Youngstown City School District says teachers union ‘negotiating through the media’
The war of words is heating up as the Youngstown Education Association’s teachers strike enters its third week on Wednesday.
The union detailed discussions with the Youngstown City School District in press releases to the media, while the board has been more selective in its comments.
But the school district took exception to Monday’s comments from the union expressing concern they have yet to receive an offer from the school board and adding that “they are negotiating through the media.”
Here was their response from an email sent to media members Monday evening.
Statement from the Youngstown City School District
As has been consistent throughout the negotiating process, the YEA union on Monday issued another press release making inaccurate accusations directed at the School Board through their spokesperson, Jim Courim. Although the school district asked the Union to correct their factually inaccurate press releases, this has yet to occur. Therefore, in order to keep our scholars and their families in the public informed as to the school district’s hard work to reach an agreement, the School Board wants to make clear as to its efforts.
Although the School Board remains willing to work under the contract terms that have been in effect for over a decade while negotiating, the Union has rejected this approach. The School Board has offered ways to negotiate while school resumes.
Last week, progress was made addressing teacher building transfers, but the issue of raises has not yet been agreed upon. After negotiating with the Union throughout the day on Friday, the school district team remained by itself in a work session until nearly midnight, working on both transfer and wage issues. The school district continued to work as a team Saturday on building information to present to the Union to bridge the gap on transfer and wage proposals.
On Sunday, the school district and the Union met where the school district, through its Treasurer Bryan Schiraldi, presented information on the budget deficit, the spending of its reserve funds, other neighboring School District raise benchmarks, the decline in enrollment measured against the teaching staff, and financial data from the State Labor Board. All of this information was presented Sunday to the Union in order to help bridge the gap in the wage proposal. On Monday, the parties again met to negotiate the teacher transfer sections of the contract that the Union wants changed. The School Board presented its proposal it had been working on since nearly midnight Friday and over the weekend.
Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor, in response to the Monday YEA press release and comments from their spokesperson, Mr. Courim, notes: “There seems to be a consistent pattern that when we have to address the difficult issue of the large gap between the average wage raise that we are offering based upon our neighboring school districts and the wage demand that the Union has on the table, we can count on a press release or a statement from their spokesperson to spin what is really going on. My team continues to work around the clock. I had my team work until close to midnight on Friday. I asked my Treasurer to prepare financial data to support our wage proposal on Saturday, and I asked the remainder of our team to continue to work on developing a proposal to meet the Union’s demand of changing contract language that’s been in effect for over a decade. Despite the holiday weekend, my team worked to have a financial presentation ready by Sunday that we presented to the Union and a new proposal on transfers ready by Monday that we then presented in the afternoon as scheduled.”
Mr. Batchelor continued, “I can assure our scholars and their families and the public that my team continues to work daily in trying to find a solution to the Union’s demands. We are doing this while focusing on both the fiscal and management flexibility that we need to turn around a school district that remains in academic distress. The Union’s use of the media has been consistent and, at times, incorrect and sets bargaining back. The contract will need to be settled at the table, not through the media. In response to Monday’s press release, I ask everyone in the community to see through what is going on. I want our scholars back in school, but I do not have the authority to end the strike as that is solely and 100% the option of the Union and not of my management team. I have been willing to work under the current terms of the contract while we continue to bargain with our kids back in school.”
CONNECT WITH US
WEB SITE ► https://www.mahoningmatters.com
DAILY NEWS EMAIL ► https://www.mahoningmatters.com/customer-service/newsletter-signup/
FACEBOOK ► https://www.facebook.com/mahoningmatters
TWITTER ► https://twitter.com/mahoningmatters
YOUTUBE ► https://www.youtube.com/@mahoningmatters2814
INSTAGRAM ► https://www.instagram.com/mahoningmatters
SUPPORT US ► https://givebutter.com/vNfzEW