus students will resume school Monday

With tonight’s vote, in-person classes for Columbus students will resume Monday, Fuentes confirmed.

“We are so excited to get back to where we belong – our classrooms – doing what we do best – educating our students and shaping the future of our great city," she said.

During the CEA bargaining committee's presentation to members Sunday at the ballpark, the figure presented for raises drew some audible boos from the crowd when presented. When the bargaining team also said they "didn't get movement" on health benefits, that also drew some boos.

“In all negotiations you don’t get everything that you want and that’s part of the process,” said CEA President John Coneglio. “Of course, we want to do what’s best for our members every single time, but it’s one of those things where you go back next time and see what you can get.” 

Some teachers expressed their dissatisfaction with the contract and urged others to vote against the proposal.

“I can’t predict what teachers who rejected it were feeling and how they are going to feel in the future,” Fuentes said. “We got our members to a level of emotion and creation with this movement, and I think maybe some people are not ready to give up that fight. But I want them to understand that they are not giving up their fight just by accepting this agreement.”

Coneglio said the bargaining team was "proud of the work" it did.

"We brought you a contract that we put our heart and soul into," Coneglio said. "We put everything we could into this.

“We believe that after a week of sacrifices on the part of our community and teachers, fighting side-by-side, we have achieved an agreement that our students deserve."

School board president thanks CEA members for 'thoughtful consideration of this agreement'

At a press conference Sunday after the results of the CEA vote were announced, Columbus City school board President Jennifer Adair thanked CEA members and said that the agreement represented a win for children.

“To all CEA members, we say thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this agreement and your unwavering commitment to supporting our children and their families,” Adair said. “We look forward to getting our children back in their schools with you tomorrow.”

Adair said she believes a turning point in the negotiations during the marathon bargaining session last Wednesday into early Thursday was when she was present at the bargaining table, bucking the tradition of sending a negotiating team in the board’s place.

“It was a very long night, and we got a lot accomplished — we really talked through some of those sticking points,” Adair said. “But it was important the Board be there to get a finalized offer on the table.”

“I know that in contract negotiations it’s set up to be adversarial, us versus them,” Adair said. “But in reality, if we stay us versus them, we only hurt our children.”

Addressing the district's students, Adair said that "every adult in this district, every community member really does care about you. And when we saw our community out there supporting our teachers (during the strike), that's really support for you."

Adair acknowledged problems with Columbus City school buildings and the need to upgrade, improve and replace buildings.

"The teachers are not wrong in what they are speaking about," Adair said. "Moving forward, we need to fix urban education."

CEA members voted on contract at Huntington Park

CEA members filed into the baseball stadium for the scheduled 4:30 p.m. meeting Sunday through the outfield entrance and were wrapping around behind the will-call area. A lot of the members took seats on the first base side in the shade, and many members carried umbrellas and put on sunscreen as protection against the sun with temperatures approaching 90 degrees.

In the stands, a pep band called the CEA Strike Band was playing "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen and "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars prior to the start of the meeting. A white car with orange writing on it saying "I Support Columbus teachers" was doing laps around the outside of the stadium.

By the 4:30 p.m. start time, some teachers expressed frustration with a long line to enter the stadium through membership checks. Some appeared to turn and leave from the line as others continued to wait for entrance. The meeting did not get underway until about 5:15 p.m.

Columbus City Schools:How do Columbus teachers salaries compare with other districts?

Negotiators for Columbus City Schools and the CEA reached a "conceptual agreement" early Thursday morning after more than 12 hours of discussions under the oversight of a federal mediator.

The negotiation session began at 1 p.m. Wednesday on the third day of the teachers strike and the first day of districtwide classes, as many students struggled to log onto remote classes, attended class, or even picketed alongside their teachers.

Columbus City Schools: In-person classes planned Monday, athletic and band practices Aug. 26

In a letter published Thursday on Facebook and other social media, Columbus City Schools Superintendent Talisa Dixon said she was "happy to share that our children will return to in-person instruction on Monday."

Columbus City Schools strike:District, Columbus Education Association reach conceptual agreement

Columbus City Schools also announced all athletic, band and drill team practices would resume Friday. 

CEA officials at first had trouble finding a place to hold a contract ratification vote for its nearly 4,500 members on such short notice. The Greater Columbus Convention Center and Schottenstein Center were booked, Nationwide Arena was undergoing construction improvements.

Huntington Park, which can seat 10,100 people, is owned by Franklin County.

mhenry@dispatch.com

@megankhenry