Note: This story was updated with additional information from the May 12 CMSD school board meeting.
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) and the Cleveland Teachers Union announced an agreement that will bring back around 60 teachers — at least for next school year as long-term substitutes. The school board approved the agreement at its May 12 meeting.
In early April, CMSD laid off 410 district employees as part of a plan to save millions by merging and closing schools. Cuts to teaching and building staff were met with protest and backlash from teachers, parents and students.
Those cuts included 278 teachers, classroom aides, school nurses and counselors all represented by CTU. After weeks of back and forth, the union and the district have hashed out a plan that would allow 60 teachers to come back as long-term substitutes for the 2026-2027 academic year, allowing them to keep their salary and benefits.
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After that year, CMSD is “hopeful” many of these teachers will be recalled into full-time positions, according to a joint statement from CEO Warren Morgan and union president Errol Savage to the union’s membership.
Savage told Signal Cleveland that in most Cleveland schools there’s at least one teacher absent every day, meaning there’s a need for substitutes. He was clear that the agreement wasn’t a victory but said he hopes it’s the first in a set of steps to mitigate the layoffs.
“Not everyone will want to do this,” Savage said. “But it does give people time to figure out other options. I think it’s in the best interest of students — it puts a licensed teacher in front of them every day.”
How will the agreement between the Cleveland Teachers Union and CMSD work?
Under the agreement, teachers will be offered these full-time substitute jobs in the reverse order in which they were laid off. That means the most senior and higher rated teachers get the offer to come back first. Only staff who are licensed to teach are part of the agreement.
As long-term subs, teachers will be assigned a specific building and will fill in for any teacher absent at that school. They can also be called on to help with supervision during lunch, dismissal or other non-classroom duties.
Teachers will also keep their regular salary and benefits, according to the agreement. They can also be recalled into a full-time teaching position even if they accept a long-term substitute job.
How can CMSD afford to bring these positions back?
The district had originally budgeted to keep some college and career coordinators but since the union contract required all coordinators to be laid off before any teaching staff could be cut the district decided to reallocate that money toward bringing some teachers back, Morgan explained at the board meeting.
District spokesperson Jon Benedict said there were some other savings that made bringing these employees back financially possible including reducing day-to-day substitute teacher and unemployment costs.
Benedict also said that the district is approaching these positions as a way to support schools in a year with a lot of transition.
