You may remember last year, Youngstown teachers took to the picket line for almost a month. Fast forward seven months and the YEA Union has once again requested contract negotiations before the current deal expires.

Last year's talks were without a massive deficit in the forecast - begging the question what's going to happen this time around if a deal isn't reached?

On Thursday, 21 News laid out a key finding in the district's most recent state audit: It found Youngstown schools have an unusually large amount of administrative staff. While a big chunk of spending goes to staffing levels, the audit says educators are underpaid.

August of 2023 - when students were supposed to be in class - The Youngstown Education Association teachers union, or YEA, stood around the city holding up signs in red T-shirts... demanding a contract that would avoid unilateral control.

That was last year's sticking point when the strike loomed. The Union believed the language of the "Academic Distress Commission" left too much power in the hands of district leaders - and was the language that resulted in unchecked power under the CEO model.

After a 25-day strike, a one-year deal was made. That contract expires June 30th of this year -- if a new deal is not settled.
But this time around, the union has new factors to consider. A new financial forecast projects the district will hit the red in years to come - to the tune of nearly $17 million.

Eric Teutsch, the Youngstown Education Association President, told 21 News, "I’m very concerned about those deficit numbers and what those projections are, and I’m worried that they could actually get worse than they’re currently projecting depending on certain outside factors. That it’s going to be a concern going in this time, you know, it, you have to be concerned when there’s that much debt.”

On top of that - the audit shows Youngstown teachers are underpaid -- while staffing levels as a whole, are higher than normal. The audit says, "Considering the District exceeds peer staffing levels and has deficits looming, it is important for them to report and understand staffing to allow for more efficient staff management practices."

"If you’ve got three times the central office administrators as the district down the road and you’re in a deficit, there’s a lot of fat there that can be trimmed," Teutsch said, which the 21 News Watchdog reported on Thursday which looked at concerns within the state's audit of the district.

YEA's Union President says the teacher's union is concerned over what the Audit found - and what the deficit impact could be.

“...Just going to keep on compounding over the next couple of years and my main concern at this point is for is for the students and their success,” Teutsch added.

21 News asked Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor if the district can afford to extend the current contract, let alone address lower-than-normal salaries in Youngstown, but has not heard back as of the publishing of this story, but we were told the district has responded to the union with intent to set dates for negotiations.

YEA's Union President says he won't get into specifics in terms of what the union expects to negotiate.