Words From John

Hey y’all! We went down to Columbus to cover the teacher strike. It’s a developing story, so stay tuned!

Columbus Education Association @ColumbusEA

BREAKING: COMPREHENSIVE CONCEPTUAL AGREEMENT REACHED AT 2:38 A.M! CEA Members: Do not report to picket sites in the morning, check your email for further instructions.

August 25th 2022

254 Retweets907 Likes

Columbus Teacher Strikes. Interview with Regina Fuentes.

@heyjohnrussell#politics #unions #labor #strike #columbus #solidarity #yallternative #leftist #ohio #teachers #education

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Video Transcript

John Russell

This is Columbus, Ohio. 4,500 Teachers are out on strike here. We're on the picket line. The energy is freaking incredible out here. Let's listen to what they have to say.

Regina Fuentes, Columbus Education Association Spokesperson

I have been teaching for 23 years all in Columbus, and I teach high school English. My name is Regina Fuentes, and I am the CEA spokesperson.

JR

Tell me about why the teachers are out on strike today in Columbus.

RF

Columbus City Schools are over 100 years old. We've only just in the last maybe two decades, started rebuilding schools. And we're dealing with you know, mice and bugs and just lights going out, or power outages, heat that doesn't work, windows that don't open, you know, doors that won't lock… There are all these things we shouldn't be dealing with, you know.

JR

It’s hard for a child to learn under those conditions?

RF

It’s hard for a child to learn. They can't learn, they can't function and you know, the district really needs to realize that. And another thing we're asking for is to reduce the class size. We also want to have our elementary schools have things like PE, and art, and music — those things that help with your social and emotional well-being. You may have a teacher, a PE teacher who has to go to maybe three, or four buildings. It doesn't make any sense.

We're using our power right now, in this way, in order to let them know that, you know, you need us in order to keep this machine moving.

JR

What do you want the general public to know?

RF

That we love our students, and we want to be back in the classroom. We cannot wait to be back in the classroom with our kids. But it's not going to be under the status quo that we've always had to accept.

We need to change things and we need to do it now.

Low-budget independent media is worth it… look

First of all, THANK YOU TO THE PAID MEMBERS WHO MAKE THIS TRAVEL AND COVERAGE POSSIBLE. I cannot do it without you.

The above story was shot with an iPhone, a cheap microphone, and my lovely girlfriend (@jessica.roi) operating the camera.

The story generated the following:

A bump from the former United States Labor Secretary

Robert Reich @RBReich

Teachers have been underpaid, under-appreciated, and overworked for years — trends that have all been worsened by the pandemic. Solidarity with these brave teachers in Columbus, Ohio standing up for their colleagues and students.

The Holler Ohio Valley @heyjohnrussell

4,500 teachers in #Columbus Ohio are on strike with @ColumbusEA because #ColumbusStudentsDeserve a great education. Here’s the deal from the picket lines on day one. Follow my accounts at link in bio for more. https://t.co/Som2bRVnNf

August 23rd 2022

341 Retweets1,457 Likes

Coverage from large labor outlets

More Perfect Union @MorePerfectUS

4500 teachers and school workers in Columbus, OH, are on strike for the first time in nearly 50 years. They're fighting for guaranteed A/C, smaller class sizes, and PE & art in elementary schools. The school district cut off their health care after the walkout.

August 24th 2022

798 Retweets2,210 Likes

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