May 22, 2022 - (Updated: August 19, 2024)
To Whom It May Be of Interest:
I never imagined that I would ever find myself returning to my alma mater as a teacher. Let alone, leading the class and program that I have always felt so incredibly passionate about and one that has had such a profound impact on my own life.
As a student, WHS-TV helped shape and form me, both personally and professionally, in ways that go beyond what words can express. While enrolled as a student of WHS-TV, I created and ran my own DJ business, FM radio station, teen night club and the first of what would become a chain of movie rental stores. I accomplished all of these entrepreneurial milestones while attending Massillon Washington High School and fully engaging in the Media Arts program and my studies at WHS-TV.
Since graduating from WHS, I have worked exclusively in the entertainment and technology industries. I have been consistently recognized for exceeding every performance goal and out- performing every competitor. I am passionate, fearless and unstoppable. Traits I work hard at exemplifying everyday and pass on to my students. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Since working for the Massillon City School District (MCSD) as the WHS-TV Instructor, my team has achieved incredible accomplishments in a very short period of time. These include, but are not limited to, the launching of all WHS-TV social media platforms, the re-branding/station imaging of WHS- TV, the launching of Massillon Tiger Football live streaming/pay-per-view, and securing an exclusive relationship with Full Sail University which guarantees a $15,000 scholarship to each and every graduating student of our Media Arts program that maintains a grade of “B” or better in our class. Our team has also earned 15 Business Professionals of America (BPA) Awards and 8 Student Emmy Awards for our work in video production.
I am a 5-time Stark County Art Teacher of the Year Finalist, have earned the highest possible Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) rating of “Accomplished” every year since being hired, received the Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education’s (Ohio ACTE) Outstanding New Career and Technical Teacher of the Year for 2019, named one of SUCCESS Magazine’s Top 125 Leaders Who Get Results for 2022, nominated for the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's (ODEW) Ohio Teacher of the Year for the last three years and most recently have been designated an Ohio Consistently High Performing Teacher (CHPT) for 2024. I am the first teacher at Massillon City Schools to ever receive this designation.
Additionally, there are more WHS-TV students pursuing school, work and/or military service after graduating from our program than ever before. Simply stated, WHS-TV and the WHS Media Arts program have never been stronger.
These are just a few examples of what we have accomplished together in my short time with WHS-TV. I’m proud of every one of my students and the staff that makes all of this possible. Everything we accomplish belongs to our entire team, a tribute to our combined effort.
I love helping to shine a positive light on WHS-TV and Massillon City Schools. More importantly, I love helping my students accomplish goals that can often seem impossible.
Unfortunately, for more than five years I have been working as diligently and as gently as I can to remedy an unfair/unequal compensation situation that I am unwillingly a part of through circumstances beyond my control. This situation requires me to navigate through a variety of challenges in the hopes of a fair and equal outcome for all parties. The compensation that I receive from MCSD, as it stands now, would be considered by most to be unfair and unequal based on past-practice.
My goal is simple: Fair and equal compensation as my counterparts, based on past- practice.
The following is a summary of key points regarding my situation.
I discovered information concerning possible compensation discrepancies, as it relates to me as a Career and Technical Education (CTE) teacher, through my student and professor relationships at Kent State University. Common practice for CTE teacher compensation across most districts throughout Ohio is to hire a new CTE teacher at a BA pay-scale or higher, recognizing five or more years of industry experience as a CTE Teacher’s Bachelor’s Degree equivalent. After completing the required college coursework to become a licensed teacher, the new CTE teacher is then placed at a BA+20 pay-scale or higher. I made Mr. Jamey Palma, the CTE Director of MSCD, aware of this discrepancy during conversations in the Spring of 2019.
After making Mr. Palma aware of this information, he placed a call to Krista Gearhart, Director of CTE at Canton Local Schools, who confirmed that my information was correct. Mr. Palma also shared with me that the only way to fix this was for me to make the Massillon Education Association (MEA), the teachers’ union, aware of the situation and encourage the Association leadership to make the appropriate language changes to the Negotiated Agreement.
On Wednesday, September 11, 2019, I was invited to and attended a meeting at Washington High School. In attendance at this meeting were Paul Salvino, Superintendent of Massillon City Schools, Jamey Palma, Director of State-Federal & Career Technical Programs, Tony Thornsberry, CTE Principal, and Sandy Moeglin, Massillon City Schools Treasurer, among others. During this meeting, Mr. Salvino shared with everyone that I had brought the matter of a possible compensation discrepancy to the attention of Mr. Palma. Mr. Salvino stated that after some additional research, the administration discovered that, based on past-practice, at least three CTE teachers were not being compensated fairly. Mr. Salvino also explained that the administration was in the process of “working out a solution” for these teachers that would come in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This MOU would include a pay raise to correct our pay-scale position and a back-pay compensation package to address the loss of income which was a result of the incorrect pay-scale placement dating back to our original hire dates.
On Monday, September 16, 2019, MEA President Andrea Talkington received an email with a PDF attachment labeled “CTE Salary MOU”. The most notable aspect of this email and attachment was the fact that the MOU that she received was labeled “Settlement Agreement”. The proposed Settlement Agreement included the following language: “WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Superintendent/Designee to place ASSOCIATION members on the appropriate salary schedule [moving the CTE teachers from the Non-Degree Column to the Bachelor Degree Column]...” and “This settlement agreement does not constitute nor shall it be construed as an admission of wrongdoing...”, among other items.
For reasons that I don’t fully understand, the MEA declined the proposed MOU for the CTE teachers. With the hope of resolving the issue, I then requested an Informal Grievance Hearing with the Superintendent. This hearing took place and was led by MEA President Andrea Talkington and Ohio Education Association Labor Relations Consultant Gary Kovach. Gary and Andrea explained to the administrative staff in attendance, their thoughts on how to resolve the unfair/unequal compensation issues that plagued the affected CTE teachers. After the hearing, the MCSD administration responded by stating they did not agree.
Next, I requested that the MEA file a Formal Grievance on behalf of myself and the affected CTE teachers. The MEA responded to my request by filing a Class Action Grievance against the Massillon City School District. However, the Class Action Grievance that was intended to correct the compensation of the three affected CTE teachers ballooned into a 300+ MEA Member Grievance dating back nearly 20 years and included a variety of issues unrelated to our situation.
On January 23, 2020, after three failed Formal Grievance Hearings, the MEA held an Emergency Class Action Executive Committee Meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to vote on whether to move the case to arbitration or dismiss the Formal Grievance altogether. However, only information pertaining to the original three CTE teachers that filed the Formal Grievance was presented to the Executive Committee for discussion and a vote. For unknown reasons, the 300+ MEA Members that were made a part of the Class Action Grievance that was presented to the MCSD administration for negotiations were not mentioned or discussed and the MEA Executive Committee voted to deny arbitration.
After many conversations, I discovered that it is nearly unheard of for a teachers’ union to not move forward with arbitration in relation to union labor matters, especially when past-practice is taken into consideration. The MEA should have moved the CTE teachers’ grievance forward to arbitration and did not. Since arbitration was voted down, I am told that I can no longer pursue this grievance through the MEA and cannot file a new grievance. The MEA wrongly determined that the matter-at-hand had been successfully settled. Refusing to pay a few Massillon CTE teachers the same as other Massillon CTE teachers with the same identical qualifications and educational background cannot be a “settled matter”. This is clearly unfair and unacceptable.
Mr. Salvino, together with the MCSD administrative staff, made efforts to attempt to correct the CTE teachers’ compensation shortcomings when it was brought to his attention. However, he can’t do it alone. It is impossible for Mr. Salvino to assist in any efforts involving union members without the full and willing cooperation of the MEA.
It is the responsibility of every teachers’ union to work together with their school district to solve difficult issues that affect their union members. Refusing arbitration and further discussions to remedy unfair labor practices against CTE teachers is a move against the very teachers that voted the MEA leadership into office. Labor unions were originally founded in response to unfair labor practices and wages. Is this no longer true? Has the MEA lost sight of this? Are CTE teachers exempt from being treated fairly and equally?
I will admit that when I was offered the position of Media Arts Instructor at Massillon Washington High School over five years ago, I was ignorant of how the “business” of education worked. I had every reason to believe that every teacher is treated fairly and equally. I trusted that if I delivered on my promise of being a great teacher, my school district and my union leadership would support me in every way possible, ESPECIALLY regarding an issue as fundamental as fair and equal pay. I believed the school district and the union leadership would work together to resolve such inequities.
I love being a Media Arts Teacher and am proud to be a part of the Career and Technical Education community. However, unfair and unequal compensation for CTE teachers is unacceptable and disheartening. If there is anyone that feels they may be able to help remedy my situation, please feel welcome to contact me.
Sincerely,
Matthew J. Ferrell
Media Arts Instructor
Massillon Washington High School / WHS-TV Ohio
Massillon, Ohio
Email: Matthew@TigerTeacher.com
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