Teachers' Union Seeks to Divide Strongsville School Board

The Strongsville Education Association is trying to recruit individual School Board members to agree to binding arbitration, calling on Vice President Ruth Brickley to put her name on the agreement.

SEA President Tracy Linscott said in a news release that it would take only three school board members to agree to arbitration.

"I would hope that as a retired teacher, Mrs. Brickley would welcome the opportunity to bring high quality teachers back to the classroom immediately through binding interest arbitration,” Linscott said.

Brickley said Wednesday afternoon she has no comment on the matter.

The teachers' union on April 2 presented a proposal to Superintendent John Krupinski asking that all unresolved issues be decided by a third-party arbitrator.

If the School Board agreed to that, teachers would return to the classrooms immediately.

The board declined, saying an outside party should not decide issues about Strongsville's schools.

The newest SEA release says Board President David Frazee has been the School Board's spokesman throughout the six-week teachers' strike, but the SEA believes "it is not his place to speak for all of its members."

“Does Ruth Brickley stand behind Dave Frazee’s continued attempts to extend the strike and his all-or-nothing approach to negotiations, or is she ready to see the strike end? Ruth does not need Dave’s permission to sign the agreement," Linscott said in the release.

The SEA also alleges that Frazee has been obstructing the negotiations, claiming that three bargianing sessions last week "were reportedly productive, particularly on Friday, April 5 when Board member Richard Micko attended."

But on Monday, April 8, when Frazee attended, progress stopped, the SEA says.

That night, Frazee called on the SEA to put the School Board's last best conract offer to another vote, asking for the 383 members to cast secret ballots on whether to end the strike. 

Linscott said the SEA will not do that. 

The statement from the SEA also notes that as of Wednesday afternoon, no more teachers had crossed the picket line this week other than two high school teachers who returned to work Monday morning.

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For other stories on the teachers' strike, click here.

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