Affiliated with
New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA) & American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
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Ithaca Teachers Association
Welcome to the Ithaca Teachers Association!
Welcome to the Ithaca Teachers Association!
About Us
About Us
We are professionals who are committed to teaching and learning. The Ithaca Teachers Association (ITA) is a union of nearly 600 professional educators in the Ithaca City School District. We serve as classroom teachers, subject area specialists, academic support teachers, speech and occupational therapists, counselors, social workers, and psychologists. We work with students in grades pre-K through twelve, and support students across 12 school buildings. The ITA exists to prepare, organize, support and advocate for educators so we are better able to advocate for the needs of our students, and effectively provide a safe and supportive learning environment. We have a responsibility to care for our members so that our members can care for their students and their famililes. The ITA believes that teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. The primary responsibility of the association is to represent our members’ interests through Collective Bargaining and our Collective Bargaining Agreement (“The Contract”). It is our job to protect and maintain members’ rights and when possible, to improve the terms and conditions of employment. Without fair and just pay and working hours, safe and healthy workspaces, manageable workloads and job expectations, and strong morale; we can not provide our students with the best education possible. The ITA is committed to taking care of our members so we can all, in turn, take care of our students and their families.
Our ITA Values
Value 1: We care for our members so that our members can care for their students and their families.
Value 1: We care for our members so that our members can care for their students and their families.
The ITA believes that teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. The primary responsibility of the association is to represent our members’ interests through Collective Bargaining. It is our job to protect and maintain members’ rights and when possible, to improve the terms and conditions of employment. Without fair and just pay and working hours, safe and healthy workspaces, manageable workloads and job expectations, and strong morale, we can not provide our students with the best education possible. The ITA is committed to taking care of our members so we can all, in turn, take care of our students.
We recognize that some of our members — BIPOC and AAPI teachers, LGBTQ+ teachers, differently-abled teachers, teachers of differing socioeconomic status, teachers of various religious and political beliefs, teachers of differing home and family situations, teachers of differing medical needs, and more — face specific systemic oppressions or challenges and therefore have specific needs. We work to support and learn from these members.
Value 2: We engage in labor, social justice, and antiracist work to make our community more equitable.
As educators, we are committed to providing our students with culturally sustaining methods of instruction and curriculum. We teach to encourage critical thinking about issues facing our society. We help our students develop into active citizens prepared to combat issues of economic, racial, gender, and national oppression, among other issues. We are committed to supporting labor, and the rights of workers to collectively bargain and advocate for our Union siblings. We are committed to supporting all of our members in finding their role and voice in equity, diversity, and antiracism work. We welcome all opinions and aim to create a space where we can discuss key issues. We also recognize that teachers have a role to play in the broader community, including struggles for the common good of our students, families, and communities around issues like public school funding, affordable housing, childcare, environmental issues, and climate justice.
Value 3: We all participate in democratic discussion and decision-making.
We are a committed democratic Union--the union is every member, and every member is the union! Our goal is to engage members in a variety of ways, promote internal dialogue and debate, and involve rank-and-file members in running the union. We welcome disagreement and celebrate our differences while respecting majority voting in our democratic structure. We seek to empower building-level organization, and specialized committee work in addition to maintaining a strong union presence in district-wide, and Board of Education initiatives.
Contact Us
Please send all personal, confidential, and sensitive messages to:
Please send all personal, confidential, and sensitive messages to:
Office hours:
Office hours:
8:30-4:00 Monday- Friday
Please note that the ITA office is only open on professional work days in alignment with our ICSD academic calendar.
Full-Time Union Office Staff:
Full-Time Union Office Staff:
ITA Office Manager
Kathye Arrington
kathye.arrington@icsd.k12.ny.us
607-274-2166
Please contact Kathye directly to schedule appointments, report simple payroll/HR issues, change your address or other contact information, ask a question about ITA dues, and to request letters for leaves, resignations, retirements, etc.
ITA President
Kathryn Cernera
607-882-0406
Please contact Kathryn directly to help support with a problem, to discuss questions or concerns about any working conditions, and for general union business and questions.
The ITA Cabinet
Union Officers
First Vice President
Main Responsibilities:
Rep Council Chair
APPR and support for Professional Practices
Treasurer
Main Responsibilities:
Maintenance of ITA budget, member records, and dues deductions
Committee Chairs
The following committees are seeking chairs:
Solidarity
Please contact acting ITA Secretary, Molly Fournier, if you are interested in learning more about any of these committee chair positions. Committees can be chaired solo or as a pair!
Elected Delegates
These members have been elected to represent the ITA at various state organizations.
New York State United Teachers (NYSUT)
Representative Assembly Delegates
These members vote on annual priorities and initiatives for our state union to take on.
Kathryn Cernera, David Isley, Emily Snyder
and
Robert Levine
Robert Levine
Gary Isaacs
Gary Isaacs
Beverly Tan Wei Lee
Beverly Tan Wei Lee
New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS)
Delegates to NYSTRS Annual Convention
These members vote on the annual budget, officers, and practices of our state pension board and are our resident experts on NYSTRS.
David Isley, Robert Levine
and
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