Cleveland Teachers Union 279

04/17/2026

CTU members understand the importance of public school funding. Real people. Real impact.

04/16/2026

CTU educators standing in solidarity for our members and Public Schools.

04/07/2026

We welcome parents & guardians with children in grades K-5 for a FREE literacy workshop on April 18 in partnership with Cleveland Public Library. Two location options, supervised activities for the kids, free food & books to add to your home library! Learn more & register here:

The Cleveland Teachers Union and Cleveland Public Library invite families to collaborate to enhance literacy success. Come and join us for an engaging day of learning to assist your student with literacy. For families with students K-5. Food, books, and activities for scholars will be provided. Upco...

03/09/2026

Take action to support YOUR pension system!

03/06/2026

Last week, OFT recognized former president David Quolke with the Dal Lawrence Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given to an OFT leader who, over the course of a lifetime exhibited courageous leadership, advanced workers' rights, and elevated teacher leadership, as did the namesake of this award. Fran Lawrence, former President of TFT - Toledo Federation of Teachers Local 250 and Dal Lawrence's wife, presented David Quolke with the award.

As CTU President, Quolke mobilized CTU members to fight back against SB 5 in 2011, respond to political attacks on Cleveland schools, win strong union contracts, and advance a union culture centered on member action.

From Thursday to Saturday, OFT member leaders from across the state met for OFT's biennial convention. We elected officers, debated and voted on resolutions to set union policies on important issues, heard from some of our endorsed candidates, and learned from each other as OFT members reported back on big campaigns, victories, and challenges from the last two years.
This week we'll be posting some of the highlights from convention (that we were too busy to post last week!)

First, former Cleveland Teachers Union 279 President David Quolke was recognized with the Dal Lawrence Lifetime Achievement Award, which is given to an OFT leader who, over the course of a lifetime exhibited courageous leadership, advanced workers' rights, and elevated teacher leadership, as did the namesake of this award. Fran Lawrence, former President of TFT - Toledo Federation of Teachers Local 250 and Dal Lawrence's wife, presented David Quolke with the award.

As CTU President, Quolke mobilized CTU members to fight back against SB 5 in 2011, respond to political attacks on Cleveland schools, win strong union contracts, and advance a union culture centered on member action.

02/20/2026

CTU Educational Issues Chair Sara Baldassar presented today at the North Shore Federation of Labor - Cleveland’s Unions First Annual AI Summit in Cleveland.

11/05/2025

More than 80% of the North Shore Federation of Labor - Cleveland’s Unions endorsed candidates won, with several key races still too close to call.

Union power was on full display in this year’s election, with over 80% of North Shore AFL-CIO–endorsed candidates winning and several key races still too close to call.Union members and allies once again proved that when we stand together, working people win. Among the highlights:

11/01/2025

By failing to fund SNAP, Trump is taking food out of the mouths of 42 million Americans—including 16 million children, 8 million seniors and 4 million people with disabilities. And with food pantries struggling to keep up with the demand, many have nowhere to turn.

That’s where we come in. Unions show up to help when others can’t—or won’t. It’s up to us to help our neighbors in their time of need. AFT members can donate to the AFT disaster relief fund. AFT will use these funds to help stock local food banks in communities that need it most. Please include a note that your donation is for food banks. The link to securely donate is:
https://www.billhighway.com/aph/forChapters/v2/donate.aspx?d=zKIqmqokNi0%3d&u=JVwSZ8heWEg%3d

10/30/2025

Here's a look at what the two frontrunner candidates for Ohio Governor have recently said about teachers' unions.

10/24/2025

"Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, a Cleveland Democrat, has said she’s wary about trusting the Republican-controlled legislature to step in when schools need help.

After Ohio eliminated emergency levies, she worried districts could be left “begging the legislature for a bailout” at a time when the conservative opinion seems to be that schools have too much money."

SB 93 would replace district taxes with a statewide 20-mill property tax and 1.75% sales tax increase, centralizing school funding collection and distribution.

10/24/2025

Help protect vulnerable students and their families who are facing cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Sign the petition today: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/save-snap-2025