At the end of January 29, both the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) and School Committee held press conferences in which they each said some progress toward agreement had been made on some items, but gaps remain. The strike continues, and schools will be closed on Tuesday, January 30.
Throughout the day, there were increasing signs of frustration in the parent community with the strike extending into its seventh day. One parent of three Newton Public Schools students sought to be included in the lawsuit between the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board and the NTA and its president, Mike Zilles, claiming that the Teachers Strike is depriving these students of an education guaranteed by the state constitution (see Fig City News article). Letters have been sent to the Mayor, School Committee, and the NTA from SEPAC, the PTO Council, and many parents.
The City Council sent an open letter to the Mayor, School Committee, and NTA, urging all to make further concessions and compromises, and not move backwards. They said, “…we urge the NTA to reduce its demands to reflect these real-world constraints and urge Mayor Fuller to find the required funds to help bridge the current gap.”
NTA Press Conference
The NTA press conference had a rocky start. The NTA invited media into the Education Center, and while cameras were set up, a group of parents followed along to attend the conference. NTA/MTA representatives asked the parents to leave, saying that only media were allowed, and the atmosphere became confrontational. One former NPS parent, Fran Yerardi, took initiative to speak at the TV microphones to express frustration about schools being closed, the parents being asked to leave, and the role of the MTA (see video). The NTA moved the press conference to the NTA bargaining room, and the parents were prevented from entering the room.
Four NPS educators – all members of the NTA’s negotiating team – conducted the press conference.
- Brenna Green, an NPS parent and 4th grade teacher at Cabot, said, “I hear from Newton parents everyday telling me …that we are doing the right thing for our community. We have learned, grown, and worked together to stand against a system that is stacked against us and stacked against our students.”
- Elana Cutler, who attended NPS and whose son will enter Kindergarten in Newton next year, said, “Every one of our proposals makes our schools better and stronger and safer for kids. We know that in the world we currently live in it is critical that our schools have adequate support to meet the mental health needs of our students. …It is incredibly hard to be away from my students who I call my kids for the past 7 school days. As a parent myself I know the stress and the challenge of unexpected childcare needs. Since the strike began, I have been away from my own family working 14-hour days carefully crafting thoughtful compromise proposals with the goal of settling a fair contract that doesn’t only return our students to the classroom but gives them and our educators what they need to be successful now and in the future.”
- Thuy Truong, a special-education teacher at the Newton Early Childhood Program (NECP), said, “We educators are tired of the working conditions… . The system is broken and it is time to fix it. Settling … a fair contract is the only path forward. …The excellent education that we once provided is going downhill …with chronic understaffing – … being out of compliance with our students’ IEPs, … decreased quality of academic instruction and …safety issues. This is why it is absolutely essential for us to pay our Unit C members a living wage … to recruit and retain the qualified professionals we need in order to continue providing the excellent education we always have. We are in a public education crisis.”
- Lynn Penczar, a 3rd grade teacher at Lincoln-Eliot, summarized the day’s progress in negotiations. She said, “While we are inching closer on smaller issues, we are still far apart on many of the things that are most important to our students and our educators. Contracts like these are moral documents – they are statements of our values. … We want to be proactive in addressing the mental health needs by ensuring that there is a social worker in every building. We need to ensure our aides and BTs have a wage that they can live on and support their families. We need a modern parental-leave policy…. These should not be controversial. There is a real need for them among our students and our educators.”
- When asked about the role of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) in the negotiations, Elana Cutler said, “We [i.e., the four educators who spoke, as well as other NTA members on the negotiating team] get support from the MTA, as do all local unions – but we are the ones making the decisions, and we are the ones driving this.”
- When asked about why the schools could not reopen while negotiations continue, Elana Cutler said, “We tried that for 16 months, and we didn’t get anywhere. This was an absolute last resort. I miss my kids – when I say that, I mean my students – I miss them so much. Seeing them at the rallies and on the picket lines …has been touching. We don’t want to be here, but felt and we knew it was our only option.”
School Committee Press Conference
At the School Committee press conference, School Committee Chair Chris Brezski said:
- “Today was a day of progress in the negotiations. It feels like we are edging closer but there is still a lot of ground to cover. Just after 4PM, the NTA provided the Committee with a response to our proposals from last night. {They] dropped their request for what was effectively a 5th-year extension to the contract and withdrew the NTA’s longevity demands, among other adjustments.”
- “With the progress today and previous tentative agreements, including 12 weeks of paid parental leave, we are steadily addressing most of the major issues both NPS and NTA have identified as important to improving the lives and experiences of our students and staff.”
- “While making progress on systems and structures is important, we still need to talk about the money. We believe we are nearing close enough that we again ask the NTA to end the strike and return students to their classrooms. Our kids have to get back to school.”
- “In any case, we remain committed to an agreement that works for our teachers but also works for our students.”
- “The gap right now [in COLA]… is currently 2.75% cumulative over the contract. That’s still the bulk of the dollars that separate us. …It’s important that we get through these issues of how we work the school day and how we’re going to address class size issues – all those things are really important – but at the end of the day, we have to agree on the money too, and that’s the part of the discussion that isn’t happening quick enough right now. …[The gap] is over $20 million over the life of the contract, and most of that is in the COLA.”
- [Regarding the role of the MTA], “There are several MTA reps in the negotiating room. They are vocal. They are a material part of the negotiation. I can’t speak as to what extent they influence the strategy or what the ask is of the Newton Teachers, but they are certainly a very meaningful part of what’s happening in the room.”
- [Regarding frustration of parents and whether they could attend press conferences], “As a parent, I feel the frustration. I … got into this …when I was upset when my kids weren’t back in school [during Covid] … and it’s ironic that I’m now here with my kids out of school. I think your average parent right now feels the way I did back then. They don’t care if it’s our fault or if it’s the NTA’s fault. They just want their kids back in school. This is causing real damage. It is hurting kids. There is no need. Kids should be back in school.”
- “We are still negotiating right now, still trading proposals. I’m committed to staying here as long as it takes, as long as we’re making progress.”
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said:
- “We are using City revenues and one-time funds sustainably, so no layoffs are required. And yet there will be no school again on Tuesday. This will now be 8 days that students are deprived of an education. The NPS are ready to open school doors wide as soon as we get the word from the NTA. The union should call off the strike, and we will continue to bargain in good faith with urgency with the NTA leadership while educators are in their classrooms.”
- “We are looking at all of our operating revenues – looking at our one-time funds – whatever income we have that doesn’t turn into layoffs for our teachers, for police officers, or for our firefighters.”
- “I will not agree to layoffs of our teachers and educators and our staff in NPS, and I will not agree to layoffs of librarians and DPW workers and police officers and firefighters and more on the City side. That’s a downward spiral for our students and our residents.”
Adam Bernstein, Bruce Henderson, and Amy Sangiolo contributed reporting for this article.
