For the first time since 1975, Columbus City School (CCS) teachers over the weekend voted to strike and now the entire nation is paying attention.

On CNN this morning, its bottom-of-the-screen news ticker is telling the story of how Columbus – considered one of the last American-boom towns with Intel poised to invest billions into the region – can’t provide all of its students air conditioning, among other head-scratching short comings for Ohio’s largest school district.

On Day 1 of the strike teachers were picketing out in front of the Columbus school’s admin buildings at 3700 S. High Street, among many other locations.

Overnight, teachers and supporters took to Reddit and other online platforms seeking solidarity and action from the public.

“Worker solidarity and class solidarity mean lending physical and material support to labor movements and strikes,” stated a post on Reddit about the striking teachers. “If you consider yourself to be politically on the left, a strike is your moment to put your money where your mouth is and act on your values by peacefully standing with your neighbors and demanding that they be given rightful ownership of their own labor value. If you have never joined a picket line, it is a beautiful and extremely moving thing to do. Go out there and stand with these critical pillars of our community to show them that they are not fighting alone.”

Other posts on Reddit urged parents to not allow their kids who are students of Columbus public to attend the online classes which will be taught by scabs.

“Parents of CCS students should keep kids home and don’t send them across the picket line (real or virtual),” stated a supporter.

Mayor Ginther also weighed in, demanding the district and teachers’ union (Columbus Education Association, or CEA) return to the bargaining table so students can return to the classrooms, some without air conditioning.

What the Mayor will never admit to is how his own coziness with developers has denied the district millions in funding for the students he’s advocating for.

“[The] pandemic has made clear the importance of having kids in the classroom,” he wrote Monday morning in a statement. “The CEA and the school district must return to the table and get our kids back in the classroom. A responsible solution is within reach, but only if negotiations restart now.”

But what are the conditions of some of these classrooms?

Certainly not as accommodating and pristine as some of the tax-abated condos which have sprung up like weeds over the previous decade or more.

Telling is a post on Facebook this morning from a former Columbus City Schools student and teacher, and now current parent of a district student.

“I’ve spent an enormous portion of my life in CCS. I’m a CAHS [Columbus Alternative High School] grad (1983), former teacher/senior faculty rep and currently the parent of an 8th grade CGA student who is serious about going to CAHS next year,” wrote Tim Browning.

He went on to say how when he returned to Fort Hayes as a teacher roughly four years ago, the school was practically in the same “dilapidated” condition it was in when he was a student years earlier.

“Now I have a daughter in CCS,” wrote Browning. “Her building principal is a phenomenal leader, and if I had worked with her, I might still be there. But her building is flat disgusting. It is only the spirit of the educators there that has convinced me to allow her to stay in CCS. Her mother lives in Columbus, I now live in UA [Upper Arlington]. Obviously, the schools here are excellent, the buildings clean and well-equipped, the food is nutritious, appealing, and healthy.

“Were not asking for Upper Arlington schools. We’re demanding facilities that are an upgrade from correctional facilities. We’re demanding that the superintendent stop giving bullshit jobs to her friends while classrooms are bursting (Their 1:22 teacher/student ratio is deceiving. There are plenty of outliers, classes with under 10 students, to skew this average), and schools that lack proper A/C, ventilation and custodial support. We are demanding access to arts education and school counselor support in every building.

“I’m still standing with CEA, and I hope the parents in our city understand what it is you (we) are fighting for.”