Teachers, online charter strike deal

Contract offers job protections and higher salaries, union says.

Nearly four years after teachers at California’s largest online charter school voted to unionize, they have reached a deal to increase pay and create job protections, according to a spokesman for the California Teachers Assn.

The contract, which is still tentative and subject to ratification, is a victory for the teachers union. Although charter schools are publicly funded, most are privately managed and their employees aren’t protected by labor contracts.

Under the terms of the contract — the result of years of negotiation and legal wrangling — about 500 teachers working for California Virtual Academies will no longer be at-will employees who can be dismissed for almost any reason.

Their average salary will rise to just over $45,000, according to union estimates, a figure that remains far below the norm for traditional public school teachers. Still, it is an improvement over the previous average of $38,000.

The accord also places a limit on the number of students each teacher is responsible for monitoring in online “homeroom” classes.

“We’re very satisfied with the gains we made,” said teacher Brianna Carroll, president of California Virtual Educators United. “I think we’re going to see some extraordinary changes in our schools.”

Teachers at California Virtual Academies — better known as CAVA — had grown frustrated with the organization’s foot-dragging and were preparing to go on strike when CAVA’s leadership agreed to the deal, Carroll said.

CAVA and K12, the Virginia-based for-profit company linked to its schools, did not immediately respond to an email last week asking for comment. The network operates nine virtual charter schools across California.

In 2016, the charter network agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle claims of false advertising, misleading parents and inadequate instruction. The state attorney general’s office had also accused K12 of controlling the charters for its own financial benefit.

Neither CAVA nor K12 admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement.

A year later, the state imposed a $2-million fine on CAVA after an audit found that it had misspent public funds. The network disputed the findings.