NTA eBulletin: March 1, 2026
- Mike Zilles
- 5 hours ago
- 7 min read
Question of the Week (new)
Question from February 15:
Do you think that the NTA should collaborate with the City of Newton and the Newton Public Schools to prepare for increased ICE activity in our schools?
This week's question:
The Trump administration's decision to attack Iran along with Israel was a smart strategic move.
NTA Office Relocation (new)
The Newton Teachers Association Office has moved. We are now located at 29 Crafts Street, Suite 470. Our new office is handicapped accessible. We invite you to stop in and see our -- your -- relocated NTA office.
Background: The NTA had been at 46 Austin Street since 2012; in 2022, we moved from our 3rd floor office to the 2nd floor. Last fall, our landlord, the Russian School of Math, informed us that they would be terminating our lease and that we had to move out by January 1, 2026 so that they could begin renovations. We negotiated a settlement with them for breaking our lease that allowed us to remain until February 15, with two months of free rent.
For our new location on Crafts Street, we negotiated a 10 year lease with a landlord that has a reputation for reliability.
Blue Cross Blue Shield GLP-1 Coverage (new)
NPS employees who participate in a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) health insurance plan through Newton received a letter last week from the City of Newton Department of Human Resources and the Newton Public Schools Department of Human Resources informing them that BCBSMA would no longer be covering GLP-1 medications for weight loss effective July 1, 2026.
The letter says that BCBSMA "has made the decision to end coverage for GLP-1 medications."
FYI: the NTA was not informed in advance of this change.
Last year I learned that there could be a change coming. The BCBSMA Labor Liason informed me that had changed its policy of requiring employers to provide had changed, and the BCBSMA insurance would allow employers to offer plans that did not provide GLP-1 coverage. My understanding then was that this was an option that was at the discretion of the employer. So I was caught off guard when I received this letter myself, in my capacity as a plan participant, not as president of the NTA.
I will reach out to our Labor Liason to get further information, and I will let members know what I learn.
Could this change the decision? It would certainly mean that the city and school district have agency to continue to offer coverage of GLP-1 medications. Whether they would, I am not sure. Whether we could persuade them, I am not sure.
To be continued....
More on Health Insurance (new)
From the MTA's Union News February 25th email to all MTA members:
Earlier this week, following thousands of emails you sent, hundreds of personal testimonies you wrote, calls you made, protests you attended (including at Governor Healey’s campaign event last Sunday) the governor backed away from the health care cost increases for Group Insurance Commission members, which ultimately would have cost all of our members hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
Governor Healey yesterday wrote to the GIC urging the commissioners not to adopt any of the proposals to shift costs to our members — copays, deductibles, as well as other cost increases such as on hearing aids. Unfortunately, she did still call for the elimination of coverage of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, which our members need. We will call on the GIC to protect that coverage.
FYI: Although the City of Newton does not offer its employees health insurance through the Group Insurance Commission (GIC), this victory nonetheless matters to us here in Newton as well. A state law passed in 2010 allows municipalities that do not participate in the GIC to unilaterally modify their own health plans if doing so would save the municipality at least 5% in premium costs.
IF the GIC were to have made the changes to plan design that had been proposed, this would have allowed Newton to unilaterally change the design of our plans, which would have increased our co-pays, deductibles, and out of pocket maximums dramatically. This would have shifted medical costs onto NTA members, as increased out-of-pocket expenses would far outstrip any savings in premiums.
NPS Budget Season Begins (new)
What: Special SC Meeting - Budget Retreat rm 304
When: 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: RM304
The Newton School Committee will hold it's first budget meeting for the FY27 budget tomorrow evening in a "budget retreat." The meeting will be open to the public. It will not, however, be broadcast to the public via NewTV. To see it, you must attend in person.
Anna Nolin's February 22 "Inside Voice" Email:
An NTA Response (Revised 3-1)
The Pace and Efficacy of Change
This document is a response to Anna Nolin’s February 22 “Inside Voice” email to staff. I have divided this response into two parts:
Part one covers her response to concerns you voiced in our NTA member survey. I appreciate that she gave the survey this attention, and did so quite respectfully.
Part two, which I will address further below, is an explanation of the current budget freeze.
Part one
First, Anna acknowledges that the pace of change has been very stressful and summarizes NTA member concerns:
Many staff believe in the direction of the district but feel the pace and volume of work has been intense.
There is a desire for clearer prioritization and predictability.
Some educators want stronger clarity about how decisions are made and how input shapes outcomes.
Operational realities: coverage, absences, competing demands have created strain. I, too, am worried about this.
Members reasonably ask: If these changes demand so much of us, are they clearly improving outcomes for students?
Anna’s answer is yes. She argues that the district is making meaningful progress and encourages us to stay the course. She supports that claim with data drawn from five documents:
Anna is not wrong that there are areas of genuine strength, and others of genuine progress. But when these documents are read carefully, the picture is more mixed than her summary suggests.
What the districtwide memos show:
(1) Overall performance in math and literacy remains high:
The Winter STAR Literacy memo reports 74.4% of students at or above benchmark.
The Winter STAR Math memo reports 73% at or above benchmark.
Newton, in other words, continues to be a high-performing district.
However, districtwide growth is mostly typical — not systemwide “gap-closing” acceleration.
Both memos define an SGP (Student Growth Percentile) of 60 or higher as the level associated with closing gaps. District averages are largely below 60. That means growth is generally typical to moderately above median — but not accelerating at a rate that would close achievement gaps at scale. That distinction matters.
(2) Subgroup disparities remain substantial.
The literacy memo reports:
Black students: 49.4% at/above benchmark
Latino students: 55%
Students with IEPs: 39.2%
The math memo reports:
Black students: 37% at/above benchmark
Latino students: 48.1%
Students with IEPs: 35.7%
These are significant gaps. The memos describe them as urgent and persistent. What the data does not show is longitudinal evidence that current initiatives are narrowing those gaps districtwide.
(3) The MTSS data shows real progress — but within limits.
The Path to Reliable MTSS memo reports strong short-term growth for students receiving specialist-led elementary intervention:
Math SGP: 67.3
Literacy SGP: 71.2
It also reports meaningful short-term gains:
62% of math-flagged students no longer flagged by winter
54% of literacy-flagged students no longer flagged
Fewer initial special education evaluations compared to prior year totals.
However:
The intervention cohort consists of regular education students (not students already on IEPs).
The memo does not disaggregate the group by race, ethnicity, ELL status, or METCO status.
It reflects fall-to-winter growth only.
It is limited to elementary grades.
The cohort is small compared to the total number of students tested districtwide.
In other words, the memos provide evidence of program-level success, but not yet evidence of districtwide gap closure.
(4) Where the interpretation goes further than the data.
While supporting some positive conclusions, the documents do not prove:
That curriculum coherence is the primary driver of observed gains.
That subgroup gaps are narrowing at scale.
That districtwide acceleration is underway.
That elementary return-on-investment results guarantee secondary success, particularly if secondary programs are put in place without the necessary investments in staffing.
That the current pace of reform is validated by systemwide outcome data.
Those claims require inferences beyond what these documents directly demonstrate.
Taken together, these documents show real strengths in our district and promising early results in targeted elementary intervention. That strength and progress deserve recognition. At the same time, districtwide growth remains mostly typical, subgroup disparities remain significant, and secondary students below benchmark are not yet accelerating at gap-closing rates. Promising intervention data is not the same as districtwide transformation.
When changes place significant strain on educators, it is reasonable to ask whether the scale of the claims matches the scale of the evidence. Members are not resisting improvement. We are asking for clarity, sustainability, and careful precision about what the data does — and does not — demonstrate about current initiatives.
Budget Shortfall
I am not prepared to offer a substantive analysis of Anna’s email regarding the budget freeze at this time. Here is the document that was sent to administrators outlining the freeze. I look forward to reviewing the forthcoming “colleague clarification letter” referenced in her message, which is intended to provide greater clarity regarding substitutes, healthcare plans, aide staffing, IEP service delivery, and hiring review processes during the current fiscal reduction phase. That additional detail will be important.
What I can say is that the structure of this deficit feels familiar.
In February 2022, the district announced a deficit of nearly $2 million attributed to underestimated costs in salaries, health insurance, substitutes (referred to at that time as contracted services), and utilities. That announcement also came during the second year of a three-year contract, with negotiations scheduled to begin the following year.
We are again in the second year of a three-year contract, with negotiations approaching later this year or next year, and we are again facing a mid-year deficit tied to similar cost categories.
I am not drawing conclusions from that parallel. But the repetition is notable, and it is reasonable for members to want transparency and clarity about how these recurring shortfalls are projected and managed.
MTA Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates Forum (revised)
On Wednesday, February 4, the Newton Teachers Association hosted a forum for the candidates for MTA President and Vice President. Five of the six candidates were able to attend. We recorded the session to share with our members. Dean Robinson was unable to attend the forum, but he has posted video replies to our questions, which we have edited into the video of the forum. Here is the video.
In solidarity,
Mike Zilles, President
NewtonTeachers Association
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