BRECKSVILLE – Advertisements purchased with taxpayer dollars and approved by the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Board of Education were published this past weekend in local news outlets soliciting outsiders to apply for substitute positions in case there is a Board-forced teacher work stoppage at the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District.

“It’s a shame that the Board of Education has chosen to waste precious taxpayer dollars to fight against us rather than do what’s right for our students,” said BEA spokesperson Joe Zenir. “The irony in all of this is that the Board is advertising for inexperienced scab replacement personnel to steal work from us after they force highly qualified and experienced educators out of their classrooms.”

Despite recent conversation in the local media, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Education Association (BEA) remains committed to bargaining in good faith with the Board of Education for a fair and equitable agreement that will save taxpayer dollars while also preserving the quality of education that is the heritage of Brecksville-Broadview Heights schools. Unfortunately, the extremist majority that currently controls the Board is making it exceedingly difficult to do so.

The majority of Mark Dosen, Mike Ziegler, and Dave Tryon have hijacked the Board with their extreme positions to advance their anti-public education agenda. Their reckless actions clearly demonstrate that they are far more concerned with parading the teachers’ contract through the streets of Brecksville-Broadview Heights, in order to curry favor with like-minded, anti-public education extremists, than they are with educating our children.

Despite union-busting tactics employed by the Board, such as using taxpayer dollars to pay for a strike security firm, the teachers have recognized the financial constraints of the district and offered a zero percent base salary increase for three years and a five-percent increase in health care premiums in their initial proposal which can be found on the Board’s Web site. Furthermore, the Board’s own five-year forecast submitted to the Ohio Department of Education shows that the District can certify a 3-year contract with these provisions.  

Although the Board’s most recent propaganda attempts to mislead the public, the BEA does not want a strike. Unfortunately, Dosen, Ziegler and Tryon wanted a strike from day one, and are doing everything in their power to force one by ultimately implementing a contract.

BEA and BOSS, affiliates of the National Education Association (NEA) and the Ohio Education Association (OEA), represents over 500 certified and classified staff members employed by the Brecksville-Broadview Heights School District.