Dear Colleagues,
I am hesitant to say "Happy New Year," because I know this is going to be a tough year for everyone. So I begin this email by welcoming you to the new year.
I hope your first two days back in school went well, and that you can continue to find satisfaction in the important work you do with children every day.
Since we went on strike, I have had to write these EBulletins knowing that they will be read by many in Newton. Indeed, we post them on our website to give notice of our transparency.
I apologize in advance that some of what I am write below may sound pessimistic. I am not pessimistic, but I am realistic. And I would like civic leaders in our community to have a sense of what NTA members have faced over the last few years.
Last school year was, by anyone's account, a challenging year for educators in Newton. Of course, there was the strike. But that strike was the culmination of a extremely grueling contract campaign, one which both built our solidarity and challenged us as educators.
As educators, we do not want to be silent in meetings; as educators, we do not want to refuse to volunteer for committees, or for after school activities to support students; as educators, we do not want to hold no confidence votes after school. or gather in rallies outside the ed center on a Monday evening in late November.
But as educators, and as union members, we do want---indeed, we must be--treated with the respect we have earned.
Last year also came on top of four prior very difficult years:
In the fall of 2019, we returned to work in September without a contract, and, as usual, had to mount an intense contract campaign that didn't conclude until December. (It wasn't coincidental that we settled soon after Dedham went on strike).
In the spring of 2020, COVID struck. When educators returned to buildings in the fall of 2020, the NTA had to fight hard simply to assure that NPS staff and students were provided the minimal standards of safety.
Beginning in the spring 2022 budget season, Mayor Fuller forced two years of deep cuts upon the NPS for the school years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. These cuts were well timed to anticipate bargaining a new contract with the NTA beginning in the fall of 2023.
This school year as well, at least to date, has not been easy.
In the background, of course, lies the reelection of Donald Trump, and the foreboding many of us feel about that.
But we continue to face extreme challenges in our classrooms--student behaviors and mental health needs, the deepening crisis of inadequate coverage, pressure from central administrators to not be absent, violations of our contractual rights to sick leave, a foray of initiatives, which, even when valuable, feel like they are coming at us too fast.
For me, personally, what has been hardest this year is feeling like, no matter how hard we fight, our political leaders still don't "get it."
They don't seem to get that we did not go on strike because we chose to; we went on strike because we had no other choice.
A mantra among elected leaders seems to be that the strike harmed our district, and our students. Yet these elected leaders do not get the irrevocable harm that would have been done to the NPS had the NTA allowed the Newton School Committee to force their contract proposals upon us.
Our political leaders don't get that austerity is not a given, but rather their choice. Budgeting to fund large capital projects, to bring new services to the city while cutting the school budget, to run huge budget surpluses each year: these were their choices. Putting an operating override question before voters who knew that the Mayor was fudging the numbers--this was their choice.
(Fact: of the three north shore unions that went on strike this fall--Marblehead, Beverly, and Gloucester--Marblehead is clearly the wealthiest of the three. Yet they pay their educators much less than educators in Gloucester or Beverly. Austerity is a choice.)
Fighting educators--fighting us as union members and as professionals--is a choice. In the name of "responsible," "sustainable," "accountable" budgeting, the school committee and the Mayor choose to ignore their responsibilities to educators and the larger, statewide and national forces undermining our profession.
So, for this new year, I ask our community and its civic leaders to join with us, the educators of Newton, in defending our profession, in supporting the critical work we do, in recognizing us as the professionals we are, and, finally, in respecting our right, as union members, to fight to preserve our dignity.
That certainly would usher in a very happy, very new year.
Call to General Membership Meeting
The Executive Committee has called a meeting of the General Membership of the NTA for the purpose of voting on three proposed amendments to the bylaws:
The first proposed amendment would change the process for determining the Second Release Officer from appointment by the President to election by the general membership.
The second proposed amendment would align the term of office and election cycle for the Negotiations Team with our collective bargaining cycle, rather than the same term of office and election cycle as other NTA elected offices.
The third proposed amendment specifies a process for identifying the core and regular members of the bargaining team and codifies the practice of expanding negotiations to include volunteers in the role of silent negotiators.
The full text of the motions, rationale, and proposed language changes can be accessed here. The agenda for the meeting is here.
The meeting will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. Registration is required. Please use this link to register.
Please register using your home email address rather than your NPS email address.
Please note that there will be a time lag between your registration and its approval as we confirm membership status.
For questions regarding registration, please contact Christine Walsh at ntaofficer@newteach.org
The Social Security Fairness Act Passes!
Congress Makes History,
Passes Bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act.
NEA Statement
NEA members’ advocacy helps eliminate discriminatory laws that have robbed public service workers of their hard-earned Social Security and retirement benefits.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Congress today passed the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), landmark legislation that repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) laws. These punitive and discriminatory laws have robbed millions of dedicated public service workers—including educators, firefighters, police officers, postal workers, and others—of their hard-earned Social Security and other retirement benefits....(Read on.)
RetirementPlus Bill
Unfortunately, the Retirement Plus Bill never made it to floor of the state Senate before the end of the legislative session. But we are not giving up on this legislation. Below are excerpts from the statement/call to action that was posted on the R+ Fix Statewide Facebook page on January 2nd:
New legislation will be filed by the end of January - in both the House and Senate.
We will be organizing a lobby day on Beacon Hill over February vacation. Either Tuesday or Wednesday of that week. All are welcome and the more the merrier. And plan on making your own protest signs.
Our message is simple: pass this legislation immediately. No more delays. And no more shenanigans.
We will work with AFTMA and MTA to do a press conference during our lobby day.
There are two activities you can all get to work on right now.
First, if your rep or senator was a cosponsor - reach out today or tomorrow and thank them for all they have done so far to help our cause.
Second, when we go back to Beacon Hill in February we want to hand deliver letters of support from key community groups and individuals - especially local teacher union presidents (who are absolutely encouraged to come in person); school committee members; city councillors; high profile and influential local political activists.
What’s important here is that we all continue to work together to grow and expand our movement and show everyone on Beacon Hill that we will not be silenced and dismissed.
This is how we will win a Fair Fix for R+. S
tay positive. Stay hopeful. Stay engaged.
In solidarity,
The R+ Committee
Hone your Union Skills with the MTA!
Bargaining Summit:
Location: Hilton Boston Park Plaza
Date: Friday, January 24, 2025
Time: 6 PM – 9 PM
Join us for MTA’s Bargaining Summit where Prek-12 members will meet to discuss bargaining approaches that:
Engage local budget processes and put our campaigns for better working and learning conditions in the local and state political context.
Hear from other member leaders and collaborate on local association plans.
Winter Union Skills:
Location: Hilton Boston Park Plaza
Date: Saturday, January 25, 2025
Time: 9 AM – 5 PM
Mass Child Grants
The Massachusetts Child is a reimbursement program available to all MTA preK-12 local associations. Members use funds from their local associations to purchase qualifying items for students, and Mass Child reimburses the local associations.
Please note that Mass Child does not reimburse individual members; all grant applications must have the approval of the local president, and reimbursement is made to the local association. Therefore, please do not fill out the online application on the Mass Child website.
There are four types of Mass Child Grants:
Our local process for use of Mass Child Grant funds:
Contact Cindy Colantonio at NTA office (colantonioc@newton.k12.ma.us) before purchasing items to be certain that NTA still has Mass Child Grant Funds available and that the items you will be purchasing will qualify for reimbursement.
Once you have approval, purchase the items and submit your receipts to Cindy (You can do this electronically via email or by sending them through the Pony).
NTA will reimburse you directly right away. We will handle the submission to Mass Child for local reimbursement.
MTA Virtual Licensure Workshops
Join MTA Education Policy Specialist Beth Tripathi and Professional Development Strategist Dan Callahan at the 2024-2025 MTA Virtual Licensure Workshops for presentations on licensure for various career stages.
All workshops will be held from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. For more detailed information about each workshop and to register, visit https://bit.ly/mtalic2425.
1/15 Professional Licensure
1/29 Licensure Basics for Early Career Educators
2/26 Licensure Basics for ESPs
3/26 Professional License Renewal
In solidarity,
Mike Zilles, President
Newton Teachers Association
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