CEA is proud to announce the first-ever CEA Foundation Mini Grants available to ALL CEA members. The CEA Foundation’s mission is to empower CEA members to design and implement innovative opportunities that will ultimately lead to higher achievement for all students. There are three mini grants for members to choose from:

• Early Educator Mini Grant–20 total grants up to $300 each (for teachers in Years 1–5 of their career)

• STEM/STEAM Mini Grant–10 total grants up to $600 each (open to all CEA members)

• General Mini Grant–25 total grants up to $320 each (open to all CEA members)

Grants cover one academic year, and there will be one application window per semester. This will allow members time to reflect on the needs of their classrooms, programs, and students served. Members are eligible to receive one Mini Grant per year.

These Mini Grants are separate from the Teacher Dream Grant and all CEA Mini Grants are funded completely through the CEA Foundation. Only CEA members are eligible to apply for the Mini Grants. Your application and all supporting documentation is due no later than 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 11, 2019. Second Semester applications are due Mar. 13, 2019.

For more information, and an application form, click HERE.

On October 1, 2019, CEA President John Coneglio and third grade teachers delivered copies of an open letter to the Columbus City Schools Board of Education regarding serious concerns with a recent change to requirements for the placement of third grade students on Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans (RIMPs). The union asked the district to immediately rescind it’s ill-informed directive, designed to avoid deductions on the flawed state report card, which will incorrectly label a vast majority of third graders in the district as “off track” and “reading deficient”.

Copies of the letter were signed by a majority of Columbus City Schools third grade educators.

Read the full Open Letter

The CEA, in collaboration with NEA, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, and the Center for Teaching Quality, is seeking 40 more CEA members to participate in the 2019 cohort of the Teacher Leadership Initiative (TLI). In the coming months, hundreds of teachers from multiple sites across the country will be selected to participate. Those who are selected and complete the entire experience will receive a $500 completion honorarium and earn 18 CEUs for their work. The deadline to submit your online application is Friday, Oct. 11. To submit your application, go to http://bit.ly/cea19tli. Be sure that your application is complete. Applicants will be notified of selection by the end of October. For information about applying for this program, contact Wilson at (614) 253-4731.

The NEA Foundation and the National Education Association jointly present the awards. Find more information about the awards and a gallery of this year’s awardees

Hello, my name is John Coneglio and I am the President of the Columbus Education Association. Tonight, CEA members voted overwhelmingly by secret ballot to approve a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with Columbus City Schools. This agreement is the culmination of over one hundred hours of bargaining dating back to April, and preparations that began months earlier. The new contract will impact the working conditions of the more than 4,000 members of the Columbus Education Association and the learning conditions of more than 50,000 CCS students.

From the beginning, our campaign for the Schools Columbus Students Deserve was built on a platform of six major components; including reduced class sizes and caseloads, adequate staffing of student support professionals, dedicated space for art, music, and P.E., expanding alternative programs for discipline, reducing turnover by compensating educators as professionals, and funding schools and saving taxpayers money by ending handouts for wealthy corporations that don’t need them.

I am extremely proud to report that our new contract makes progress in nearly every one of these areas; Included in the terms of this agreement are the first reductions in class size cap for grades K through 3 in 25 years. Included in this contract are 60 additional CEA student support professional positions including school nurses, social workers, and social emotional learning practitioners. Included in this contract is new language requiring educator input before an art or music room is repurposed. Included in this agreement is a commitment for each building with any combination of grades 7 through 12 to provide space and staffing for a trauma-informed in-school discipline program as an alternative to out-of-school suspension. Included in this agreement are raises for all of our dedicated educators in each year of the contract as well as the first ever parental leave for non-birth parents.

This agreement represents a huge, tangible step forward for our students, educators, and community. However, our fight for the Schools Columbus Students Deserve continues. The board rejected all CEA proposals regarding tax abatements for wealthy corporations who don’t need them. The fact that this school board was unwilling to tackle this issue at the bargaining table does not mean that the issue goes away, simply that we will work alongside our allies in the political arena and other venues to hold our elected officials accountable. It is our duty to ensure that politicians put the needs of our students ahead of corporate welfare for the wealthiest.

While we have work to do, we are very proud of what our bargaining team, members, labor, and community allies accomplished together. We look forward to the new school year, implementation of our new agreement following school board ratification, and continuing to fight for the schools Columbus Students Deserve.
Thank you.