BEVERLY, MA — Two weeks of rallies, rhetoric and righteous indignation among three North Shore teachers’ unions seeking new contracts they believe necessary to help solve the “crisis” in public schools and School Committees arguing that the money simply is not there in municipal budgets to meet the educators’ demands appear to be reaching a tipping point after a state labor board on Wednesday essentially ordered Beverly teachers back to the classrooms amid the “illegal strikes.”
“(Thursday is) the 14th day since the teachers of Beverly took the extraordinary step of launching an incredibly harmful strike that is, without doubt, hurting the students, the families, the people of our community,” Beverly School Committee Chair Rachael Abell said in a community update late Thursday night. “For the School Committee, tomorrow is a critical day.”
The crossroads comes as Marblehead Superintendent John Robidoux on Wednesday outlined a schedule of proposed canceled vacations and school year extensions necessary to make up the days lost to fulfill the state’s 180-day mandate, while the Beverly School Committee has indicated weekend school may be needed if those vacation options are exhausted — pending any snow days that also may be necessary over the next few months.
Find out what's happening in Beverlywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Gov. Maura Healey called the teacher strikes — which are against state law — “unacceptable” this week in response to teacher union members from Beverly, Marblehead and Gloucester holding a State House rally and “walk-in” seeking an audience with the governor and other state legislators to pressure School Committees to negotiate what they claim would be fair deals.
“I’m urging both parties to reach an agreement as soon as possible for the good of our kids, families, educators, and staff,” Healey said.
Find out what's happening in Beverlywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
BTA co-President Julia Brotherton called the prohibition of teacher strikes an “unjust and immoral law” on Wednesday and blamed the School Committee for classrooms that could be closed through Thanksgiving break if it does not make the concessions necessary to reach a deal.
“We have no choice but to continue this fight,” Beverly co-President Andrea Sherman said. “If we give in now, we give in for every student and every educator across the Commonwealth.”
Time, however, does not appear to be on the teacher unions’ side after the labor board ruling that appeared to set a new precedent aimed at not only forcing the three North Shore teacher unions back to school but acting as a warning shot against any other teacher union contemplating a strike action in the future amid the three concurrent strike and an 11-day Newton teachers strike last winter.
“They are weaponizing the court system to keep schools closed,” Sherman said in response to the ruling Wednesday night, adding that it is an effort to “squash the union.”
The unions face escalating fines that began at $50,000 and were set to increase by $10,000 per school day lost for being in contempt of the law prohibiting public sector union strikes.
Beverly Mayor Michael Cahill cited the ruling in a community update Thursday that he said “condemns the BTA’s unlawful strike, stating that the Union ‘fails to acknowledge its own clear and unmistakable violation of the law which expressly prohibits the Union from engaging in a strike, and withholding services to thousands of students, as a bargaining tool.'”
The Marblehead School Committee said on Wednesday night that it had filed a petition with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations for a “strike investigation” against four members of the (Marblehead Education Association) in an effort to “issue orders for them to call off the strike and return to work.”
The MEA on Wednesday detailed what it called a “major concession” in its contract demands that would lower cost-of-living pay increases to 16 percent over four years and gradually increase paid parental leave — public school teachers are exempt from the state law guaranteeing family leave — as a means to bridge the $5 million gap that School Committee had said separates the union and district proposals.
But while the Marblehead School Committee said Wednesday night that the concessions are “a step in the right direction,” it is “still unaffordable and unsustainable,” and only reduces the proposal by $857,000.
“It would require a property tax override that would add hundreds of dollars to the average property tax bill,” the Marblehead School Committee said. “This was not a ‘grand gesture’ as described by the Union.”
A Marblehead property tax override to support the schools failed a townwide vote decisively in 2022 and a general tax override to address the town’s structural deficit failed by 400 votes in 2023. The School Committee said even its current offer would still require a tax override of $2.2 million, which it said the Committee members support, while the MEA proposal would cost $4.89 million.
Abell has said last week the district and BTA were about $14 million apart on their proposals.
Both the Beverly and Marblehead School Committees indicated on Wednesday they would remain in negotiations even with the state labor board relieving them of that obligation.
“This strike, coordinated among three North Shore communities by the state teacher’s union, has gone on long enough,” the Marblehead School Committee said. “We need to get our teachers and students back in the classroom. We remain open to reasonable compromise and will stay at the bargaining table until we reach an agreement.”
Brotherton accused the Beverly School Committee of “bargaining in name only, which we think is because of that court decision.”
“The Beverly School Committee wants to finish this job,” Abell contended. “However, we will require the district’s teachers and paras to be partners in this effort, not roadblocks. (Thursday) is our chance. We have a choice to make. (On Thursday) we need the BTA to meet us, to join in the negotiations, and to commit to working to reach a fair agreement.
Click Here: cheap converse shoes
“If we see that movement, we are confident we can reach an agreement. We cannot stress how critical it is that we see movement from the teachers. We hope the community joins us in asking the teachers to do their part.”
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.