Deafening Silence

It Is Becoming Undeniable

Before this month, the last time EAA posted an online update to members about the status of the collective bargaining agreement was May of 2025. Members have been outspoken in their confusion and desire for clarification but their questions remained unanswered for nearly a year. This is obviously unacceptable but it does put the last month into perspective.

Since RUN has been fighting for members the leadership at EAA has:

• notably discussed our posts in an EAA meeting after we confronted them at the ADC’s labor caucus meeting

• released details of a tentative CBA deal, cancelled a budget-focused meeting at the last minute for the first time ever due to "unforeseen circumstances”

• reportedly changed their cancellation reason to “inclement weather” the next day (when such weather was curiously not forecast the day before)

• responded to comments on their facebook which is also a first time occurrence.

Now they are announcing that anyone with questions should attend the next all member meeting on March 25th via zoom. Even though they could just respond to people’s comments and questions directly, they are falling back on their go-to strategy when faced with tough questions: ignore members and refuse to acknowledge their frustrations. This is even more egregious when the google form that is supposed to provide the link for the meeting was closed until a week before the meeting and EAA has a track record of failing to respond to emails. So which is it, do they want members to attend the next meeting or not?

Their Best Is Not Good Enough

The backlash is mounting and when confronted with questions EAA crumbles. At the most recent city council meeting, EAA president Dawn Lucas gave a public comment. At the conclusion of her statement, John Chapman and Canek Aguirre had some tough questions for Dawn Lucas that she could not ignore. Her answers illuminated the fact she has been aware without a shadow of a doubt that the healthcare offsets turn step increases and COLAs into a pay cut.

She also revealed that she is only negotiating a CBA for one year, not three like the other unions in the city. Despite three years being the standard, she decided to take the city and school budgets into account more than educators need for consistent pay increases to keep up with inflation. Once again, educators' priorities are not EAA’s priorities and EAA members were left in the dark.

The shocking answers we heard validated our fear: that EAA is not only unprepared to fight for educators but that their unwillingness to negotiate for a strong and comprehensive deal will make all ACPS employees suffer. Members could not be clearer. They have been asking for answers for long before the last update in May. EAA’s refusal to involve members in the collective process has been a conscious decision that leadership has made over and over again for at least a year. It should never have been allowed to get this bad.

We Are Listening

Leadership should have a cohesive vision that is not only informed by their members but was created with their voice as the foundation. That is the lesson we have learned from current EAA leadership and we intend to never make the same mistakes. That is why we want to see a CBA that does not just cover the bare minimum, but delivers for educators for issues that make working day to day more difficult than necessary.

The current CBA proposal, or at least what little has been shared with us, only discusses compensation. If anything else has been negotiated, it will be a surprise to members. We believe that not only would a competent CBA ensure that any pay increases are actually increases, but that working conditions should be a cornerstone of the agreement.

Our vision is a CBA that is drafted with educators input. We have heard from many members and ACPS employees that they are not satisfied with their working conditions and feel trapped by policies that feel more punitive rather than regulatory. This is exactly where a competent union would step in to resolve these issues with educators. All ACPS educators deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and too often we hear the opposite. We want to build a union that fights to amend this injustice. This begins with educators regaining their voice.

Let’s fight together.