Charter School Teachers Return To Classrooms Today After Reaching Tentative Contract Agreement
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The first charter school strike in California is over now that teachers are returning to the classroom after making a tentative agreement with The Accelerated Schools network.
An agreement to end the eight-day strike was reached Sunday. The Accelerated Schools teachers are expected to vote on the agreement Monday afternoon.
“We are happy to announce that teachers will be returning to their classrooms on Monday with the official end of their strike pending ratification of the agreement,” said Ed Gutierrez of United Teachers Los Angeles.
Gutierrez said the tentative deal “makes significant progress toward satisfying our members’ core demands for increased job security and that will allow teachers at The Accelerated Schools to effectively address the problem of high teacher turnover that has plagued the schools for too long and hindered student learning.”
Union leaders will discuss the deal at a Monday morning news conference. Negotiations between teachers and The Accelerated Schools began 20 months ago.
The three-year contract includes an increase in both salary and health benefits and also mandates the creation of a joint committee to develop criteria for future employment contracts and teacher evaluations.
The job action was the first strike by charter school teachers in California, with the educators calling for increased pay and health benefits to reduce the high teacher turnover rate at the school.
Two LAUSD teachers founded TAS in 1994 with 50 K-4 students. It has grown to three schools covering Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade with 1,850 students, a TAS statement said.
Charter School Teachers Return To Classrooms Today After Reaching Tentative Contract Agreement – CBS Los Angeles
