NTA EBulletin: January 25, 2026

Dear Colleagues,

In the light of the horrendous invasion of Minneapolis and St. Paul by ICE, and the murders of two innocent civilians there, it feels surreal to turn to the mundane business of being a local union. So you aware, we are already weighing how we can demonstrate our solidarity with the residents of Minneapolis. St. Paul, and other cities across the nation and protest the violence instigated by Trump and his allies in the White House. 

Question of the Week (new)

Here are your responses to last week's question:

"What is the most important issue that you believe the negotiations team should focus on"?

Of course, this data is hardly definitive. We will be gathering more thorough and nuanced member input on bargaining priorities (survey, focus groups) this winter and early spring.

This week's question: (click on your answer below the question to register your vote.)

How soon do you think the NTA and the Newton School Committee will take to reach an agreement on a new contract? (Our current contract extends from September 2023 to August 2027.)  

fall, 2026

spring, 2026

early fall 2027

late fall, 2027

winter 2027-2028

spring 2028

NTA Quality of Life and Working Conditions Survey (new)

We closed the quality of life and working conditions survey last Wednesday. We will share it with you in segments. The first segment covers questions stress and stressors. I have used AI to summarize thematically the results. You can see this summary by clicking here.

I also asked AI to read the email on change that Anna Nolin sent out before the winter break, and asked it to assess that email in the light of these survey results. You can see this assessment here.

Negotiations

Where we are now?

1. Our negotiations committee is up for elections this spring.

• Election information, including nomination papers, will be delivered by email and posted in schools February 5 and 6. 

  • Note: Along with nomination papers to be a member of the negotiations committee, nomination papers to be delegates to the MTA annual meeting and the NEA Representative Assembly will also be distributed.

• Nomination papers are due in the NTA office on Friday February 27th, 2026.

• If there are more candidates than slots, we will hold virtual elections on March 22nd and 23rd.

2. January, February: Develop and share negotiations priorities survey, and organize building based focus groups.

3. January February: NTA reaches out to the School Committee to set our early negotiations meeting dates, with the hope that the Newton School Committee will join us in opening negotiations this spring. (Note: Contractually, neither party is obligated to begin negotiations until next fall.) 

4. Present until first joint meeting with SC: Build our negotiations proposal. (Note: this is an ongoing and iterative process.)

Sharing the eBulletin with the Larger Community

We currently publish every eBulletin on our website here. We will also now allow community members to sign up and receive the eBulletin in their inbox. 

Please share this link with members of the community whom you think would appreciate receiving the eBulletin.

Labor Relations

Field Trips Revisited

It has happened. An elementary school teacher gave a child the wrong medication during a field trip. There were no ill effects for the child. The parents were grateful their child recovered (the medication the member gave the child resolved the medical issue.)

The teacher received a letter of reprimand that went into their personnel file. 

There were a number of events outside the member's control that contributed to the mistake, including errors of judgement by other individuals in the member's building.

We will of course, grieve the district's decision, and we will, of course, work to negotiate relief and protection for any educator who chaperones a field trip.

All that said, I am deeply troubled by how unfair this decision was. Classroom teachers, especially elementary classroom teachers, have little choice but to chaperone many field trips, and, by state mandate, one chaperone must be responsible for student medications. 

I thought the liability in chaperoning a field trip came primarily from the potential to harm to a child, secondarily from parent litigation. 

Now, it seems, the district's willingness to discipline educators is itself our members' greatest liability. 

Recording absences in ESS

Building administrators, including principals, assistant principals, department heads, and others, have been told that they must reject sick day requests unless employees use the drop down menu to list the reason for the absence. This puts these school leaders in an awkward position, where they have to be the enforcer who rejects your contractual paid absences.

That said, the information that HR is asking for is necessary. Being absent for a personal illness is different, contractually, from being absent to care for a family member. Here is how you record the "reason" for you absence when you or someone in your family is ill. Ignore the (optional) choice...it is not optional. Stating that is is seems to be a platform limitation.

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 is the incumbent, and is running for another two year term; Gillian Van Delft, a Memorial-Spaulding Building Representative, and Alison Lobron are also candidates.

We invite you to submit questions for the candidates vying to represent you as MTA President and Vice President -- don't hold back!

In solidarity,

Mike Zilles, President

NewtonTeachers Association