Community School of Excellence educators ratify contract

For more information, contact:
Blythe Inners                                                           
President, Federation of Charter School Employees       
Community School of Excellence                                 
651-528-6014   

Chris Williams
651-292-4816 (work)
651-247-5539 (cell)

ST. PAUL, Minn., June 29, 2016 –  The educators of the Community School of Excellence voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to ratify a tentative agreement, an important step toward keeping the St. Paul charter school open.

"We are very excited that we've taken a step closer to getting back into the classroom with our students," said Blythe Inners, president of unionized educators at the school. "We've done what we can do keep our school open."

The Community School of Excellence needs to secure a new authorizer by July 1 or it will be forced to close. The Minnesota Guild of Public Charter schools is in negotiations with the school to become that authorizer. However, the Guild has set certain conditions before it will sign.

Those conditions included resolving labor problems within the school through a contract with the local union and the restoration of employees and programs cut during a restructuring announced earlier this month.

Inners said all but a few of the educators who were let go have been offered their jobs back. She said there were special circumstances in those cases and she would not comment further.

Among the highlights of the new, 2-year contract:
⦁    3 percent pay increases for education support professionals.
⦁    Educators must now receive due process before terminations.
⦁    Creates a formal grievance process for workplace disputes.

"It has been a difficult journey to get here," Inners said after the vote. "The educators of CSE voted to create this local two years ago because we cared enough about our school to make it a stable place to work. Today we reached a milestone."