In a recent Boston Globe op-ed, former Newton School Committee member, Matt Hills, dismissed the impact of the prolonged contract negotiations and strike claiming the final result was practically so close to the school committee’s initial proposal to render it meaningless (or in his words “much ado about nothing”). A week earlier, the Globe published a chart comparing the Newton School Committee’s proposal, the Newton Teachers Association proposal and the final agreed upon contract. For every category that the Globe analyzed, the final agreement clearly showed a negotiated agreement that was midway between the NTA’s and the School Committee’s proposal.
Would we have all preferred that this negotiated agreement have come months earlier? Definitely. Could the NTA have negotiated this agreement without a strike? Maybe or maybe not. There are several issues worthy of debate and lessons learned from the contract negotiations and the strike. Creativity with the math shouldn’t be one of them.
Sana Fadel
Newtonville