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PA Cyber virtual teachers have first contract

By J.D. Prose for The 3 min read

MIDLAND — Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School virtual classroom teachers have their first contract as the only unionized cyber instructors in the state.

Lon Valentine, president of the PA Cyber Education Association, said the 140 virtual teachers, who provide strictly online instruction, approved the four-year deal earlier this month.

Teachers voted 71-34 in April 2014 to organize under the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). Valentine said the vast majority of virtual teachers are in Beaver, Allegheny and Butler counties.

“Hopefully, us organizing has maybe inspired (other cyber teachers) to organize as well,” Valentine said.

PA Cyber chief executive officer Michael Conti said the school board ratified the contract at its July 13 meeting. “PA Cyber’s teachers are skilled and compassionate professionals. They’ve been the key to our growth over the years, setting the standard for excellence,” Conti said. “With the welfare of our teachers in mind, we look forward to a long and productive working relationship with the PSEA.”

Under the contract, which is retroactive to last year and expires June 30, 2018, teachers will get a 15 percent increase in the first year and then about 2 percent annual increases after that, said Valentine.

The one time double-digit bump reflects how PA Cyber teachers are underpaid compared to others in the region, Valentine said. “We’re still nowhere near the top of the pay scale of Beaver County teachers,” he said.

Salaries for PA Cyber teachers range from $41,000 to $67,000 for those with a bachelor’s degree, Valentine said.

Valentine said there was probably a “mixed view” of the deal among teachers with some wanting more, some just happy negotiations are over and some bristling at what Valentine said was the school backing off an agreement to provide an additional step for teachers who had their salaries frozen in 2011.

Conti called the accusation that officials reneged on an agreement “wholly untrue” and insisted that the additional step was never agreed to by anyone representing PA Cyber.

“We negotiated in good faith completely,” Conti said.

Conti said the school “will work to build a constructive working relationship with (the union’s) representatives to ensure that our teachers’, students’ and their families’ interests are kept in mind at all times.”

PA Cyber teachers are not the first cyber instructors to organize. In 2009, teachers at PA Learners Online, a defunct cyber charter school in Homestead managed by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, organized under PSEA.

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