PA Cyber Charter advisors, counselors authorize strike

(WTAJ) — Advisors and counselors employed by PA Cyber Charter have authorized a strike after contract negotiations between them and the school have failed for over two years.

Following 750 days of bargaining, with a state mediator present for some sessions, members of the PA Cyber Academic Advisors and School Counselors Education Association (PACAASCEA), representing the school’s academic and special education advisors, as well as counselors, authorized the strike in what proved to be a difficult decision.

“So the decision to authorize a strike — and I want to be very clear, we are not, we are hoping not to strike — this is not a decision this group took lightly,” said Kelley Clouser, Uniserv Representative for the PA State Education Association, representing the union. “If you think, you know, they started bargaining in 2022 and we have, I mean, if I’m being honest, we have asked over and over and over for so many more dates.”

Clouser said the school has not made themselves available for a total of 12 or 13 dates PACAASCEA wanted to meet with them for negotiations.

PACAASCEA is demanding what will be their first contract, safer working conditions and healthcare, which other employees of PA Cyber Charter, including members of the two other organized unions at the school, already receive.

Clouser said that while they work for an online school, advisors and counselors work on-sight at offices across the commonwealth and that some have had to deal with issues such as raw sewage backup and toilets that don’t work. She said that their office in Philadelphia had an incident in which a homeless man entered the office overnight as the lock to the outside door was broken and the door was being secured using only a zip tie and filing cabinet.

While demanding safer working conditions, the counselors and advisors also want the school to create an environment that better supports students. Clouser explained that advisors and counselors at the school are available to support the students in any way they can from their first to last day, and often develop a close relationship with the students and their families. However, with only six counselors at the school to serve up to 10,000 students, some students may not receive the support they need.

“They are the ones that students can reach out to if they are, if they are struggling. And so we put on the table, we said this is not an appropriate ratio. Any other public school would not have that kind of ratio,” Clouser said.

PACAASCEA is hoping to avoid a strike, wanting to prioritize supporting the students, but Clouser said the school has neglected their duty to bargain in good faith. She said CEO Brian Hayden sent the school’s proposal to all bargaining unit members with a deadline to accept, stating it was their best offer, or risk losing items that were still mandatory bargaining subjects on the table — including money.

While hopeful that PA Cyber Charter will return to the bargaining table, PACAASCEA members hare preparing to file Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

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The union representing the teachers at the school has also been in negotiations for nearly two years and those employees are operating without a contract. Clouser, who represents that union as well, said that bargaining with the school has also been a challenge for that group.

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