Menlo Park Academy teachers vote to unionize
CLEVELAND- Teachers at a Cleveland charter school that focuses on educating gifted students in kindergarten through eighth grade voted to unionize Wednesday evening.
The vote was 46 to 3, according to the Ohio Federation of Teachers.
The teachers voted to form a union with the Cleveland Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, called Cleveland ACTS, which is affiliated with the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers.
“By uniting as one cohesive staff and forming a union, we can start bargaining a contract that ensures we continue to provide a quality, innovative, robust education for our gifted students,” said Allison Noga, an English language arts teacher for grades six and seven at Menlo. “As a teacher and parent of a Menlo student, I want Menlo to be the very best place it can be. That happens when staff have a voice.”
Menlo is the ninth charter school to join Cleveland ACTS.
The National Labor Relations Board oversaw Wednesday’s election after a months’ long dispute between teachers and the school board over whether it or the State Employment Relations Board should run the election. After several hearings in December and February, the NLRB ruled that it was the agency to oversee the election, as it oversees elections of most charter schools in Ohio. The teachers preferred the NLRB over the state board because they believed it would administer the elections faster.
State Rep. Jeff Crossman, a Parma Democrat and an Ohio attorney general candidate who has sponsored legislation seeking to increase accountability for charter schools, said in a statement sent by the Ohio Federation of Teachers that he stands by the teachers.
“By banding together, they now have a real opportunity to realize what they have been advocating for all along — an opportunity to collaborate with administrators on the best way to enhance the educational opportunities for their students,” he said. “I once again reiterate my request to the Board — work with these educators, not against them, and together you can build a better learning environment for the children of Menlo Park.”
Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer reached out to one of the school’s founders about the union election.
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