Summit Academy seeks to unionize within local charter

“Lack of adequate staff and resources...” spurs union bid

Teachers and intervention specialists at Painesville’s Summit Academy have filed for official union recognition and members within the Cleveland Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff local.

The only union for charter school teachers in Ohio, Cleveland ACTS are facilitated in their efforts by the larger Ohio Federation of Teachers which encompasses over 50 local unions and represents 20,000 members, according to the OFT.

If the petition is voted upon favorably at an upcoming March 20 union election it would mark the seventh Ohio charter school and the second Summit Academy to join the union.

“Educators are forming their union because they know that’s the only way to ensure that Summit Academy provide the resources that their students need and the staffing that parents have been promised,” OFT President Melissa Cropper said of Summit’s desire to join Cleveland ACTS.

An OFT news release draws parallels between the concerns at Summit Painesville and those that led to Summit Parma teachers and staff leading Ohio’s first charter school strike, “including the lack of adequate staff and resources to meet the educational needs of the students.”

Kenneth Sowers, a member of the union organizing committee and Summit Painesville teacher, expressed solidarity across the multiple Summit academies throughout the region.

“Teachers at any Summit Academy experience the same issues as us in Painesville,” he said. “We are standing up alongside our brothers and sisters in Parma as they fight for a fair deal that supports teachers and students.”

Summit Parma intervention specialist Katherine Pavella spoke about the union’s necessity.

“By organizing our union across Summit Academy’s two dozen schools, we can ensure that our students have adequate learning conditions,” Pavella said.

A copy of the petition was also delivered to Painesville Summit Principal Frank Cheraso. His office did not respond to a request for comments.

SUBMITTED Summit Academy