NTA EBulletin: January 12, 2026

Dear Colleagues:

I apologize for getting this eBulletin out to you a day late. The primary focus of is not so much to communicate with you, but rather to hear from you through a survey. Yesterday, that survey was just not ready. While I'm sure it still contains mistakes, I am confident that completing the survey will repay your efforts.

Please complete the survey! You will be providing us with vital data that will make NTA leaderships' voices more powerful as we advocate on your behalf. 

Question of the Week

We're excited to introduce the Question of the Week! This will be a tool for us to quickly gauge our membership's position on a week-to-week basis.

This week's question: Will you be filling out the NTA Quality of Life and Working Conditions Survey that is included in this eBulletin?

YES

NO

NTA Quality of Life and Working Conditions Survey

Here it is, the second annual year "Quality of Life and Working Conditions" survey! As you will see, many of the questions were in last year's survey as well. Some questions have been modified. Some questions have been dropped. And some questions are new. But we hope the revisions add up to making the second edition new and improved. 

Ryan and I believe the survey remains comprehensive, while also being shorter, clearer and more manageable. There will also be an opportunity at the end of the survey to give us feedback on the survey itself.

The survey can be found here. It is open now, and will close on Wednesday, January 21, at 10:00 p.m. If you do not complete the survey in one setting you may use the link to continue until the survey closes (from the same device). If you complete the survey, but would like to make revisions, you may until the survey closes. 

In some ways, how long it takes to fill out the survey depends on you. If you just answer the multiple choice questions, it should take approximately 15 minutes. If you choose to give a good deal of open response feedback, it will take longer. And remember: you can fill out the survey in more than one session.

We have made a a number of minor corrections to the survey (typos, etc.) that should not impact your responses. Thank you to the member that caught these mistakes and let us know right away!

However, we discovered one correction we needed to make that may have impacted how you answered the survey question. However, it is possible for you to return to the survey, even if you have completed it, and change your response to this question if you need to. 

So if you completed the survey before 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 13, we made the following change that may impact the answers you provided:

Question #45, which is a matrix that has the the first question "I feel good about the work that I do," we changed the order of the answer choices to be consistent with the answer choices of all other survey questions of the same type. 

The responses did read: "Strongly agree," "Agree," "Neutral," "Disagree," and "Strongly Disagree." 

We changed the order of the response so that they now read: "Strongly disagree," "Disagree," "Neutral," "Agree," "Strongly Disagree." 

Rebooting NTA Committees - Get Involved!

The BIPOC Committee will have its first meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 4pm at the NTA Office (46 Austin St).

The Health & Safety Committee will have its first meeting on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 3:15pm at the NTA Office (46 Austin St).

If you're interested in getting involved in the important work of either of these committees, you're invited! No RSVP needed, just show up.

Email Ryan Normandin (ntaofficer@newteach.org) with any questions.

MTA Officer Candidate Forum: Hold the Date

What: Candidate Forum for MTA Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates

When: Wednesday, February 4, at 4:15 PM

Where: Bigelow Middle School (tentative)

This year at MTA annual meeting, delegates will vote for a new president and vice president of the MTA to two year terms. 

This will be a very consequential vote for the determining the future direction of the MTA. 

I urge members to attend the forum and to consider running to be a delegate to the MTA Annual Meeting, which will be held this year in Boston, at the Hynes Center, on Friday May 8 and Saturday, May 9. The Newton Teachers Association can send approximately 42 members to the meeting. It is important that we fill all of our seats.This is our opportunity as a local to weigh in on the current direction, priorities and policy decisions of the MTA.

There are three candidates running for President, and three running for Vice President, and they are running on slates:

• Educators for a Democratic Union (EDU), a caucus within the MTA, has endorsed candidate Matt Bach, President of the Andover Educators Association and MTA Board member representing District 22F, for MTA President and Deb Gesualdo, President of the Malden Educators Association for MTA Vice President.

• Deb McCarthy, the current MTA Vice President, is running for President on a slate with Dean Robinson, a professor at UMass Amherst, who is running for MTA Vice President.

• John Sullivan, President of the Belmont Educators Association and current Executive Committee member for Region G (our region) is running for MTA President on a slate with Gayle Carvalho, President of the Quincy Educators Association and MTA Executive Committee member.

In addition, there will be elections to replace John Sullivan as Region G Executive Committee Member, and for the position of Director to the Board representing Region G, District 18. Jamie Rinaldi, the incumbent from Newton South High School, is running again for the seat. He is being challenged by Gillian Van Delft, another NTA member. There may still be other candidates.

In next week's eBulletin, we will begin collecting questions to be asked by the moderators during the forum. While there will be time to ask questions during the forum, we also wish to give our members a chance to submit questions electronically.

Over the next week, consider what you may want to ask - locally and nationally, these are challenging times for educators. We invite you to submit questions for the candidates vying to represent you as MTA President and Vice President -- don't hold back!

MTA Winter Skills Conference

We hope you'll be joining us at the 2026 MTA Winter Union Skills Conference! This year’s Winter Union Skills Conference will take place on Saturday, January 24, 2026, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel with the All Presidents' Meeting the Friday night before. These free events have something for all MTA members, activists, and leaders—whether you’re someone who’s just learning about your union or an experienced local president. Click here to learn more and register today!

This Conference is a great opportunity to come together with members across the state to learn about negotiations & contract campaigns, union legal rights & advocacy, solidarity school & political education, membership, and organizing through workshops offering best practices and strategies that build power. Locals and chapters are strongly encouraged to attend as a group with different members participating in workshops tailored to their specific local roles and interests. View the 2026 Winter Union Skills Workshop List.

Note: When registering, the website may tell you that registration is closed - ignore that! You are still able to sign up.

In solidarity,

Mike Zilles, President

NewtonTeachers Association