NTA eBulletin: May 31, 2026
- Mike Zilles
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Last week's question: Do you agree with the following statement: I believe that the NTA and the NPS will come to agreement on a fair contract before the current contract expires on August 31, 2027?
This week's question: Many of you have attended open houses with members of the Newton School Committee and expressed your concern about the blistering pace, lack of educator voice, and poor rollout of initiatives.
Do you agree with the following statement: Students in Newton would be better served by more stability in educational policy and practice?
The "Teacher Pay Penalty"
MTA 2026 Summer Conference (new)
MTA Summer Conference registration is now open, and there's a great selection of professional learning workshops waiting for you at UMass Amherst from July 26 to 29.
MTA offers five two-day courses on July 27 and 28 where you can earn 15 PDPs:
Beyond the Label: Special Education Through an Intersectional Lens
Equity in Practice: Culturally & Linguistically Sustaining Classrooms
Geology of the Connecticut River Valley for All
Humanizing Assessment & Grading: Resisting Computer Calculations & Flimsy Feedback
Social & Emotional Learning You and Your Students Will Love
You can also choose from 3-hour and 90-minute workshops, including:
Creating an Inclusive Early Childhood Setting Centered on Belonging
From Paper to Practice: Deconstructing the IEP as a Tool for Collective Responsibility
Increasing Access for Multilingual Learners Using Document-Based Questions
Rated by Robots: Where Does AI Belong in Our Workplaces?
Educator Resilience: Cultivating Energy, Joy, and Hope
…and many more!
MTA is once again partnering with Fitchburg State University to offer graduate credit for those participating in Summer Conference. Additional costs apply.
Commuters can attend Summer Conference for free. If you're staying on campus, housing and meals are $130/night. Either way, when you register for workshops, you also get access to everything else Summer Conference has to offer, including union skills workshops, keynote speakers and plenaries, the Karaoke Bash, the LGBTQ+ Social, and more!
NTA will reimburse members for the cost of transportation and on campus dormitory housing and cafeteria meals.
MTA/UNUM Disability Insurance
Open Enrollment Period Extended (revised)
Unum has extended the open enrollment period for purchasing disability insurance to June 5, 2026. The NTA encourages members to purchase long term disability insurance.
JCC Summer Camp Scholarships
Message from the JCC:
During the week of May 4th, we celebrated teacher appreciation and National Nurses Week, but our gratitude for the educators and nurses in our community goes far beyond a single week. To all the nurses and educators in our community, thank you for your dedication and care. Your work shapes our community every day, and JCC Greater Boston is proud to offer camp scholarships for your children at any of our JCamps programs in support of everything you do. Visit bostonjcc.org/jcamps to learn more about all of our summer camps, and reach out to camp@jccgb.org to discuss available scholarships. We'd love to have your family join us at camp this summer!
Know Your Contract
Longevity Sick Days:
On May 20, Human Resources Support sent out this email regarding "longevity sick days" for Units A, B and E members.
FYI: The email is accurate. Highlights of 'longevity sick days" are:
Each year, members of Units A, B, C and E receive fifteen (15) sick days, of which one (1) is donated to the Sick Leave Bank)
In Units A, B and E, after fifteen (15) years of service, members are allocated one (1) additional day for each year of service, and after twenty-five (25) years of service, members are allocated two (2) additional days for each year of service.
A maximum of 15 days can be carried over each year.
If you’ve been in the district 15+ years, you should now see these additional sick days in ESS, and, going forward, long-time employees in Units A, B and E should continue to see additional sick days allocated each fall in accordance with this provision of our contract.
As the email from HR accurately states: All existing expectations regarding the appropriate use of sick leave remain unchanged. In other words, you are not allowed to take additional paid sick days off because you have been allocated additional sick days.
Per HR:
Sick leave is intended for use in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement and District policies, including for personal illness, medical needs, and other qualifying reasons per contract; Up to fourteen (14) personal sick days per school year for a close family member’s or dear friend’s illness or injury.
And, beginning next year,
FMLA Paid LeaveEffective September 1, 2026, per a new Unit A (Article 5), Unit B (Article 5), Unit C (Article 8), Unit D (Article 7), Unit E (Article 5) contract provision bargained during our last contract negotiations, if your spouse, child or parent suffers an FMLA qualifying illness or injury, in addition to the fourteen (14) personal illness days and two (2) personal days you can currently use to care for them, you may use up to fifteen (15) more of your sick leave days to care for them. Beyond these paid days, any additional days of FMLA leave you must remain out to care for your spouse, child, or parent remain, as they are now, unpaid.
Here is the specific language from the contract:
Effective September 1, 2026, employees eligible and approved for leave pursuant to the FMLA may use up to fifteen (15) days to be deducted from the employee’s accrued sick leave for FMLA qualifying circumstances requiring the Employee to attend an ill spouse, child, or parent, per FMLA definition of said, provided that the Employee has first exhausted their 14 annual sick days and their 2 personal days.
Family Medical Leave (FMLA), Briefly Explained
The federal Family Medical Leave Act provides for unpaid leave for an employee to take up to sixty (60) off per year to care for themself, a parent, child, or spouse, or to bond with their newborn or newly adopted child, and guarantees that the employee may return to work once the leave is over.
This federally protected leave is the floor to our benefits, but our NTA Collective Bargaining Agreements provide for additional benefits beyond those provided by FMLA.
Sick leave for oneself can extend beyond 60 days in a given year;
the district pays NTA employees for sick days they take off using their personal illness days;
when their personal illness days run out, members have access to a sick leave bank;
using the employee's personal illness days, the district pays up to fourteen (14) days for an employee to care for a "close family member or dear friend" who is ill or injured;
new this coming year: using their personal illness days, the district pays for up to fifteen (15) days that an employee takes off to care for an ill child, spouse, or parent who has an FMLA qualifying condition, provided they have already used their fourteen days allocated to care for a "close family member or dear friend" and their two personal days.
NTA Office Relocation
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.
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In solidarity,
Mike Zilles, President
Newton Teachers Association
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