Schools closed in 3 Massachusetts districts as teacher strikes enter second week
MARBLEHEAD - School is closed Monday in three Massachusetts communities on the North Shore as the teacher strike begins its second week.
This comes after hours of bargaining over the weekend for teachers in Marblehead, Beverly and Gloucester. Teachers in all three districts are calling for better pay, paid family leave, funding for paraprofessionals and other benefits. None of them can agree on compensation.
"The clear truth is that the union's salary proposal would cost nearly $3 million more than our proposal over the three contract years. Those salary levels can not be sustained by the district and are not supported by city finances," said the Gloucester School Committee in a statement Sunday night.
"We are disappointed by refusals by the BTA leadership to negotiate or alter their demands on issues like salaries and to change baseline agreements like the length of the contract in a way that moves the goal posts and sets us further back," said the Beverly School Committee in a statement.
Teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts and each day the strike continues, the teacher unions rack up fines. The teachers said the fines are worth every penny.
"The long term consequences of us not standing up for our schools, for our town and most importantly our students, those consequences are much greater," said Jonathan Heller, the co-president of the Marblehead Teachers Association.
Community shows support
"It's challenging as parents to see our teachers suffer because the upper administration and the people in the elected positions aren't looking out in this moment for the best interest of our teachers and students," said parent Bit Coppola.
On Sunday, a rally was held at Seaside Park in Marblehead for the community to show support for educators who have been on strike for 11 days.
"And that's what this whole rally was about, the community wanted to come out and show us that they support us and in return we want to show that we're here for them, so that's why we're fighting this fight," said teacher Dana Trudeau.
Sports resume
While classes have been canceled since last week, Marblehead got the green light for sports to resume and the high school's football team played on Friday. The Gloucester School Committee also announced high school level sports and extracurricular activities can resume amid the strike.
Tensions in Gloucester have been high as Mayor Greg Verga was caught on video making an obscene gesture to a chanting crowd as he left contract negotiations Thursday night. He has since apologized for the incident, saying he was responding to a former public safety official and not the teachers.