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Malden teachers union votes no confidence in superintendent over bad communication
The union says the superintendent has done a poor job of consulting with the union on important matters.
The union which represents teachers and other staff at Malden Public Schools overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence against Superintendent Ligia Noriega-Murphy Wednesday night, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.
The newspaper reported that the union attributed the vote of no confidence to Noriega-Murphy’s failure to communicate before announcing 63 layoffs last month, as well as multiple incidents in which they claim the superintendent tried to make changes that would require union input as per their contract.
“The superintendent’s communication has been lacking, opaque, and not honest,” MEA president Deb Gesualdo told the Globe.
The Globe reported that conflicts between the Malden Education Association (MEA), which represents over 700 Malden educators, and Noriega-Murphy have been ongoing for months, but that tensions have now hit a high.
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Over 99% of MEA members who were at the meeting Wednesday night approved the vote of no confidence, the newspaper reported, and in recent weeks, both parents and students have been questioning her credentials.
Noriega-Murphy told the Globe Thursday that she wasn’t surprised by the union’s vote.
“Their focus is more on adults than on students,” she said.
Noriega-Murphy became superintendent last summer after working for Boston Public Schools as a school administrator for over 20 years, the Globe reported.
During her time there, the newspaper wrote, she was praised for improving education at a high school with poor academic performance, but was also criticized for hiring a dean who later went to prison for shooting one of his students.
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The MEA claims Noriega-Murphy tried to make many major changes without consulting them or respecting the contract during her first year at the district, the Globe reported, including changing the way teachers are evaluated, changing job descriptions, and offering less stipend money without renegotiating the contract.
Additionally, Gesualdo told the Globe, last month, the district gave the union little notice before announcing 63 jobs that would be cut next year and didn’t correctly explain the reasons for the layoffs.
In a presentation for parents last month, the newspaper reported, Noriega-Murphy said the district chose not to rehire 18 teachers because of their poor performance.
But Gesualdo told the Globe that some of the teachers were rated as “proficient” on evaluations, and so the union doubts the truthfulness of the district’s explanation.
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“This is a really great example of dishonest communication,” Gesualdo told the Globe.
This year alone, MEA members filed seven class-action grievances, in addition to 11 individual complaints, the newspaper wrote.
School Committee member Adam Weldai agreed with the union, telling the Globe he believes the district has done a “very poor job” communicating with the public and teachers, and that he thinks the superintendent had made “many missteps” during her first year.
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The mass teacher layoff has caused some parents and students in Malden to begin questioning Noriega-Murphy’s stated qualifications, the newspaper wrote.
Noriega-Murphy is often referred to with the prefix Dr., including in district communications and on its official website. However, the Globe reported, the resume she used to apply for the Malden position doesn’t mention a doctorate.
Noriega-Murphy’s explanation to the Globe is that she has a doctorate in urban education from the University of Salamanca in Spain. She said she didn’t list it on her resume because it wasn’t required for the job, and because “a legal thing with my spouse prevented me from listing it.”
Weldai also told the Globe that the superintendent told the School Committee that she had a doctorate after she was hired.
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