With the teachers strike continuing in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, parents are very concerned about what exactly is going on in the schools. Pictures of sleeping substitutes, massive class sizes, students being warehoused in gyms, and a reluctance of the Reynoldsburg School Board to negotiate a limit to class size, are all major concerns.
I have a few questions:
- Why does the Reynoldsburg School Board refuse to address their lack of interest in reducing the number of students in a classroom?
-Are they just ignorant about educational research as it relates to class size?
-Are they following the instructions of some out of town interest group in order to change the district into an online school program?
-How much money is being paid out to the suppliers of substitutes and security?
-What types of 'teachers' are they using in the classroom?
I saw the following ad in This Week News and posted at Monster:
Substitute Teachers and Specialists
About the Job
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS and SPECIALISTS EARN $175/DAY Altemative Workforce, Inc. is accepting applications for LONG and SHORT TERM SUBSTITUTE TEACHER POSITIONS currently available due to an ongoing labor dispute in the Reynoldsburg City Schools. ALL specialty areas are needed including: AP Classes, Special Education, Music, Band/Orchestra, Foreign Language. Also recruiting for: Speech Language Therapists, and Interventional Specialists (MM/ MI). Must have valid Ohio certification Licensure, or be eligible (minimum of Bachelor's Degree or higher) to obtain a substitute certification. Criminal background checks will be enforced. CALL 888-742-5023 IMMEDIATELY. EOE APPLICANTS CAN ALSO SEND RESUMES TO STAFFING@HUFFMASTER.COMThis listing brought to you by The Columbus Dispatch and www.columbusjobs.com/monster.
Please note that basically any person with a college degree could get a substitute certificate:
"...or be eligible (minimum of Bachelor's Degree or higher) to obtain a substitute certification...."
In other words, not everyone in the classroom is a qualified TEACHER. What is a qualified teacher?
Those that graduate with a teaching certificate have had classes in child development, psychology, instructions on teaching methods, managing classroom behavior, etc., etc. Many teachers have specialty certifications in math, reading, science, and special education. The people subbing in the classrooms of Reynoldsburg are obviously not the highly educated teachers that the students have worked with over the years.
When then candidate John Kasich said he wanted to "break the back of organized labor in the schools...", people wondered how he would do it. The people of Reynoldsburg are witnessing it now with a superintendent that worked in Kasich's Department of Education and the hiring of right wing, anti-labor suppliers, online charter education, and law firms to represent the board.
It is time for the people of Reynoldsburg to stand up to the school board and the superintendent and demand honest negotiations to end the strike.