Members of the Ithaca Teachers Association hosted “walk-in” demonstrations across the school district early Thursday morning amid negotiations for a new contract.
The union represents around 600 educators who work in the Ithaca City School District. Public, live-streamed contract negotiations have been ongoing since February.
Teachers rallied outside of their schools, chanting and waving signs before heading in to teach their first period classes.
The union and the district have already reached tentative agreements on a number of issues this year, including membership extensions to theatre teachers and coaches and “right to switch off” limits to how late teachers can be expected to respond to work related communications.
However, the district and the union are still negotiating on some hot-button issues.
The union is calling for regulations on how the district can use artificial intelligence in its new contract and a change in the district's teacher salary system.
“They need to invest in our salaries and commit to things like Protections Against AI,” Ithaca Teachers Association Secretary Aurora Rojer said in a statement. “To do that, we have to show how united our members are behind these issues."
The union also wants to standardize pay for teachers. Currently, teachers' salaries vary based on the contract in place when they were hired.
According to high school teacher and Ithaca Teachers Association representative Gina Cacioppo, that pay structure is demoralizing and drives employee turnover.
“We want fair pay for the years we put in and the experience that we have,” Cacioppo said.
The district saw a 19 percent teacher turnover rate from the 2022-2023 to 2023-2024 school year, according to the New York State Education Department. The average turnover rate was 13% percent statewide during that time period.
The Ithaca City School District did not respond to requests for comment in time for this report.