BROOKLINE, MASS. (WHDH) - BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP/WHDH) — Hundreds of public school teachers in a wealthy Boston suburb went on strike Monday after contract negotiations with school officials stalled early Sunday.
The Brookline Educators Union bargained for nearly nine hours with the Brookline School Committee before reaching an impasse just before 4 a.m. Sunday, the union said in a statement.
The union said it pared down its list of demands to the “bare essentials” yet school officials haven’t properly addressed teachers’ demands for planning and prep time and “substantive action” on attracting and retaining educators of color.
“Brookline educators can no longer tolerate the School Committee’s dismissive attitude toward educators or its willingness to dismantle the quality of our schools,” the union said in the statement.
The Brookline School Committee said in a statement on Sunday its offer to the union included a 6% pay increase from 2020-2023 followed by an 8% raise from 2023-2026. The board also said it made proposals to address the union’s diversity and planning time demands.
“I’m a first-generation college student from rural Nebraska. I’m half American Indian – my dad grew up on a reservation in South Dakota. I don’t have generational wealth. It’s a struggle to survive every single day in this career,” said English teacher Zac Broken Rope. “I’ve never not worked a part-time job while teaching. That means I drive for Lyft in the summers and after school. I worked as a nightclub bouncer for four years.”
The committee said classes will not be in session Monday because there is not enough staff to safely operate schools. It’s not yet clear if schools will reopen Tuesday.
Unionized teachers voted to authorize a strike last week. But the school committee said a preliminary injunction issued Friday in Norfolk County Superior Court prohibits it.
“Nobody here wants to strike. Everybody here wants to work. The fact that they’ve let it get this far to me is a terrible thing,” said English teacher Nicholas Rothstein.
The union and committee plan to meet again Monday night to continue contract negotiations.
“The Brookline School Committee is profoundly saddened by the closure of Brookline Public Schools today, Monday, May 16, due to the strike by the Brookline Educators Union,” Brookline School Committee Chair David Pearlman said in a statement. “We are seeing and hearing of children’s anxiety about this situation, magnified by memories of what they face during extended pandemic school closures,” he added, noting the disproportionate impact closures have on food insecure students and those with disabilities.
“At our state mediation session last evening, we asked the BEU not to strike and they refused,” he said. “We again call on the BEU to cease and desist all strike activity so that we can focus our joint efforts on bargaining toward successful resolution.”
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)