08/23/2024
NEWS: Lordstown Teachers Ratify New Contract with the School District
The new three-year deal contains fair raises, reduced healthcare costs, and flexibility for teacher work days.
LORDSTOWN, OHIO — Today, the Lordstown Teachers Association (LTA) ratified a new three-year contract with Lordstown Local School District. The contract includes 3.5% raises each year, an end to a three-tier system for healthcare costs, and flexibility with some teacher work days. The agreement was reached after teachers gave notice for a strike.
Pat Barrett, a 6th grade teacher at Lordstown Elementary School and LTA Interim President, released the following statement:
“It took almost five months to get our district back to the bargaining table, but once they began engaging with us again we were able to reach an agreement that respects the work we do and the sacrifices we've made.
Over the last 15 years, we had six years without any raises and eight years with raises that were below the statewide average. We've fallen further and further behind with every contract. Now that our school district is in very good financial shape, we stayed united and stood up for the pay we deserve.
We were also able to make two other improvements that are important to our members. We made sure that all our members, regardless of how long they've been teaching, are paying the same amount for health insurance. We also negotiated the ability to work three of our teacher work days (days without students) remotely. This added flexibility is important since we currently have the most working hours of any district in the county.
Thank you to all of the students, parents, community members, and unions that pledged to stand with us if we went out on strike. Solidarity, among our membership and across the Lordstown community, brought our district back to the bargaining table.”
