Heights Superintendent Addresses Concerns Over Teachers' Strike

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH – Cleveland Heights-University Heights school officials are addressing pay and health insurance questions as the teachers' union strike approaches next week.

In a statement Friday, Elizabeth Kirby, Superintendent of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, addressed questions regarding teacher benefits during a strike.

On Nov. 20, the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union last week gave the district a notice of their members' intent to strike beginning Wednesday. Union leaders said they are striking because the Board of Education is not negotiating in good faith.

"When public school teachers choose to go on strike, they are knowingly walking away from wages and benefits," Kirby said in the statement. "We sincerely hope Union leadership informed its members of this and what choosing to strike means."

The Heights Schools have denied the union's accusations, saying they are negotiating in good faith and have spent 60 hours discussing how to move forward with the union. However, the district said it is trying to create a "fiscally responsible" contract. District officials said budgets have been decimated by EdChoice vouchers and the state's decision to make cuts to public school funding due to COVID-19.

The statement comes in response to discussions on social media and in the community about whether public school teachers in Ohio give up their right to pay and benefits beginning on the first day of a strike, Kirby said.

"Just as the Union has the legal right to call for a strike, the District has the legal right to make work available to any bargaining unit member who wants to work during the strike," Kirby said. "We still hold out hope that a strike can be averted for our students' sake."