Senator Sherrod Brown Calling For End To Strongsville Strike

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is calling for an end to the Strongsville teachers strike. The Democratic politician met with Strongsville Education Association President Tracy Linscott after she handed the school board a binding arbitration proposal.

Senator Brown attended an April 2 Strongsville Education Association (SEA) strike rally. During the event SEA President Linscott said, “We are proposing that the SEA and the school board entering into binding interest arbitration on an issue-by-issue basis I order to end this dispute.

The Strongsville strike is currently in its fifth week. Some teachers have crossed over the picket line and are now back in their classrooms. Several hundred substitute teachers are also offering instruction at the northern Ohio district’s schools. Some students have transferred to either online or area charter schools as the strike continues and graduation day looms.

Strongsville Board of Education President David Frazee reported the district is not interested in entering into binding arbitration. A statement from Frazee read:

“We believe we have a responsibility to our community to stay the course. In binding arbitration, we would be delegating to an out-of-town third party the authority to spend Strongsville taxpayer dollars and concede management rights, which our board thinks is not appropriate and is not agreeable to us.”

Linscott also maintained that the striking Strongsville teachers and the school district and continue to work on settling contract disputes before the arbitration date. She noted that any issue left on the negotiation table by the time arbitration starts will be determined by the arbitrator based on facts presented by both the school board and the Ohio teachers union. The SEA official called such a scenario a “win” for students, parents, the community, and the taxpayers.

Senator Sherrod Brown stated during the rally that he would be willing to help Linscott after she presented the binding arbitration proposal to the Strongsville school board. Senator Brown said. “After that, I’m going to call Mr. Frazee and ask him to come to the table. I’m hopeful that he will respond to my request and work on this and finally come to an agreement.”

Do you think the Strongsville school board should agree to give a third-party the ability to make fiscal decisions for the district?

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