‘The stress is building’
Striking teachers fined over $500K as parents fume
With kids stuck at home for the last eight days in Newton — and no end in sight — parents said they’re feeling an increasing strain from the ongoing teachers strike and deadlocked negotiations.
“I have kids at home too, and I hope that school will be in session tomorrow, or the day after,” said NPS parent Alison Lobron at a press event held by Newton parents last night. “Because the stress is building. It’s really building, and I see what’s happening in the city, the divides that are happening, the anger. And there’s only one person who can fix this.”
To Lobron and other parents standing behind the NTA, the “one person” is Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, who the union has argued is not prioritizing negotiations. Others have turned their frustrations back on the NTA, with one mother of three going so far to file a court motion to compel teachers “impose sufficient sanctions” to compel the NTA to immediately end the strike on Monday.
Wednesday will mark the ninth-day schools have been closed for the district’s 12,000 students and the teachers’ 13th day on strike. The NTA took to the picket lines on Friday,
Jan. 19, nearly five months after their contract expired and 16 months into negotiations.
The union is now facing a massive $525,000 in fines and is continuing to accrue $50,000 fines for every day they remain on strike.
Tensions have continued to rise in negotiations, with neither side budging on accepting the continued proposals.
“Today the school committee told us what we have always known to be the case: that they will no longer be bargaining with us,” said Newton South High School teacher Ryan Normandin around 7:30 p.m., clarifying that an arbitrator relayed this to NTA members. “They are done.”
Both sides reportedly went back into negotiations last night.
The NTA has stated contract priorities including adding a social worker to every elementary and middle school building, increasing paid parental leave, cost of living adjustments for all educators and living wage raises for Unit C professionals, which are aides and behavior therapists.
The School Committee released a new proposal yesterday, which again included the union’s 12 weeks of paid parental leave and came closer to other demands. The most recent proposal raises unit C salaries by 14-15% over four years, up from about 11% in their last proposal but down from the NTA’s last proposal of 18%.
The School Committee argued the proposal meets the superintendent’s and NTA’s priorities of “reduced class sizes, improved access to electives, and increased social worker support for students.”
The NTA argued last night that the proposal “made progress” but was not sufficient and did not include mental health supports and a living wage for unit C. A member of the negotiations team said they would offer a counter-proposal last night.
In a statement late Monday night, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said the city is “anxious to sign a competitive and sustainable contract with no layoffs in NPS or other departments.”
“Union leaders are not letting educators return to their classrooms while negotiations continue to resolve the contract,” Fuller wrote. “They are continuing to strike illegally, harming children and the Newton community.”
Several parents at the press event said the mayor’s messaging around the negotiations has been misleading families.
“The schools have been underfunded before all of this,” said NPS parent Amy Pollack-Howard. “Really, I’m here because I would like the mayor to give more funds to the school system, so that we can help our children and our teachers, but mostly the children. There’s 12,000 kids on this school system, and they need to be supported.”
Since May 2022, educators have gone on strike in Brookline, Haverhill, Malden, Woburn and Andover, with the longest stint lasting five days in Woburn.