Newton and striking teachers report progress in talks as fines rise dramatically
NEWTON - The city of Newton and the teachers union said they're making progress in contract talks but schools were closed for a fifth day Thursday because of the strike.
Both sides said they were able to work on updating parental leave and adding a fourth year to the contract like the union wants during negotiations Wednesday. Teachers hope they can discuss adding mental health professionals to schools and increasing salaries for teaching assistants during talks Thursday.
"The biggest progress of the day is the ability of the NTA president and I to sit in a room and to speak quite frankly about what each side is looking to get from this," said Newton School Committee Chair Chris Brezski.
"A lot of us are feeling heartened and hopeful today," said teacher Ashley Raven.
The school committee insists they can't give the union everything it wants without layoffs and cuts from other areas.
"We maintain that the contract we have put on the table is competitive and one the union should agree to to return our students to school," said Brezski.
Teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts and the union has been fined a total of $175,000 so far. If there's no resolution Thursday, that fine will climb to $375,000.
According to court documents, the union has more than $420,000 in cash to utilize. They strategically started the strike right after a pay period and hope that it ends before the next one.
"Our next paycheck comes on the last day of the month and so the hope will be that all of this is settled before that and that there's no delay or disruption in pay," said Raven.
Some teachers traveled to Boston Thursday to picket outside the State House.
"Collectively, we need to figure this out and do so immediately," said Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller. "Our children need to be in school."
