Who We Are:
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.
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. 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 in addition to district-wide work.