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NEW BEDFORD — Roughly 100 members of the local teachers union and their supporters attended the School Committee meeting on Monday to advocate for their ongoing contract negotiations, in which teachers are asking for salary increases and paid family leave.
The teachers who spoke during the meeting’s public comments emphasized the importance of paid family leave — a benefit guaranteed to nearly all workers in Massachusetts, but not teachers or municipal employees.
“We shouldn’t have to choose between our dreams of being teachers and having a family,” said Erika Dwyer, a third grade teacher at Hayden-McFadden. Dwyer said that she had to save up sick days for six years before she could afford to take time off to have a family.
Jacqueline Burgoyne, who teaches preschool at Hayden-McFadden, said she had saved up eight years’ worth of sick days when she got the call to become a foster parent. In caring for that child’s medical needs, she exhausted all of those sick days and had to take further unpaid days off.
“Parents are effectively being punished for taking care of their family,” said Nick LeBlanc, a science teacher at New Bedford High. LeBlanc said that he has had to work two or three additional jobs and pause an advanced degree because of insufficient pay and family leave. “We are asking for the means to stay” in New Bedford, LeBlanc said.
The fight to win paid parental leave has led to teacher strikes in several Massachusetts communities in recent years. Teachers in Beverly, Marblehead, Newton, and Gloucester all won paid parental leave after their strikes.
In Fall River, a newly ratified contract this year also gave teachers the rights to four weeks of paid parental leave, according to the Herald News. Fall River avoided a strike, but the new contract took more than 13 bargaining sessions before an agreement was reached.
Teachers do not receive paid family leave by default, even though all businesses in Massachusetts must provide that benefit by law. The state does not have the authority to compel cities and towns to provide the same benefits to their municipal employees — who include teachers.
That’s why the last few years have seen teachers unions fighting so hard for this benefit.
Other issues in the ongoing contract negotiations include raises. Thomas Nickerson, president of the New Bedford Educators Association, said that the district’s latest offer included raises of 2.25% in the first year of a new contract, followed by 2% raises in the second and third years of the contract.
“Experienced and newer members alike have left us for districts with stronger offerings,” Nickerson told the School Committee. “A strong contract benefits our members and the district.”
The teachers outside the School Committee meeting said they were there to show support and solidarity. Among the supporters was Deb McCarthy, vice president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association — the largest teachers union in the state. Cars that drove by honked to rounds of applause, and a firetruck blared its horn to show support.
The current three-year contract for New Bedford’s teachers is set to expire on July 1.
District response: “New Bedford remains a destination”
As teachers continue their negotiations with the School Committee and district representatives, a district representative said that New Bedford has been committed to its teachers and looks to continue that trend.
“New Bedford Public Schools continues to have strong educator retention and hiring — and our primary goal is to keep it that way,” read a district statement from Arthur Motta, community and public affairs manager. “Our goals include supporting our staff, attaining the highest possible levels of staff retention, and ensuring the best outcomes for students. We’re also committed to making NBPS the best destination for new teachers.”
Motta’s statement said that New Bedford’s teacher retention rate of 86.8% compares favorably to peer cities such as Brockton (88.5%), Springfield (81.9%), Worcester (85.5%), and Fall River (78.9%).
During the School Committee meeting, Superintendent Andrew O’Leary offered perspective on next year’s budget, in which he highlighted the increasing commitment to New Bedford’s teachers over the last five years.
The roughly 1,300 classroom teachers in New Bedford make up the largest section of the district’s employment — and the more than 2,000 total employees makes the district the largest employer in the city.
O’Leary pointed out that staffing levels in New Bedford are at record highs, and that there’s been a renewed commitment in recent years to hire more counselors, psychologists, nurses, and special education professionals.
An improving student-teacher ratio in New Bedford
The district’s statement summarized: “New Bedford remains a destination district for new and experienced educators alike. A new improved contract will continue that trend.”
Resolution for immigrant students delayed one month
The other issue that brought out members of the public to Monday night’s meeting was a resolution to support immigrant students, but it was delayed until next month’s meeting. The resolution would have the School Committee affirm that area schools are a “safe zone” where students would have protections from federal immigration detention.
But the resolution was removed from the agenda, causing confusion from those in attendance.
The resolution was submitted by member Melissa Costa, who made a clerical error in adding the resolution to the agenda, according to Mayor Jon Mitchell, the School Committee’s ex officio chair.
“I’m happy to put that on the agenda. All it takes is a phone call,” said Mitchell. The official procedure is that Mitchell, as chair, retains the right to add agenda items. Mitchell said he will do so for the School Committee’s June meeting.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
Just another tax for the cities and towns of Massachusetts to pass along to the tax payers, it’s truly sickening already! Democrats SUCK!!!!
Most teachers are republican based, they love trump.
When I taught full-time, I averaged working 65 -70 hours per week, including hours spent responding to students’ assignments and preparing for classes. One time, I figured out what I was actually earning per hour–at that time, it was below minimum wage. Every year, our teachers should, at the very least, get salary increases that account for inflation; and in our geographic area, that should be calculated to include increases in cost of housing, which has become exponential. Now, bear with me, what I about to write is related to teachers’ salaries. And before anyone says I do not appreciate our animal control officers, I certainly do–I am an aminal advocate. As I understand it, the salary of the head of animal control went from $82,000 to $97,000 a few years ago. that increase was well over inflation; and the $82,000 was already way over the average of $66,000 for comparable positions in cities comparable to New Bedford. Surely, educators of our city’s children should get well over the current inflation rate. And, I think needless to say, they should also get paid family leave.
FMLA, IS A LAW! They can take leVe but off their own built up time. But what makes it ok to do this for a teacher and not an AFSCME, you know them, they were the ones working at the buildings during COVID. Not home in their jammies drinking coffee, teaching a few hours online. Give me a break! This is New Bedford not a busting, high income city. Cry me a river!
NO 👎
Double no 👎👎
Before we throw more money and benefits at school employees, let’s first look at what they are currently receiving and ask ourselves if the part-time employees of the school system are receiving part-time pay and benefits. For the record, no school employee, except perhaps the janitorial and maintenance providers, work full-time year round like the average full-time employee. While I’m on the topic, allow me to say that given the consistent long-term poor student performance scores it is clear that school employees themselves do not believe our children are the most important American resource.
Add clerks to the full year list. Only a few are school year. Thank you for your comment, but please know there are some full time year round employees in offic s such as food service, print shop, technology department, fiscal, bookkeeping dept. Theses are the lowest paid yet are full year. We are also tired of teachers getting more and more, while those of us that work full year are bottom on the totem pole for everything.
Make sure you know who you’re talking about. There are many full year employees. Underpaid, and definitely mostly AFSCME members.
You wouldnt know from this article that teachers clearly fare better than their private counterparts when all available leave is factored in. While private-sector workers benefit from PFML, it’s a separate benefit with a different purpose, a tax on their payroll, and often comes with limited pay replacement and no long-term sick time bank.
So, from a full-benefits perspective, Hogan’s narrative that private workers “have it better” than teachers is overly simplistic and, in many ways, inaccurate.
Correct, teachers, cry me a river. I can’t even use my sick time for being sick. AFSCME LOCAL 641 COUNSEL 93.
Correct statement. HCS director gets involved for AFSCME employees when out I’ll. These teachers want the time to bring up a baby. That is what FMLA time should be used for. HCS insists AFSCME members use FMLA when out sick. A doctor’s note should be verification up you need to be out. Not what HCS director wants.
Council 93
Why are teachers allowed to be out on the spot. Why are AFSCME employees burdened with timeframe paperwork. The work of an AFSCME NEMBER except school clerks cannot be on the job without being in the workplace. Current AFSCME president is not for the people he allows the HCS director to take contractual actions out of the next contract. Example those entering after 2017 get no severance if they leave after 10 years where prior they had to have 75 days sick on the books, if resigning to get 50.00 a day comp. Same rate as 1987. Now you see the teachers want, want and want and HCS takes, takes and takes from AFSCME. Already anyone hired after June 2012 gets less in retirement. Less than now. Ridiculous!
AFSCME contract has a no strike clause…….does a teacher contract? Obviously the lower man on the totem pole is the one with the claus, not the ones with all the benefits, AFSCME Runs the schools without them, ha, ha, ha, I’d love to see that. By the way AFSCME clerks are clerks not secretaries. Another bending of the contract.
Just what type of day are the teachers using to picket? Vacation? Sick? Neither of those are legal for use under that circumstance.
What gives the teachers the right to picket? If school can function with substitutes. Fire them! Greedy, overpaid and underperforming.