Parents rally for teachers as possible strike looms

As a potential strike by the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) looms Friday, parents fed up with stalled contract negotiations rallied outside of City Hall on Wednesday morning, to make their voices heard.

“Staff morale is abysmally low,” said Alison Lobron, an organizer with the Newton Parent/Educator Collaborative who spoke at the gathering. “The Newton Public Schools have been underfunded for the last several years.”

Concerned that Newton students are not keeping up academically with children in neighboring communities, about 150-200 parents marched in front of City Hall holding signs supportive of educators and chanted, “What do we want? Fair contract! When do we want it? Now!” and “Fund the schools!”

“We want to invest in our teachers,” said Brigid Tobin, co-president of the Angier Elementary School PTO which organized the rally.

City Councilor Bill Humphrey told the crowd he supported the teachers’ right to strike, although it is illegal for educators’ unions to strike in Massachusetts. He said in a wealthy community like Newton, teachers should not have to essentially take a “pay cut” in their contract.

Standing in the frigid air, some questioned why Mayor Ruthanne Fuller did not come outside to speak with them.

“I think she’s hiding from the parents,” said Lobron at the rally. (After the rally, Lobron was one of a group of five rally organizers who were invited to meet with the Mayor.)

After the rally and meeting with those parents, Mayor Fuller met with the press and said:

It breaks my heart for our teachers and our families that a strike is being contemplated. The adults belong at the negotiating table, children belong in our classrooms. …I wish that we could sit down at the table with the teachers in the Newton Teachers Association today and tomorrow. We will meet anytime, anyplace for as long as it takes. Unfortunately, the Newton Teachers Association won’t meet with us.

…I’m putting forward all the funding to settle a competitive package of compensation and a sustainable contract. Let’s avoid an illegal strike.

I look forward to getting back to our voters and asking for an operating override. Proposition 2.5 caps all of our tax revenue. And I believe in our children and in our teachers in our schools, and if we want to increase the funding for the Newton Public Schools, we have to convince our voters to do so.

Regarding her meeting with parents who organized the rally, Mayor Fuller said: “We have a wonderful group of parents who I agree with them completely. They are advocating for our children. They were warm, they were respectful. They certainly want the adults back at the table and settling this contract now. They want their kids to be able to go to school.”

When asked about the possibility of slowing down pension funding to free up cash for NPS, Mayor Fuller told Fig City News:

We promise employees benefits when they retire. It is a legal obligation to pay what we promise and we have two types of retirement benefits, one is pensions, the other is health insurance for when you’re retired. It’s very important to our employees that we actually fund those liabilities. If we don’t fund those liabilities, but instead increase pay, that’s the tension right now. Then, later, we still have to fund them. So it’s a tension, ‘where do we put our dollars today to help our employees? Does it go directly into salaries or does it go into the retirement benefits?’ We need to do both.

Fuller released a general email Wednesday night stating, “I’m hearing from a lot of families – and a lot of disappointment, frustration, anger, and dismay.

“I know that a strike by the Newton Teachers Association [on Friday, January 19] would harm our children and disrupt the lives of our parents/caregivers.”

After learning of the possible action this week, the School Committee formally filed a Petition for Strike Investigation with the Commonwealth Employee Relations Board (CERB) and alerted residents via emails from both the School Committee and the Mayor, Fig City News previously reported.

“We expect that at the end of the day on Thursday [January 18] or perhaps early Friday [January 19], the CERB will close its investigation and render a decision,” stated Fuller in the email. “If the CERB determines that the NTA is engaged in a strike or a strike is about to occur, the CERB will order the union, including its employees and officers, to cease any strike activity.”

Fuller said the vote could take place on Thursday, January 18, for a possible Friday, January 19, strike.

“If there is a vote to strike, we will have to see what actions the CERB takes to address the union’s decision to strike,” Fuller wrote. “If the NTA strike occurs, school will be canceled, all buildings will be closed, and all school-related events and activities will be postponed. The Newton Public Schools will provide meals for students that can be picked up at Newton North or Newton South High Schools.”

At the end of her email, Fuller said, “The bottom line is I respect and admire our teachers. I empathize with our parents/caregivers who are scrambling. I worry about the additional stress for our students if there is a strike. I believe we should be continuing our negotiations with the mediator appointed by the State rather than having our students unable to attend their classes.”

Ed. Note: We have revised this article to include comments by Mayor Fuller after the rally, reported by Bella Ishanyan.