On January 31, the School Committee and Newton Teachers Association (NTA) continued to meet, and at the end of the day, each side acknowledged some progress was made and that the remaining gap is primarily financial. Late in the evening, the parties continued to meet as the strike continues. Schools will remain closed for the 10th day on February 1.
NTA Press Conference
The NTA press conference (see NewTV video) began with a statement from Sabrina Eastwood who works for NPS half-time as a Behavioral Therapist and half-time as social worker. She said she is “scrambling to address the full-time needs of all students” and outlined the various people who deserve parts of her time: Students, families, caregivers, and colleagues. She said, “Time is valuable. So why are we not valuing the time of our Newton students and families but also our Newton social workers and educators?”
NTA spokesperson Ryan Normandin provided an update on negotiations.
- “Last night, when Mayor Fuller came to this building to hear from us for the first time we delivered a framework that would open schools tomorrow. Today, we continued that work …We managed to save the district an additional $6 million while also preserving a social worker in every building, a living wage for aides and Behavioral Therapists and a modern, humane, parental leave policy.”
- “The School Committee did the same thing they have been doing for 16 months. They handed back a proposal on high school class sizes that did not mention the size of high school classes. They handed back a proposal on social workers that began by striking the following line: ‘The parties agree that the social emotional health needs of our students can be supported by providing professional clinical support on a regular basis.’”
- “In a meeting this evening, the School Committee reiterated their position: They do not have enough money to settle this contract. We agree. We have been clear from the beginning of this process that the allocation that Mayor Fuller has provided to Chris Brezski. and the School Committee was insufficient to settle this contract. Even our state-appointed mediator said this afternoon, “Obviously there needs to be an ask.”
- “The moment that Mayor Fuller provides our schools with the funding they should have had all along, … then we look forward to returning to the schools. We call on Mayor Fuller to do just that.”
- “The dollar gap [between the parties’ current proposals] is about $15 million. …There are other issues that we’ve brought to the table …which don’t have as much of a cost implication that the School Committee seems still reluctant to move on.”
- “Mayor Fuller has consistently [said] that in order for her to provide funding to the schools that would give our kids the schools they need, she would have to make cuts to Police, Fire, Public Works. This is not true. Mayor Fuller has the money. Our City Councilors have spoken to this as well.” (He mentioned Councilors Humphrey and Gentile by name.)”
- “[The Mayor attending the negotiations for the first time last night] didn’t seem to have much of an impact.”
- [Regarding the possibility of ending the strike while negotiations continue], “We offered for 16 months to the School Committee [that] we can negotiate all day long…if you release the bargaining team, …we’ll negotiate with you …we’ll keep the kids in class …they refused. For us to go back now before we get our kids and our educators what they need to be successful, it would be irresponsible.”
School Committee Press Conference
The School Committee press conference (see NewTV video) started late and was short. School Committee Chair Chris Brezski, visibly tired and frustrated, made a brief, emotional recap of the current state of negotiations and did not take questions. He said:
- “I’d like to say we made progress today, and we were able to check some items off the list….It is really getting down to ‘it’s all about the money.”
- “But there’s really only one kind of progress that matters right now. My kids aren’t going to school again. This has gone too far. We need our kids back in school, and only the union can unilaterally make that decision.”
- “The School Committee continues to focus on Unit C aides as that’s where we are hearing the concern is from the union – and what we recognize is a tough job. The increased level of student needs is real, and it’s a harder job than it’s ever been. But let’s ask ourselves, ‘How did we get here?’ Locking our kids out of school for the better part of a year helped to produce that situation. So the union’s remedy is to lock our kids out of school again.”
- “We can’t sign a contract that is not going to improve outcomes for our students. We’re still here. We’re still negotiating. We request the union: Get our kids back to school.”
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said:
- “I have a question for the union tonight: ‘Where is your sense of urgency?’ …Yesterday, the School Committee negotiating team put forward …a meaningfully increased offer, a highly competitive offer, a sustainable offer [which would] continue to make Newton one of the highest paying school districts in the state. The union took 26 hours to respond.”
- “And what happened in those 26 hours? Our kids were stuck at home. Our parents and caregivers were struggling, …paying a lot for childcare, depending on families and friends to fill in, and missing work again. Meanwhile, the union found time for boisterous rallies, celebratory music, and listening to speeches today …from the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the National Education Association… This strike is hurting our families. It’s hurting our city.”
- “I was happy to be invited … to join the NTA and our team at the bargaining table last night at 9:15PM. We thought we were going to be getting a counteroffer from the NTA. The president of the NTA, Mike Zilles, was respectful, courteous, thoughtful, shared some ideas, but there was no counter-offer …until 1:30PM [today].”
- “If I could be helpful [at the bargaining table], I’d be happy to be there. It didn’t make a difference at all last night.” (The Mayor did not attend bargaining sessions this day.)”
- [Regarding the NTA’s statement that it is looking for more money (about $15 million) to be allocated to the schools], “I cannot allocate a magical pot of money that does not exist. When I can, I will, both in our operating budget and in our one-time funds. …We can’t sign a contract on money we can’t count on.”
- Regarding the idea of extending the funding of pensions to make money available for schools, she explained that Newton’s independent Retirement Board has sole discretion about that, and she was grateful that it made such a move last year, but the Retirement Board has been consistent since then in not making another extension because funding the pensions is very important to Newton’s employees “who will then become retirees.”
- “The Chair of our School Committee, Chris Brezski, is thoughtful, dedicated to not just his kids but to the 11,600 kids. Our sense of urgency is 1000%. We need our kids back in school.”
Later in the evening, the School Committee issued a statement to the Newton Public Schools community saying in part:
The two parties remain approximately $15 million apart on our proposals, of which approximately $12 million is related to Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA). Yesterday, with additional funding from the Mayor for the last year of the contract, the School Committee offered a COLA for all employees that would increase salaries by a minimum of 12% over four years.
Earlier in the day, the first parent to file an intervening case against the NTA on January 29th, filed a response today to the NTA’s January 30 motion to dismiss. Today’s response included language stating “damages in the six figures per student” and “a class action is likely”.
The day ended with Mayor Fuller emailing the community at 10:43PM, which had the subject line “Union Closes Schools for a 10th School Day.”
Adam Bernstein, Bruce Henderson, and Amy Sangiolo contributed reporting for this article.
