Quolke's Corner #157
Dear CTU Brothers & Sisters,
I want to take the time to congratulate all of the candidates that ran for a seat on the CTU Executive Board for putting in the time, effort and commitment to serve this great organization of teachers, paraprofessional, and related service providers. Thanks also to all of the members who took their time to vote in this important race. Thanks also to everyone for all of your support over the past 6 years. These have been some of the most challenging times, not just here in Cleveland, but throughout the country.
I look forward to working with all of you in the upcoming months to build on the progress we have made, and mobilize around the challenges in front of us. As I have said countless times, we cannot do this work alone. We will continue to work organizing parents with Common Good Ohio and build upon the strong relationships we have developed with City Council and community organizations. In the coming months we will bring parents and community organizations together in support of and to improve conditions in our schools. We will work together to demand the district fund all of our schools at the levels that they need for success. We will go to City Council to work for PILOTs (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) from the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital, and distribute hundreds of new books to students in CMSD on top of the 7000 free books that were distributed at the beginning of this school year.
We have worked hard over the past six years to develop a strong relationship with the Ohio Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers. Both OFT and AFT have pledged their support to the CTU as we continue to be the professional advocates for our students. This week and next week, I will be attending the International Summit on the Teaching Professions in New Zealand and Australia with AFT President Randi Weingarten. I will be the only AFT Vice President traveling with Randi - this is recognition of all the great work our members are doing every day in our Cleveland schools.
This is a challenging time for our union and also an opportunity to make changes. I look forward to the coming weeks of work and I look forward to working with all of you in the next two years.
In Union,
David