Newton parents rally to support school teachers ahead of strike vote
NEWTON - Dozens of Newton parents braved the cold weather Wednesday morning to rally in support of their children's teachers, who could hold a strike vote as early as Thursday.
The teachers have been working without a contract since the start of the school year. Among other things, they're asking for cost of living increases.
"We wanted to send a clear message that the parents also want a fair contract for our teachers, so we took time out of our days to come here to City Hall, to show the mayor and the school committee that we support our teachers," said Brigid Tobin, the co-president of the Newton Parent Teacher Organization.
The union president wrote an open letter to the superintendent and school committee saying, in part, "The real issue is that you continue to look for a cheap contract from us in order to solve your primary problem: Mayor [Ruthanne] Fuller has chronically underfunded the schools."
After the rally Wednesday morning, the mayor invited a group of parents into City Hall to meet and responded to complaints that the schools are underfunded.
"I look forward to getting back to our voters and asking for an operating override," said Fuller. "Proposition 2.5 caps all of our tax revenue and I believe in our children and our teachers and our schools and if we want to increase our funding for the Newton Public Schools, we have to convince our voters to do so."
"We will do everything we can to reach a competitive agreement that both honors our educators and provides program improvements and necessary supports for our students," the Newton School Committee chair said, in part, in a statement. "We call on the NTA to return to mediation so that students can stay in school."
If the teachers union votes to go on strike, schools will close and extracurricular activities will be canceled. The union could also be fined, because teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts.
"We are enormously grateful for the parents who are supporting us in our campaign for a fair contract. This morning a large crowd of these parents braved freezing cold weather to converge on City Hall and demand that Mayor Fuller stop the chronic underfunding of the Newton Public Schools. These parents know, as do the 2,000 members of the Newton Teachers Association, that the Newton Public Schools are the crown jewel of the City of Newton, and that its educators make these schools great," said Michael Zilles, the president of the Newton Teachers Association.