Cleveland Teachers Union elects new president

• About 75% of the union's 4,000+ educators voted.

Friction point: The district's plan to close and consolidate dozens of schools starting next year has angered many educators, who say the administration has failed to communicate clearly or involve teachers in decisions.

• Savage campaigned on that frustration, promising more transparency and stronger engagement with rank-and-file members and the community.

What they're saying: "I think involving the public is where we win," Savage said in an 18-minute YouTube video about his campaign.

• "We have to be engaged with the public, part of the community, not seen as some isolated entity that only shows up when we want a levy to pass."
• He said his first three priorities will be tackling the nuts and bolts of school mergers; working on the enforcement of the union's collective bargaining agreement; and modernizing the CTU's constitution.

Between the lines: The scale of CMSD's "Building Brighter Futures" plan turned the CTU race into a proxy debate about how aggressively the union should challenge district leadership.

• Savage and his camp argued that Obrenski didn't fight hard enough to get a seat at the table before the plan was released.

The other side: Obrenski told Signal Cleveland before the election that she believed the criticism was "unfair," "disingenuous" and "in some respects it's naive."

• She conceded the election in a social media post during the weekend.
• "Well, the members have spoken," she wrote. "Congratulations to my opponent. Thanks to all who have supported me throughout the years. Being the CTU President has been the honor of a lifetime."