TROTWOOD — Trotwood-Madison City School District teachers and staff are hoping “good trouble” paves the way to a tentative agreement that will end a year of working under an expired contract.
>>PHOTOS: Trotwood teachers gather outside school board
Bargaining teams for the school board and the Trotwood-Madison Education Association are scheduled to meet Friday morning.
Thursday night, several TMEA members and some students lined up outside the school board’s meeting site in a show of unity. Many wore badges that reflect the attitude of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia), who taught that sometimes people had to cause “good trouble” by disrupting normal routine to bring attention to a problem and to confront perceived injustice.
That was the message TMEA members, including teachers Julie Emmons and Larry Barnes, said they wanted the school board to see as well as feel.
Friday will be the 39th time the TMEA negotiating team has gone to the table with the school board, Emmons, a second-grade teacher, told News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis.
Superintendent Reva Cosby said she, too, is hoping for a new contract but noted that saying Friday’s meeting would be the 39th time the sides have met “is a bit of an exaggeration.”
Both Cosby, who is a part of the district’s negotiating team, and Barnes, a third-grade teacher, were understandably vague when News Center 7′s Lewis asked what was holding up the talks.
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Cosby, in her third year as superintendent, said she could speak only in generalities because of her role as part of the bargaining unit.
Finances, compensation issues and wording in the contract “to make sure we’re doing the best for our students and staff” were the sticking points, she said.
Barnes said the issue is with the board.
“We want to work with them. We’re not trying to break the bank. We’re looking for something that is fair.”
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According to a TMEA statement released Thursday afternoon, “Salaries, among other issues, for certified and classified staff, remain unresolved.”
That statement also reported that the school board has promised to present a counter-proposal to TMEA’s proposal to the board at the last bargaining session, which was Feb. 21.
Generalities and allegations aside, Emmons and Barnes said working under an expired contract continues to be stressful.
“At the end of the day, we’re still going to show up without the contract but that doesn’t take away from what we do every day for our students,” Emmons said.
There is a disconnect between the school board, teachers and staff.
“The dots just need to be connected,” she said.
According to TMEA, Trotwood-Madison City Schools teachers and staff members are the only public school staff members in Montgomery and surrounding counties to be still working without a contract.
Barnes said Trotwood-Madison teachers will do what they need to do for the children.
“We want the community and the board to know that we’re here and we are going to stay here.
But, he said, the district needs stability.
“We don’t need a revolving door,” he said. “We need qualified people to stay here.”
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