Two Teachers Arrested In Ohio Strike

Two teachers were arrested in Ohio strike. The Strongsville teachers arrested were both attempting to block substitutes on their way to the school to educate the students. The teaches began striking on Monday. Former Governor Ted Strickland spoke out in support for the teachers at a recent rally. According to the Democrat, the Strongsville teachers are being “disrespected.”

A Strongsville High School coach was arrested after reportedly driving his car in a reckless manner at a vehicle transporting school employees. The police report states that striking Ohio teacher cut off the route of a van carrying substitutes and then attempted to stop the van from continuing on towards the school.

Another teacher arrested during the strike was charged with persistent disorderly conduct for blocking the entrance to the school when substitutes tried to enter the building and instruct the waiting students.

A rally in support of the striking Strongsville teachers began in front of the district’s board of education office. Although former Governor Strickland has come out on the side on the teachers union, not everyone at the rally felt the same way.

A group of parents and students staged a type of counter-protest across the street from the striking Ohio teachers. Strongsville High School student Alyssa Szitasi stated that she had lost all respect for the teachers that “abandoned” them in the middle of the school year. Szitasi aslo said, “They [teachers] teach us that we should not give into peer pressure and not to bully, and they are bullying all the subs who are trying to help us.”

Some students and parents have expressed concern about a timely graduation and hope the substitutes are scared off by picketing teachers. Seniors with college scholarships and those planning on entering the military reportedly particularly concerned with ability of substitutes to make their way past the striking teachers.

Ohio US Senator Sherrod Brown’s education adviser Meredith Turner also showed up at the rally to support the Strongsville teachers strike. Turner made reference to the teachers struggles to garner fair wages and adequate benefits. Senator Brown’s representative also declared that the striking Ohio teachers demonstrated why the labor movement is so important in America. According to the education adviser, a union card is the “gateway” to the middle class.

Although some in Strongsville are pressuring between the striking teachers and the school board to resume, no such meetings are currently scheduled. A meeting was held earlier this week to study the feasibility of scheduling another meeting to negotiate.

How to you feel about the Ohio strike and teachers arrested while trying to prevent substitutes from entering the school?