Newton parent and educator Dan Eshet sent this open letter to MTA President Merrie Najimy and Newton representative, Mike Zilles in response to Najimy’s interview on WBZ yesterday.
Dear Merrie,
Greetings. I am writing to you as a father of a child in middle school and a teacher union member. Your words and actions, especially your divisive interview with WBZ, hurt and disappointed me on both counts. Your leadership not only betrays the mission of educators and contributes to the already fragile status of teachers, but you also risk losing the trust of parents across the public schools. Granted, they are not voting for you but, to be blunt, they pay your teachers’ salaries. Moreover, you may be elected, but you lack the credentials required to assess the risk involved in school opening and to pose the unfounded demands the union placed in front of the school committees (for example, in my town, Newton).
Your leadership has adopted a divisive, aggressive position and in so doing, helped erode the strength of teacher union irreparably. Worse still, the union’s exaggerated position has placed our dedicated teachers in a compromised position where, despite their hard work, they face daily criticism for the inadequacy of their work.
Hundreds of us feel that remote teaching has contributed to the collapse of learning habits, the inordinate time students spend on gaming and screens, the behaviors they adopted to cheat the system, and the disregard for learning norms and expectations. Moreover, while few are thriving in the hybrid or remote system, the majority are suffering from a lack of meaningful guidance and social interaction, and many have developed a slew of mental issues of which you are well aware. As President Truman would say, the buck stops at your office.
I know I represent many parents who wish you ceased your attack on “unelected bureaucrats” immediately and accept experts’ consensus that the benefits of opening schools far outweigh the risks for teachers. Finally, it is worth stating that your opposition to the medical consensus on the risks involved in in-person teaching contributes to the mistrust in science, which is surely not the goal of the schools you represent.
I wish all of us better days where the politics of self-interest will give way to consensus building and cooperation.
Respectfully,
Dan Eshet, PhD
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Dan Eshet, PhD
Program Director
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Salem State University
617 515-5288
Thank you.
If you are the side of the Teachers Union in terms of reopening of Newton schools by all means vote for their candidates: Barash and Ranalli.
I am hoping that the pool tests proves that there is no in school transmission, or limited transmission. At this point for Newton, the community positivity rate is low and teachers are getting vaccinated.
Teacher Unions have been outspoken. In Newton, we have updated the ventilation in the schools. We have pool testing. The community rate is low. The kids wear masks. The winter surge is over. The CDC has data that with masks and proper ventilation the risk is low (it is not zero).
Teaching is not a risk free profession. When I taught, my first two years, I had a cold/virus/illness every other week. It took me two years to build up my immunity system. Even in “normal” times, there was strep in schools. In “normal” years, there are risks of fires, and students practice fire drills. In “normal” years there are risks of intruders, and there are lock down drills. Teaching unfortunately has risks.
The Unions have been able to get teachers to the top of the vaccine list. I know that the shot availability is not what we all want it to be.
I feel terrible for the grocery workers, cooks in restaurants, the pharmacy workers, the MBTA drivers and the funeral home workers, who have NEVER been able to work from home, and are still not a priority for the vaccine. These workers don’t have the luxury of being heard and being pushed to the top of the vaccine line. And still the rate of transmission is low.
It is time to return to the classroom. Kids need to get off the screens, and out of bedrooms, and into the classroom. It won’t be “normal” school. There will be masks, but if we don’t start now, when do we start? The Union has voiced the concerns.
Thank you for speaking up. I know there are plenty of teachers out there who are done with hybrid/remote and see the damage. They won’t speak out as to not hurt scared colleagues or make waves with their union or superintendent. It is clear Commissioner Riley has lost all patience with the MTA and I do not blame him. I’m grateful he took over with strict direction, I only wish all grades were going back 4/5.
Thank you Dan for giving a voice to both children and parents. I agree with every word. The is not going to be a solution that is 100% safe in the near future. But we are in a much better place and we need to start moving forward. I feel we cannot do that until our kids are back in school. They need it for their well being. Teachers know this and cannot push back any longer.
Strong, smart words. I especially agree with the observation about the union misusing their (just) power, running astray from its (just) cause, and completely under prioritizing its (just) core values. The aggressive, divisive, self-centered approach of the NTA fuels every argument of anti-union campaigns. Shame on them.
From MTA Facebook pg, apparently she didn’t read the letter:
A message to members from Merrie and Max:
Our members are desperate to get back to a full return to in-person learning. Our union has been advocating for a full year for implementation of CDC guidelines so we can do that safely. Our successful effort to get vaccines allocated to educators is helping to give our members optimism that a full return to school buildings can happen in the near future.
Four days at mass vaccination sites is Governor Baker’s response to our demands. While a step forward, it is a weak and inefficient approach. Our Last Mile Vaccine Delivery Program and other on-site efforts like it will make the return more likely by speeding the delivery of vaccines directly to school employees and minimizing disruption to student learning time.
Commissioner Jeffrey Riley has usurped the rightful decision-making ability of local communities and is pushing for an April 5 full reopening despite the fact that we are only now seeing the educator vaccination program starting up. We believe that pushing the reopening date back toward the end of April would allow for the vaccination of the vast majority of educators and give districts the necessary time to adapt their already developed plans.
DESE’s guidelines for in-person education are tone deaf and bureaucratic, and they bear little relation to how schools actually function. The commissioner, an unelected bureaucrat, does not truly understand the needs of students in all of our cities and towns. He also does not appear to understand the thoughtful agreements reached between local associations and their school committees to allow for safe and healthy in-person education.
Though parts of those agreements may need to be renegotiated, they, along with collective bargaining rights, remain in force. Communities still retain the right to oversee their schools despite DESE’s threats. We will be supporting our members and communities as they seek to determine the appropriate time to return in a way that ensures the safety of students, educators and all other local residents. #COVID19MA
Well said.
Do you know who pays the salary of NTA President Mike Zilles? Newton taxpayers. See Article 37 of the NTA/City of Newton contract.
Think about how perverse that is. The School Committee provides 100% salary support for the NTA president, a person whose key responsibility is to negotiate *against* the School Committee. As I understand, the NTA president does not teach or even report for work at any NPS school or office. As we now see clearly, children’s welfare and social good are not priorities for the NTA president.
Why would any member of the School Committee perpetuate such an obvious conflict of interest? One reason is that the NTA promotes and bankrolls School Committee candidates. It has always astonished me that, in each School Committee election, voters value and heed NTA endorsements. If you were looking to buy a home, would you ask the seller to choose your buyer’s agent? If you were accused of a crime, would you ask the prosecutor if they know a good a defense attorney? That is basically how a substantial swath of Newton voters think about School Committee elections.
Teachers have a constitutionally protected right to contribute to their union and to fund the salary of a union president. I support that right.
It is time, however, to end the perverse conflict of interest whereby our city and School Committee divert public funds to union officials who perform no service to our children or community.
Honestly, after experiencing the constant conformity at any job I have had that made decent money and benefits. I only was able to be myself and feel accepted at low paying, less pressured minimum wage jobs.
It has come to my understanding that in order to keep the position that one wants to keep decent pay and benefits, then one simply adapts to the majority movement and does what the boss says or one gets pushed out. Also my experience with my elementary school children have over time needed less teacher and become more adapted to passing the next online lesson (zearn for example). It isn’t easier for the parent at home supervising though. If less teachers are needed in the future because technology does the work for the teachers, then less teachers are hired and jobs are slashed to cut budgets to pay for the tech programs. I think the teachers that want to stay remote should be careful what they ask for or they might get it. Who will watch my children at remote home school if I need to work to feed them?
Hopefully najimi will think of the kids for a change plus realize that her tactics to delay delay delay teaching is hurting educators kids parents and the teachers union