CEA is pleased to announce the application period for the Fall 2020 CEA Foundation Mini Grants is now open to ALL CEA members. The CEA Foundation’s mission is to empower CEA members to design and implement innovative opportunities that will ultimately lead to higher achievement for all students. There are three mini grants for members to choose from:

• Early Educator Mini Grant–20 total grants up to $300 each (for teachers in Years 1–5 of their career)
• STEM/STEAM Mini Grant–10 total grants up to $600 each (open to all CEA members)
• General Mini Grant–25 total grants up to $320 each (open to all CEA members)

CEA encourages members to think about supplies, materials and/or programs they personally fund. Members are eligible to receive one Mini Grant per year. Due to COVID-19, the application process will be conducted online.  For Directions: Click Here. For Application Click Here.

These Mini Grants are separate from the Teacher Dream Grant and all CEA Mini Grants are funded completely through the CEA Foundation. Only CEA members are eligible to apply for the Mini Grants. Your emailed application is due no later than 4:30 p.m. on October 28, 2020. If members previously sent in applications through the U.S mail, a new application is not needed; however, all new applications must be emailed to CEA.

Columbus Education Association members are celebrating a big win for students after the Columbus City School Board of Education pulled a proposed contract with a controversial education outsourcing company from its September 1, 2020 meeting agenda. Though the proposed one-year, $360,000 contract with for-profit Camelot Education would not have directly outsourced services to students, it did cover an assessment, professional development, and “year-end report” on Columbus Scioto 6-12, a CCS alternative school of the same type that Camelot runs privately all over the country. Such assessments and reports are often precursors to full outsourcing of services.

Upon being informed of Camelot Education’s intrusion into their building, CEA members immediately went to work researching the company. What they found was extremely disturbing. Camelot has a documented history of physical abuse allegations from students spanning 10 years and three states, as well as accusations of running it’s schools with an “incarceration type of environment”. Also troubling was the company’s apparent close relationship with former CCS Chief Academic Officer Tracy Ocasio, who recently departed the district on questionable terms. Publicly available documents show that Ocasio worked closely with Camelot in academic roles in at least two other cities.

Holli Anderson, Intervention Specialist and CEA Senior Faculty Representative at Columbus Scioto 6-12, was in contact with CEA leadership immediately, who quickly passed the information to members of the School Board. “We will always fight to protect our students from education profiteers, especially when they have a history like Camelot Education”, said Anderson.

CEA President John Coneglio added “We are thankful that in this case our CCS School Board did the right thing by pulling this contract from the agenda. Our members at Columbus Scioto 6-12 and across the district will remain vigilant to privatization threats from those looking to make a quick buck off our students. Our schools are not for sale.”

August 21, 2020 – Columbus, OH

The Columbus City Schools administration and the Columbus Education Association have reached an agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines expectations and conditions for providing the most effective and equitable educational opportunities for our students during the upcoming period of virtual learning.

First and foremost, this agreement prioritizes the health and safety of staff, students, and the Columbus community. The District administration and CEA agree that we will not compromise this priority.

We also agree that our collective efforts must prioritize our students and how best to serve them amidst a global pandemic. It will take the commitment of all CCS staff members to achieve our mission of educating and nurturing our community’s children.

The District administration and CEA worked collaboratively to reach this agreement. Now, we must continue the collaboration by turning our attention to starting school in a virtual environment. We are looking forward to the CCS Summer Institute, an intensive two weeks of staff training beginning next week. And we are most looking forward to welcoming our students into their virtual classrooms on September 8.

The Columbus Education Association is the union representing more than 4,000 teachers, librarians, nurses, counselors, psychologists, and other education professionals in Columbus City Schools. The Columbus Education Association is a proud affiliate of the Ohio Education Association and the National Education Association.