In AFT, Blog, Press Release

Cesar Chavez Academy Teachers and Staff Vote Overwhelmingly to ratify contract with salary increases and bonuses.

 

DETROIT, MI – The teachers, counselors and social workers at Cesar Chavez Academy (CCA), the largest charter school in Detroit, voted overwhelmingly to ratify their second contract.

Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers & Staff (Michigan ACTS), an affiliate of AFT Michigan, is the official bargaining agent for teachers and staff at the Academy.

Teachers and staff voted to approve the new 5 year contract 91-3. Cesar Chavez Academy, which is operated by The Leona Group, LLC, is the second largest charter school district in Michigan and educates students on five campuses.  The Cesar Chavez Academy board of directors recently extended their management agreement with The Leona Group.

Since forming a union at Cesar Chavez Academy, most of the staff has received at least a 15% raise over a three year period. This new contract also clarifies the union’s ability to access the draft school calendar and strengthens conflict resolution procedures by adding informal resolutions prior to initiating the formal grievance procedure.  In addition to winning a raise for this school year all returning staff members will also receive a 2.5% bonus this year.

“In the past three years we’ve dramatically improved the transparency in our district.  The teachers and staff now make decisions jointly with The Leona Group.  We are using our collective voice to collaborate on the professional development offered in the district and to resolve district wide issues with management. We now have a say in the evaluative process and will know exactly how we will be evaluated.  Since we formed our union we have dramatically improved the compensation for our staff.  These gains are good for students, good for teachers, and good for the overall culture of the school,” said Tashaune Harden, middle school teacher andVice President of Michigan ACTS.

“For this second contract we had to defend and safeguard everything that we had fought for in our first contract. The raises we bargained are significant, and the addition of a bonus was important for us to win because we want to make sure teachers are treated fairly.  I’m most excited about the new contract because it represents how we as teachers use our voice to jointly make decisions with the company that runs our school,” said Rose Crowley, who works at the Academy’s High School.

For more information, contact Will Daniels, wdaniels@aftmichigan.org, 248/872-4824.

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