Contract Negotiations Fail, Cleveland Teachers Union President Calls for Strike

The summer is over for Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) students as school started on Monday. The CMSD teacher contract also came to an end over the summer. Unfortunately, a new contract has not been agreed on in spite of efforts over the summer.

Cleveland.com reports that Cleveland Teachers Union (CTU) President David Quolke called for a strike at their meeting on Monday night. Tuesday morning, Quolke said in a statement that the strike would begin on September 1st.

“Over the last two weeks - Cleveland teachers, paraprofessionals, and related service providers greeted Cleveland’s kids and enthusiastically began a new school year. That is why issuing a notice to strike is not an easy thing to do. It is our hope that the CMSD and the Mayor will commit to using the next two weeks to resolve the contract. It is essential that we invest in our schools and in our students, and we provide more, not fewer opportunities for students; and it is essential that we settle this contract and begin working to pass the Cleveland school levy," Quolke said.

The teachers union voted to authorize a call to strike in May.

After learning of CTU president Quolke's call to strike, CMSD released the following statement:

"We are disappointed to learn that the Executive Committee of the Cleveland Teachers Union has authorized a strike of its members. The District and CTU have been in negotiations since November 2015 and have spent hundreds of hours in bargaining. A significant number of items have been resolved, and only a few remain. It is unfortunate, therefore, that the CTU has chosen to put its efforts toward a strike rather than working to resolve the few remaining items.

Nonetheless, the District is making preparations to minimize the impact on our 39,000 students. The Board remains committed to resolving any remaining issues without eroding school reforms critical to meeting the goals of The Cleveland Plan."

CMSD spokeswoman Roseann Canfora told cleveland.com that "It is unfortunate that the CTU has chosen to put its efforts toward a strike rather than to resolve the few remaining items."

Quolke pointed out that three days prior to school starting were spent negotiating without any results. However, he remains hopeful:

"I still believe strongly that we can get this done, but we can't keep kicking it down the road."

Quolke stressed that it's important that the two sides continue to negotiate so a deal can be struck and the teachers will be able to campaign for the upcoming school levy.