The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers is major player in shaping education in the city of Cincinnati.
The CFT is not only the voice of classroom teachers in matters of contract negotiations and enforcement, but a player in shaping educational policy in the district, and in district politics. In the November election it supported three non-incumbent candidates for the board of education, all of whom won.
The strength of the CFT is reflected in part by the fact that its last two presidents, Tom Mooney and Sue Taylor, were chosen to head the Ohio Federation of Teachers. With Sue Taylor's election as OFT president last March, the CT membership chose Tim Krause as its new president. Mr. Kraus became a classroom teacher mid-career, and for the past decade has been a technology teacher at Hughes Center. He served as the chairman of the union's bargaining committee before being elected president.
In the aftermath of the defeat of a 9.95 levy in
November the Cincinnati Board of Education has been struggling with what to do next. One of the problems is that the decision has to be made this month by the current board before the three new members are sworn in January first. The current board is split and last week sent two possible levy proposals to the Board of Elections to hold a spot on the ballot.
One, favored by superintendent Rosa Blackwell, treasurer John Boyd, is an emergency 7.95 mill levy that would generate $52 million per year and increase real estate taxes approximately $240 per year for every $100,000 of valuation.
The other proposal, put forward by Susan Cranley, calls for a 3 mill permanent improvement levy that would be restricted to maintenance and repair costs.
