Newton parents file class-action lawsuit over teacher strike that closed schools for 11 days
NEWTON - A group of Newton parents have filed a class-action lawsuit, seeking damages in the wake of the teacher's strike that closed schools for 11 days before both sides reached a deal.
The lawsuit names the Newton Teachers Association (NTA), the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the National Education Association as defendants and says the strike created "real damage." This comes as Newton teachers and students go to school over February break to make up for the school days lost during the strike.
The lawsuit points out that teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts but members of the NTA "knowingly, willfully, intentionally chose to break the law by engaging in an illegal strike, shutting down Newton's public schools for 11 days and throwing the lives and educations of 12,000 students and their families into chaos as a result." The NTA was fined a total of $625,000 during the strike.
Alleged damage caused by the strike is detailed in the lawsuit, saying in part, "These tortious acts created real damage: learning loss for the students, emotional distress for the students and parents and out-of-pocket costs for parents like tutors, camps, day care, babysitters, burned vacation and sick days and missed work shifts."
The legal team behind the lawsuit is also suing the Chicago Teachers Union for a strike that shut down schools there for five days back in 2022.