CINCINNATI — Two Cincinnati Public Schools unions have issued votes of confidence in Superintendent Shauna Murphy, stepping in on Oct. 14 just days after the Board of Education gave Murphy a sharply lower score in her annual evaluation.
The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers and the Cincinnati Federation of Office Professionals said in a letter that they were deeply disappointed in the evaluation. The unions argued it did not adequately recognize the district’s academic growth, the difficult circumstances Murphy inherited, or her commitment to students.
At its Oct. 12 meeting, the school board approved Murphy’s evaluation with an overall score of 3.3 on a 5-point scale, down from 4.6 a year earlier. Board president Brandon Craig said he is reviewing the unions’ letter and is withholding comment for now.
Most of the evaluation rests on student performance goals measured against state report card data from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. Murphy fell short of the board’s targets for third grade reading proficiency, algebra I proficiency, and closing reading gaps between economically disadvantaged students and their peers.
The unions countered that the record looks different up close. They pointed to the district earning its first-ever 3-star rating on Ohio’s school report card this year, up from 2.5 stars in each of the previous two years, and said Murphy has improved outcomes while confronting severe financial pressure, staffing and service cuts, and longstanding problems that predated her tenure.
Murphy, a longtime district staffer, became interim superintendent in 2024 and was then tapped for the permanent job that November, after her predecessor resigned in the spring of 2024 following no-confidence votes from six district unions. That history, the unions suggested, makes stability itself a value worth protecting.
Teachers union president Julie Sellers made a similar point during public comment at the Oct. 12 meeting, arguing that frequently replacing leadership creates instability and that supporting competent leaders while holding everyone, including the board, accountable is the better path.
Murphy’s contract runs through July 31, 2027. Under Ohio law, the board has until May 1, 2027, to decide whether to extend it, setting up months of discussion about the district’s direction, its finances, and how progress in Cincinnati classrooms should be measured.
