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Newton schools won’t return to class on Monday as teachers strike, contract negotiations continue
Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has not been present during negotiations this weekend, the union said.
Classes will not resume on Monday for Newton teachers and students as contract negotiations to end the educators’ strike continues, the Newton Teachers Association said at a press conference Sunday night.
Newton canceled school on Friday after 98% of the NTA voted to authorize the strike on Thursday night. A judge issued a cease-and-desist on Friday to get teachers back to work. Strikes among public sector workers, including public school teachers, are illegal in Massachusetts.
The union is fighting for a fair contract, the NTA has said, including better wages for instructional aides and behavior therapists, social workers in every elementary school, “humane and modern paid family leave” for all educators, and fair cost-of-living adjustments for teachers.
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Teachers in multiple districts in the state have gone on strike in recent years despite such strikes being illegal. In the past two years alone, educators in Brookline, Andover, Haverhill, and Malden all walked off the job during bargaining.
Around 5 p.m. on Sunday, Newton Public Schools said they waited hours for the NTA to reply to proposals made by the school committee on Saturday.
“After waiting over five hours today for a response from the NTA on School Committee proposals made yesterday, the School Committee proposed to the NTA that their negotiating team and the NPS team continue to mediate tomorrow while students and all other staff return to school,” NPS said on their website. “NTA president Mike Zilles refused and responded that the NTA ‘will remain on strike until we reach an agreement.’ As of 3:00pm, the NTA is in violation of the Superior Court’s order to disavow the strike.”
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Union spokespeople have said the strike is the last resort for educators and that the city officials have lacked urgency to come to an agreement. Monday will be the second day of school canceled due to the strike.
“That Mayor Fuller and the School Committee are asking educators to return to work without a contract demonstrates a lack of understanding about the severity of the crisis our schools face and our determination to address that crisis,” the NTA said in a statement. “Responsibility lies with Mayor Fuller for ending this strike and reopening schools as quickly as possible.”
Ryan Normandin, a math and physics teacher at Newton South High School, said that Mayor Ruthanne Fuller has not been present during negotiations this weekend.
“Mayor Fuller will not face her constituents. She will not face us,” Normandin said at Sunday night’s update. “Mayor Fuller, you need to stop hiding, and you should show up for people of this city like we do every single day.”
Newton parent leaders also signed a letter on Friday urging Fuller to release additional funds and to get rid of the “arbitrary 3.5% cap” for yearly budget increases.
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NTA President Mike Zilles said the union is at the negotiation table for the first time since July as the teachers have been working without a contract this year.
“Right now we’re out, not just because we’re defending ourselves, but we want better working conditions and better learning conditions for our kids,” Zilles said on Saturday. “But as much as anything, I think we’re standing up for our profession.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the Newton parent leaders were supporting the NTA in their letter. The letter calls “on the Mayor to fully fund the Newton Public Schools and for all parties to bargain in good faith to end this strike immediately.” It can be read in full here.
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