Someone sent me a copy of this communication to union members from Newton Teachers Association president Mike Zilles. I wonder if and how parents will react.
Teachers to launch silent job action, will not participate in meetings
by Gail Spector | Aug 19, 2019 | Newton, Newton Teachers Association, Schools | 15 comments
Collective bargaining should never be a contentious issue between our city and our teachers. This issue continues to happen over and over again, because Newton’s elected “leaders” lack vision and creativity…
The compensation for Newton teachers should be benchmarked to keep them at the pinnacle of the region’s pay scale. In return, the union needs to make concessions that would make it easier to get rid of underperforming teachers, and change schedules like high school start times.
Any idea what Mike Zilles considers a “fair contract” ? Will it be fair to the tax payers and other city employees?
Mike – The teacher/staff evaluation system is comprehensive and thorough and much of it, like everything else in public education these days, is dictated by the state. Personnel decisions are confidential so no one knows who is not rehired. Even within a school, the staff typically doesn’t know when a colleague has not been rehired.
I remain hopeful that this situation can be resolved before the school year begins.
Contracts for all other city employees expired either in July or will expire on August 31st. NTA supports a fair contract for all city employees.
Newton relies on having great schools, which translates to great teachers, to draw new residents to Newton and keep its land values high. Without these teachers, NPS would decline sharply as would the land taxpayers own. Just think about what would happen if our teachers all quit and moved to more welcoming districts. Don’t think for a minute that those districts don’t exist. They are all around us. I know specific examples of teachers doing just that.
Why does Newton believe it’s OK to leave teachers dangling with no contract? Try that with any outside vendor or service – it won’t work.
Why is Newton hiring full time teachers who must reapply yearly and are rarely allowed reach the step required to become tenured?
Why does it make sense to many taxpayers to denigrate teachers?
Why not treat them like the valuable people they are – who deserve respect and competitive compensation/benefits for the long hours they work, how they encourage our kids to think both creatively and analytically, help them gain the knowledge and skills they need to move forward in the life they deserve and teach them to use that knowledge in the real world?
Newton’s teachers are required to have not only a masters degree in their field, pass tests in any fields they teach to be certified, continuously pursue professional development but also to keep up with the latest curriculum and standardized testing.
Every one of those things cost them dearly – obtaining a masters degree, every test required, pricey classes and seminars required to be taken on their own time – not to mention grading papers, planning for classes and IEP meetings, etc. all done on their own time.
Why would anyone expect teachers to do all of that without a contract? This has been going on for YEARS so obviously our teachers are taking next steps WHILE STILL TEACHING OUR KIDS.
Why do some taxpayers think that teachers work for them so they should be able to boss them around?
“Why do some taxpayers think that teachers work for them…?”
Well, because they do, even those homeowners who don’t have kids in NPS.
Look for a collective bargaining agreement to be reached in the next couple weeks… or for these negotiations to become quite ugly and drag on for some time.
@Marti: Given that contract negotiations happen behind closed doors, how can you (and others) have a such a firm position? The union may be acting reasonably. They might not. We just don’t know.
And this isn’t about valuing our educators. Or not. It’s about simply not having enough information to be so sure whose right and whose wrong.
Greg, it’s a fact that our teachers are undervalued as far as compensation is concerned. It’s a fact that many surrounding cities pay their teachers more. It’s a fact that many districts are more welcoming and show more respect to their teachers than Newton. It’s a fact that our teachers are and have been working without a contract.
That’s enough for me to make a judgement call. Mainly because I know how great our teachers are, how hard they work even without a contract and that some of the best ones are leaving Newton.
Seriously, Andy. That’s all you garnered from my comment? Real estate taxes are used in part to pay teachers. If that means teachers work for residents who pay those taxes, does that mean teachers should listen more to those who pay more taxes than others? Of course not!!! Teachers do not work for taxpayers. They work for the city of Newton.
Greg – Who said anything about anyone being right or wrong? We’re trying to come to a resolution. Negotiations are always hard, but tend to be more protracted in Newton than other communities. That’s a situation people on all sides would like to see change in the future.
I posted this on a prior thread, but I think is worth being reminded of:
Newton teachers make on average $81,213. Peer districts, and even districts with significantly worse student performance outpace that. Brookline averages $101,413, Weston $99,887, Wayland $96,103, Westwood $92,716, Needham $91,350, and Cambridge $88,737.
There’s nothing stopping our excellent teachers from commuting an extra ten minutes and making 10k more in Needham. We can’t rank 85th in teacher pay (that’s not hyperbolic), and expect to have a top tier district.
Given that the union has previously worked without a complaint without a contract (within the last four years!), I don’t think anyone should be questioning if they’re negotiating in good faith or overdemanding.
Marti-the teachers contract was extended for one year in 2018 in order to provide enough time for a city government that had significant turnover, especially on the school committee. The negotiations have been ongoing throughout the year and the one year extension ends August 31st.
I have no idea where the 12 other city unions are in their negotiations, but as of September 1, all 13 contacts will expire.
Jane, can you speak to the relative age of the teachers in Newton vs. other communities? I ask because one of my children has gone through elementary school with new teachers in almost every grade and it feels like in general the teaching ranks in Newton are getting younger.
Just curious if that impacts a portion of the average salary.
And not trolling, I really want to know.
The relative age of teachers has dropped quite dramatically everywhere as the boomer generation of teachers retired and were replaced by younger teachers. Little known fact: after Prop 2 1/2 passed in 1980, a whole generation of very young teachers was lost due to layoffs. That meant a large cohort of teachers around the same age populated the schools. We all retired over a period of 10 years or so, so the average age of teachers has dropped. It’s not a Newton thing. In fact, though Prop 2 1/2 made the situation more pronounced in Mass., the same thing happened in my son’s elementary school in NJ.
It’s probably not that different from other professions. It certainly happened at my husband’s high tech company. His whole generation of colleagues has been replaced by a group of young people.
Boomers are the gift that keep on giving.
According to the state, 8.9% of NPS full-time teachers are under 26, and 20.7% are 26-32. That seems to be pretty on par with peer districts. Needham is 8.3%/17%, Lexington is 8.6%/20%, and Brookline is 10.6%/23.9%. That suggests that NPS teachers aren’t being paid less because they’re younger or less qualified, which I think hammers home the point they deserve to be paid more.