School Committee files Petition for Strike Investigation.
Since the start of the new year, rumors regarding an imminent strike by Newton Public Schools (NPS) educators have gained traction, first on social media, then in the Charles River Regional Chamber of Commerce newsletter on January 12, and then over this past weekend at a gathering of parents, educators, and elected officials at the Scandinavian Cultural Center. From there, messages about an upcoming strike by the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) beginning on Friday, January 19 appeared in several weekly PTO newsletters to parents on Monday, January 15.
The rumors turned out to be more than hearsay. On Tuesday, January 16, 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. These emails contained detailed information for residents regarding school building closures, school lunches, and other procedures in the case of a strike. Because the CERB had already determined that the NTA had engaged in a strike on August 29 related to its boycott of Superintendent Anna Nolin’s convocation on that date, the regulatory body may seek to more proactively grant the City of Newton relief against the union if it does vote to strike. As of this writing, the NTA has not yet made any statement regarding the filing.
NPS Q&A Session Tuesday Evening
That same night on January 16, School Committee Chair Chris Brezski (Ward 2) and Superintendent Anna Nolin hosted a two-hour question-and-answer session — for approximately 40 in-person attendees at Zervas Elementary School and 170 people attending remotely on Zoom — to answer questions about school finances and the current contract negotiations. Many attendees were PTO leaders, and the general public was also invited to ask questions. Fig City News was asked to moderate the event, managing questions from attendees both in the room and in the Zoom chat. (See NewTV video.)
At the start of the meeting, Brezski noted that “tensions are high” and asked everyone to “be the people that we want our kids to think we are.” He said, “This is a collective failure. It is [all of] our job to figure this out and do what’s in the best interest of our kids.”
Brezski presented slides comparing the COLA offers made by the NTA and NPS, as well as showing where the latest NPS offer stands among the eight schools that the NTA named as a peer group. Brezski added that while he believes a broader peer group would be more representative, the NPS analysis was based on the comparables specified by the NTA. He said that the NTA was not in this meeting because NPS and the NTA are not allowed to be in an open debate outside of a mediation session.
Dr. Nolin said that in all of her experience negotiating 36 contracts, she has never experienced anything like this negotiation and noted that, “There’s all kinds of misinformation around.” She said that while she wants the contract settled, her first priority is “your kids” and emphasized that the NTA members are her colleagues. She said that she has not seen “a long-range financial plan that shows us how to be patient and how to hope for what we can have in the school system.” Without that, “it’s just like a death match for the money.”
Several parents were frank in expressing that the tone of communication from the School Committee and the Mayor appear confrontational.
In response to a question about why NPS is offering only “package” agreements, Dr. Nolin said that presenting several items at the same time is not offering “package” proposals, and anyone in the negotiation can provide feedback on any piece of it. Brezski noted that there are economic tradeoffs among the pieces, so they are interrelated, but it’s not all “take it or leave it.”
A parent asked what NPS is doing to address problems in the classroom environment due to loss of staff. Brezski said that even though enrollment is down 8%, “it’s a different world today” since 2019, with kids having more struggles, increasing demand on teachers due to behavioral changes, rising insecurity of food and housing, and more ELL needs.
Brezski spoke in terms of what makes an offer “competitive” by including not only compensation but all other factors “that make you say is this a place you want to work or not.” He added, “Uncertainty and instability are the biggest morale-killers.” He said that he did not vote for last year’s school budget and that the City Council did not vote for the City budget because Councilors “felt the schools were not getting enough.” Dr. Nolin spoke of the need to invest in curriculum materials to ease teacher workloads.
Dr. Nolin explained that funding for NPS has been limited due in part to the failure of the override last year and the need to fund unfunded pension liabilities. She said, “We’re trying to recover from several years of underfunding” and an increase of “5% is not going to …meet the teachers’ demands, and the program improvements, and the services and restorations you want. …Your override that did not pass was necessary. It will be necessary again.”
Dr. Nolin said, “I don’t know if a strike is the answer. It’s not the answer for kids.”
After describing ways that he and others have been trying to find funding, Brezski said, “We’re putting forth our best effort. ..I know it’s not what the teachers want, but it’s not crazy, either. It’s not worth shutting down the schools over. …Let’s sit down and figure it out together.”
Brezski said there are three ways that things can be settled, in any combination:
- The City provides more money.
- The School Committee accedes to the NTA’s demands, and foregoes other priorities such as hiring more high-school math teachers and incremental support staff for elementary schools. He said this may lead to layoffs next year and “irreparable harm” to the school system.
- The NTA agrees to lower what it is asking for.
Dr. Nolin said, “There has to be some authentic, actual negotiation” and referred to a lack of trust among the parties. Brezski added, “Locking our school doors isn’t going to help. Striking isn’t going to make [the School Committee] more committed. We’re already there.” He said he would meet for negotiations at any time and would “do whatever it takes” short of taking the second of the three ways listed above, which would lead to “irreparable harm.”
Dr. Nolin emphasized the need to take a longer view — spanning over multiple contract terms — and create a vision of where the community wants NPS to be. She concluded by inviting people to attend two NPS meetings this week – January 17 and 18 – to introduce the Portrait of Graduate project, which she sees as a key part of the strategic long-term planning that is needed for NPS success.
Adam Bernstein, Bruce Henderson, and Amy Sangiolo contributed to this article.