History of the Association
|
|
Akron Education Association | |
|
|
History of the Association |
|
|
John Griffith, Charles Querry,
Harland Horton, Robert Harris, Elizabeth Corbett.
Like the names of most Akron teachers, these names are familiar to thousands of Akron Public School graduates whose lives they have touched but, in the case of these teachers, their influence reached far beyond their classrooms. These were the teachers who formed the Akron Education Association, set its goals, and guided its early years. A generation ahead of their time, these Akron teachers were among the first to demand that women be paid the same as men. In 1947 teacher salaries were determined individually. As a result, most women teachers earned less than the men. A single salary schedule was one of the first goals accomplished by the Association. AEA leaders also prodded the district into improving its economic well-being. When the Association was formed, Akron lagged behind other Ohio cities in support for its schools. AEA's early leaders lobbied hard for a school levy that would move Akron off the bottom of the list of tax support among Ohio's large city school districts. |
|
 |
The result was a decade of
construction. Temporary wooden barracks that had served as classrooms
around the city were destroyed. New schools were built, additions were
constructed, and facilities were renovated. Through the AEA, teachers
continued to challenge the schools and the community to provide
conditions where every child could have a fair chance to succeed. But
the association was as much of a booster as a critic, and the opinions
of the leadership were regularly sought by members of the school board
and administration. Soon after the Association marked its first decade, the newspaper reported that Akron School Superintendent Martin Essex "believes a strong teachers' association, such as the AEA, is good for education and the best instrument in protecting a teacher's interests." Akron teachers agreed. A 1962 news story reported that 98 percent of Akron teachers belonged to the Association. |
|
 |
The leaders who followed
continued the policies of challenge and progress. The AEA leads the
fight for paid hospitalization for teachers. When it was ruled that
public employers could not legally pay for benefits for dependents of
public employees, the AEA won a precedent-setting lawsuit that made
dependent benefits possible for thousands of Ohio public employees. The 1970's also marked a major change for the Association itself. After two earlier attempts had failed, members voted to drop out of the Ohio and National Education Associations and become an independent organization. Today Akron is the only urban school union in the nation to have independent status. The only strike in the Association's history occurred in January 1989, largely over the issue of school safety. The strike lasted 10 days, and a code of student behavior was referenced in the contract. The Association's longest serving president, William Siegferth, was first elected in 1983 and remained in office until his retirement in May 2010. Under his leadership, Akron teachers gained some novel professional and career options, including participation in school governance, unrestricted leaves, and job sharing which helped many young teachers raising small children to remain in the profession. Mr. Siegferth was was a pioneer in the process of interest-based bargaining, which delivered early contracts for more than a decade and a half. He also served as co-chair of the Ohio 8, a group comprised of the leadership of Ohio's 8 largest urban school districts. |
|
 |
In 2011, the Association joined with other public and private sector unions in Summit County to form a coalition that worked with the We Are Ohio campaign to repeal Senate Bill 5, an anti-teacher / anti-union bill that stripped away nearly all collective bargaining rights for teachers and other public employees in Ohio. Teachers and other public servants collected more than a million signatures to place SB 5 on the ballot. SB5, which became ballot Issue 2, was soundly defeated by a 61% to 39% margin. During hearings, Association members were pictured on the cover of Education Week (see below). To assist with issues common to other urban school districts and teachers in Ohio, the Association belongs to such organizations as The Coalition for Public Education, and the Ohio Eight Coalition. The Ohio Big 8 consists of the union presidents and superintendants of the eight large Ohio urban school districts. Activities of the Association today continue to be devoted to the original goals set by the charter members: improved teaching conditions, betterment of student welfare, higher teacher standards, and wages that attract and retain quality teachers.
|
|
| News clipping photos above and at the right are of
early leaders of the Association.
The AEA was among the first teacher organizations to achieve equal pay for men and women. |
  |
|
| AEA president William Siegferth, just finishing his first term, address teachers at a general membership meeting held at the East High School auditorium in 1985. Bill was the longest serving AEA president from September, 1983 until his retirement in May, 2010. See more photos of Bill here. |
 
 |
|
| In March 2011, Association members were pictured
on the cover of Education Week. AEA teachers are shown on
the front steps of the Ohio State House holding the "NO 5" signs during
hearings for Senate Bill 5. The anti-teacher law was repealed.
Current and former locations of the Akron Education Association on North Main Street in Akron, Ohio
|
   |
|
