The CEA Blog

The Columbus Education Association Board of Governors voted unanimously at its most recent meeting to send two unresolved grievances to arbitration on behalf of the entire membership of the Association. The first grievance dealt with the administration’s expansion of the city-wide standardized testing program. The second grievance dealt with an elementary school principal who changed their school’s unified arts schedule without first going through the Reform Panel. Both grievances were submitted to the administration for appropriate relief, but the relief requested by your Association was denied, prompting the CEA Board of Governors to vote to send both grievances to arbitration.

Grievance #1: Expansion Of The Citywide Testing Program

This fall, the administration directed teachers to give both practice Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT) and Ohio Achievement Tests (OAT) at the high school and middle school level. The Ohio Revised Code (ORC) does mandate that districts “…(that have) a three-year average graduation rate of not more than seventy-five percent” administer the OGT to all 9th grade students by the end of September. The administration also required that the OAT to be given in all middle schools throughout the district as well. The ORC does not mandate that school districts complete this step.

Your Association alleges the first violation, misinterpretation and/or misapplication of the Master Agreement occurred when the expansion of the citywide testing program happened prior to discussing it with representatives of the Association. The Master Agreement clearly states in Article 201.02 that “there shall be no expansion of the citywide testing program prior to discussion with representatives of the Association”.

While the ORC does require that the OGT practice tests be graded and the results made available to the district, it does not specify when those practice tests should be graded, nor are school districts are not required to report practice test results to the Ohio Department of Education.

Your Association alleges that CEA bargaining unit members have seen a significant increase in their duties as it relates to the administration of these tests.Your Association alleges the second violation, misinterpretation and/or misapplication of the Master Agreement occurred when the administration failed to meet with CEA representatives to discuss policy, procedural and programmatic issues within the school district. The Master Agreement clearly states in Article 108.01 that “the Superintendent and members of the administration shall meet with CEA to discuss matters of policy, procedures and programs within the school district”. 

Grievance #2: Change in Elementary School Unified Arts Schedule Without Reform Panel Approval

This fall, the principal at Weinland Park ES implemented a rotating unified arts schedule that differed from the contractual allocated minutes as specified in Article 307.03 of the Master Agreement.

If a change (variance) to the Master Agreement is sought on the part of the principal, the unit’s Association members must first vote to approve it in a secret ballot conducted by the Senior Faculty Representative. One the votes are tallied, a minimum of 67% of the votes cast must vote in the affirmative to move the proposed variance to the next step of the process.

The proposed variance is forwarded to the Reform Panel, a joint committee composed of an equal number of Association and administration representatives. The Reform Panel must vote to approve the variance for it to take effect. Your Association alleges that these steps were not followed as provided in Article 1403 of the Master Agreement.

The submission of any grievance to arbitration is the final step in the grievance process. An impartial arbitrator will be selected to hear the grievance, and their decision is binding and not subject to appeal. The losing party must pay the costs of the arbitration. 

This entry was posted on Monday, November 12th, 2007 at 1:50 pm and is filed under CEA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.