Bargaining on a new contract continues; first day of school for year-round school
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Good morning, Columbus!
The Dispatch’s education team is back from the Education Writers Association’s 75th annual National Seminar. My colleague Sheridan described it best when she said it was basically like school for education reporters. It was great learning so much from education experts and from fellow education reporters. We gained so many insights and have so many awesome story ideas we can’t wait to share with our readers.
It’s hard to believe it’s already August. As much as I love summer, there’s something exciting about the start of the new school year. It’s a fresh start and the possibilities seem endless.
I was reminded of this when I covered the first day of school last week at Woodcrest Elementary School, Columbus City Schools year-round school. The energy was electric. Parents snapped photos of their students, some dressed in a new outfit. And the students smiled as they got off the bus and were greeted by their teachers.
Hopefully you can soak up the final weeks of summer!
Also, send us your first day of school photos and you may be featured in the newsletter.
Review Session: Columbus City Schools starts school Aug. 24, but a new contract has yet to be ratified between Columbus Education Association and Columbus City Schools.
My colleague Michael Lee has been covering the ins and outs of the contract negotiations.
Bargaining on a new contract between the Columbus Education Association and Columbus City Schools has broken off after the school district declared it has made its "final offer."
The “final offer” addressed key issues, including increases to teaching salaries that exceed the average of state and local teaching salaries, "new and innovated leave benefits," and "creative" career development opportunities for teachers.
"[The offer] aligns with our Goals and Guardrails to ensure our students are prepared for the future," said Board Member Carol Beckerle. "This final offer reflects the Board’s belief that our teachers are essential to the success of our students."
The CEA, which represents teachers and other personnel, said it will now call a membership meeting on Aug. 4 to decide whether or not to recommend its legislative assembly consider a 10-day notice of the union's intent to strike.
If the CEA's legislative assembly votes to pass the recommendation, members will meet again on Aug. 21 — three days before classes are scheduled to start Aug. 24 — to vote on whether to authorize a strike when school is scheduled to begin.
The day before the final offer was made, the union rallied outside the district's downtown administration building.
Read the rest of Michael’s story here.
Extra Credit:
The University of Southern California and UCLA will join the Big Ten in 2024 and experts say it will likely bolster the Big Ten’s academics.
In a bid to advance Ohio State University's sustainability goals, the City of Columbus is helping students recycle their refuse as they finish summer classes and move out of summer housing over the next few weeks.
Ohio University reinstates it’s mask mandate because Athens County is now listed as a high level of transmission on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest COVID-19 data tracker.
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Until next week,
Megan Henry
Email: mhenry@dispatch.com
Twitter: @megankhenry
Megan Henry is a Columbus Dispatch K-12 education reporter. Reach her at mhenry@dispatch.com or (614) 559-1758. Follow her on Twitter @megankhenry. Sign up for her education newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Education News: Bargaining on a new contract continues, year-round school starts
