“We will continue fighting until we have safe, properly maintained and fully resourced schools in every neighborhood,” union spokesperson Regina Fuentes said at a news conference Monday.
The Columbus Board of Education called the outcome of the vote “disappointing.”
Speaking about learning conditions in the city’s schools, a school library media specialist said temperatures varied wildly from room to room.
“Students move around to different buildings, like a college campus, and they never know from one classroom to the next if it’s going to be 50 degrees or 90 degrees,” Courtney Johnson told CNN’s Victor Blackwell.
Some schools don’t have any air conditioning, she said, or may only have “a couple of rooms” with it. And in schools that do have it, including where Johnson works, the systems need fixing, she said.
“That’s what we’re fighting for — safe, properly maintained and fully resourced schools where the air conditioning and heating works, and students don’t have to suffer,” Johnson said.
Columbus City Schools serves 47,000 students, according to the district.
Despite the strike, the school year is still scheduled to begin Wednesday, with classes online and led by substitutes, according to the school district’s website.
The district’s own administrators may also teach online classes as the strike continues, it said. But since teachers make up most of the district’s coaching staff, sports activities may be rescheduled or canceled, according to the website.
CNN’s Taliah Miller contributed to this report.
Source : CNN
