I’m trying to figure out the negotiating strategy of the city administration vis-a-vis the school nurses union. This contract, which is subject to the jurisdiction of the Mayor’s office–not the School Committee–has been held up for some time. According to news reports, the nurses are asking for parity with the teachers’ contract that was signed in March, a principle that they argue was established in past negotiations.
Unlike that teachers’ contract, this one is small stakes for the city. With membership of only 28 nurses, their request would amount to a few tens of thousands of dollars in incremental funding. Look at the contrast with the teachers’ contract, where hundreds of employees and millions of dollars hung in the balance. I could (and did) suggest that there was a disconnect with the teachers’ contract and the amount of money allocated by the Mayor to the school system, and yet she and the rest of the School Committee deemed the raises important enough to agree to them.
Here, what can be the issue? Certainly not financial. This would be a blip in the city’s budget. (Look for comparison at what the Mayor has spent on no-bid contracts to design the senior center.) Perhaps there is some other reason that has strategic importance for the city, but, if so, it has not come through in public statements. (Note that the Mayor did make public statements about the teachers’ dispute during the those contract negotiations, presumably to help the public understand the issues at hand.)
The nurses are going to have a key role in the re-opening of the schools. It would seem like a good idea to get this morale dampening distraction out of the way.
Wow. I didn’t realize that there were not that many nurses. BUT, they are NEEDED every year, however this year they are essential for getting kids to school (unless the Mayor doesn’t think there will be any students in the building). But, the nurses handle allergic reactions, sick kids, concussions, broken bones and daily meds during a normal year. This year, they should be educating parents and teachers and staff, and be compensated fairly.
I support the school nurses in this. The mayor needs to pay the nurses, and move on to other issues.
The precedent for paying Newton’s school nurses in line with Newton’s school teachers is well-established. The Fuller administration has done a great job dealing with the pandemic, but why is it that every time there’s a contract negotiation the end result is a stalemate leading to lawn signs all across Newton imploring the city to do the right thing? Due to covid-19 there are far more questions surrounding school safety than ever before. Is this really the time to nickel and dime the school nurses? This contract negotiation should be settled ASAP — today! — so everyone in the school community can move forward together to make our schools as safe as possible whenever it is that they ultimately open.
I understand nurses are important but, parity with teachers? The old teacher in me remembers studying or working during summers and vacation getting ready for classes.
Do nurses do that?
During the year, they don’t correct homework after hours, nor do hours of preps.
Agreed that this issue is a distraction, because it’s being cleverly leveraged in this blog’s continued demonization of teachers and their union. [Paul Levy is the author of How a Blog Held Off the Most Powerful Union in America.] For anyone interested, I’ll be providing some analysis of this tactic, as well as the anti-teacher movement’s unholy alliance with police and fire unions, in a chapter of my upcoming book The Highlanders: How a Cheap Blog Was Used to Turn a Wealthy, Liberal, Under-Taxed City Against Its Teachers in Less Than a Year (and How the Same Strategy Can Work for You).
I strongly support a robust and improved compensation package for the nurses, but I’m curious about parity with the teachers’ contract – are the nurses’ workloads equivalent to the teachers’ workloads after taking into account the amount of time teachers spend at home preparing coursework, correcting papers, and evaluating students, as well as time spent by the teachers before and after class meeting with parents, staff, administration, etc.? I’m sure that the nurses put in significant extramural effort but I’m genuinely curious as to whether it rises to the level of a teaching commitment?
I would actually presume that out of all the school personnel, the workload of the custodians might be the highest, so I would hope that out of fairness their cumulative wages for the year reflect that. @Paul Levy, perhaps you and @Matt Hills could share some insight into the current compensation structure for Newton custodians and how we got there? I’m sure that their collective cost to the city is negligible, and you seem to imply above that the city ought to quickly approve budgetary increases if they’re a comparatively paltry amount, e.g. “a few tens of thousands of dollars in incremental funding.”
Nurses should go on strike day 1 of school. In fact, I encourage them to do so. And @isabella you must of taught a long time ago.
Isabelle, I understand your point. Thanks. Yes, the job is different, but my understanding is that nurses are required to get teaching certifications in addition to their clinical training. And, of course, they are required to get continuing medical education certification as well. While they don’t grade papers at home, they do a lot of work in their private time to stay up to date on latest advances in physical and behavioral health.
Also, a nurse’s decisions during the course of a day can make a big difference in the health of students. So, like teachers, they have to exercise very high levels of professional discretion, in real time, often without the luxury of time to consult others. I expect that aspect will be even more important in this Covid-19 environment.
We appreciate the signal boost on this issue: 396 days without a contract / 34 days until we report back to our health rooms
Parity doesn’t mean we have the same job as educators – it’s an indicator of professional pay scale. We hold two licenses (MA Board of Nursing and MA DESE), and as nurses are the sole healthcare provider for an entire school building.
We anticipate a challenging school year and want a fair contract now.
A Newton School Nurse,
THANK YOU for your hard work, diligence, and dedication to the students of NPS. You see and deal with a different side of education that can be incredibly demanding and challenging. Again, I have deep gratitude for the nurses’ efforts and commitment to their jobs.
Thank you Paul for continuing to shine a light on this. NO other union got this salary reduction pressure. – the Mayor tried to strip them of ALL their COLA – down to 0%. It’s very strange that only the 28 nurses would get this dishonorable treatment. I can’t figure it out.
The 28 school nurses, on top of being the only medical professional(s) in the building during a pandemic, also do contact tracing or at least they did last spring. They have to get licensed just like a teacher. School nurses have a very long list of duties that is publicly available that I will try and
find an post.
However, there are two closed museums with museum directors whose SALARIES WENT UP. (Director salary over $100k). These museums will remain closed.. Shouldn’t there be a “carryover” of utility and maintenance savings from the covid closures, as we had at the schools?
There are also two full-time cultural arts directors with salaries totaling $129,000 whose salaries WENT UP. This is the Mayor’s pet project, she created these positions.
The head of the nurses union, Sue Riley, said in 28 years on the job she had never felt so undervalued.
I’m hoping the Mayor will rectify this tomorrow moning. This is already a stain on our community — this is not how we want our employees to be treated. And we need to move on to deal with many other issues, not fighitng with our Mayor to do the right thing (with our money).
Not to mention — don’t we have enough to fight about? I have never seen so many parents so angry and upset about the fall plans.
This should be one area we all agree on?? We need to mend this community and our leaders need to lead us toward healing our divisions, not more fighting.