Tim Ryan supports Ohio teachers for going on strike, not going to school over 'learning conditions'

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Senate candidate Tim Ryan supports teachers in Columbus, Ohio, going on strike for the first few days of the school year after not being able to reach an agreement with the school board over "learning conditions."

According to The Columbus Education Association (CEA) website, the union filed a notice of intent to strike earlier this month, threatening to not show up to school until they could reach an agreement on their contract with the school board. Democrat Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio., supports the teacher's decision to strike, telling Fox News Digital, "With our kids losing so much ground over the last few years, it’s clear we need them back in the classroom – but that should not come at the expense of their health and safety with no air conditioning, leaky buildings and overcrowding." "I support our teachers standing up for the well-being of their students and urge Columbus City Schools to come back to the bargaining table," Ryan concluded. PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS IMPLEMENTING COVID RESTRICTIONS MEET FEROCIOUS COMMUNITY PUSHBACK

Rep. Tim Ryan is standing with the teachers in Columbus, Ohio, who are on strike. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

A press release from the association stated the reasons for the strike: "At issue is disagreement over learning conditions such as smaller class sizes, full-time Art, Music, and P.E. teachers at the elementary level, and functional heating and air-conditioning in classrooms, as well as adequate planning time, a cap on the number of class periods during the school day, outsourcing positions to private, for-profit corporations from outside the community, and recruiting and retaining the best educators for Columbus students." WISCONSIN SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO BAN PRIDE, BLM FLAGS FROM CLASSROOMS CEA represents around 4,500 teachers, nurses, psychologists, and several other education professionals in the school district. The teachers plan on remaining on strike until an agreement with the school board is made. 

CEA represents around 4,500 teachers, nurses, psychologists, and several other education professionals in the school district. (Reuters/Jim Vondruska)

"CEA has consistently maintained that we are fighting not just for CEA members, but for our students and community.  That is why CEA will continue that fight until a fair agreement is reached for the schools Columbus Students Deserve," spokesperson for CEA Regina Fuentes wrote in the release. 

GOP nominee JD Vance is the Trump-backed candidate competing against Rep. Tim Ryan for the open Senate seat. (LM Otero/AP )

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With no incumbents in the Ohio Senate race, Ryan, who is currently representing Ohio's 13th Congressional District, is running for Senate against Trump-endorsed GOP nominee JD Vance.

Aubrie Spady is a Freelance Production Assistant for Fox News Digital.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/tim-ryan-supports-ohio-teachers-for-going-on-strike-not-going-to-school-over-learning-conditions/?feed_id=14824&_unique_id=6305185d87968

U.S. Teacher’s Letters Censored in Russian Prison, Family Says

An American teacher jailed on drug charges in Russia is being kept from communicating to his family freely, his family told CNN on Wednesday.

Marc Fogel, 61, was last month found guilty of large-scale drug acquisition, manufacture, smuggling and possession and sentenced to 14 years in a maximum-security penal colony. Fogel’s family says he was carrying cannabis for medical reasons to treat chronic back pain.

He was detained passing through customs at a Moscow airport in August 2021, when 11 grams of marijuana and eight grams of hash oil was reportedly found in his luggage.

Fogel’s sister Anne Fogel said no one has heard his voice since his detention and only received Russian-language letters translated by his cell mates.

“Everything goes through the censors. It’s harrowing,” she told CNN.

“He says what he wants in English, someone translates for him, one of his cellmates, and depending on how good their English is is how accurate of a picture we get of what is happening,” Fogel added.

“It’s very convoluted and it’s incredibly worrisome because we can’t really have an honest conversation.”

Fogel’s family is now pushing the U.S. State Department to declare him wrongfully detained, a designation applied to basketball star Brittney Griner, who is on trial on similar drug charges in Moscow.

“We are always weighing those developments against the criteria to determine whether an American is wrongfully held or not,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said, adding that the agency is continuing to learn more about the circumstances of his detention.

Fogel had worked at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow until May 2021, acccording to the Russian authorities. He then apparently took up a teaching job at the Anglo-American School of Moscow.

“This is a person who has served the American diplomatic community in schools all over the world for well over the majority of his career,” Anne Fogel told CNN. “I need my president and first lady to stand up for him. He needs to come home.”

Fogel is among several Americans currently held in Russian prisons amid bilateral tensions, with Griner and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan most prominent among them.

Another ex-Marine, Trevor Reed, was in April exchanged for Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was convicted in the U.S. on drug smuggling charges.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/u-s-teachers-letters-censored-in-russian-prison-family-says/?feed_id=3222&_unique_id=62e2280ac7798