Ohio teachers union lends Brookfield support
The teachers are trying to resolve labor issues with the district.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BROOKFIELD — Teachers hoping for a contract in the Brookfield School District will be getting a little support from the state level.
Sue Taylor, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, will attend a board of education meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday at the high school.
Linda Zellner, communications director for the OFT, said Taylor will address teachers outside the high school before meeting and attend the meeting as a show of solidarity with those teachers.
According to Zellner, teachers in the Brookfield district have been working for about a year without a contract. She said the teachers have been dedicated in continuing to work without a contract, despite a move by board members prior to the contract expiration that reduced teacher salaries to 2004 levels.
The cuts in salaries led to an unfair labor practice charge by teachers against the board, Zellner said.
“They cut their pay, and we believe that to be illegal,” she said. “The reason Sue Taylor will be there on Saturday is as a show of solidarity for the teachers in Brookfield.”
Zellner said teachers hope to resolve labor issues as quickly as possible. She said the board’s negotiating team has reached a tentative agreement with the union, but the board has refused to ratify it.
“The teachers are interested in getting this resolved, so the teachers can focus on the children,” Zellner said.
Board’s response
Joseph Pasquerilla, board president, said the board would like the issue to be resolved as well, but did not ratify the agreement because the district cannot afford it.
“The board did not approve it because the funds are not there,” he said. “The five-year forecast shows that we will be more than $300,000 in debt at the end of fiscal year 2007. Accepting the contract would have created an additional $380,000 in debt for 2007.”
Pasquerilla said the school district, which is under state fiscal watch, is also required to set aside $600,000 for books, busing and other items before it can be released from fiscal watch. Those set-asides have yet to be made.
“We will never be out of fiscal watch until we get out of debt and replenish our set-asides. There is no way we could pay that contract. It isn’t even a question,” he said.
Pasquerilla said the board has asked the teachers’ representative to negotiate a new contract, but was told that would not be possible until August.
jgoodwin@vindy.com