We hope everyone had a festive St. Patrick’s Day and weekend! A few BTU members joined BTU Political Director Johnny McInnis as the annual breakfast yesterday to represent the BTU, and we thank them for attending.
As BTU members, we know the investments and improvements that our schools need. We’re fighting for these things in our contract campaign, including access to counselors and social workers, librarians and high-quality programs in every school, and inclusion done right. What our school communities do NOT need right now is receivership, an idea that has been floated at past meetings of the MA Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and in certain policy and media circles. Receivership in our district and state has a terrible track record and could nullify any and all of our hard-fought contractual gains, including anything from class sizes to salaries. Take action today to make sure BESE hears us loud and clear: Boston Public Schools Need Resources and Stability, Not a State Takeover!
As part of the Our City, Our Schools campaign against unwarranted DESE intervention, this morning we are joining Mayor Wu, Councilor Mejia, family and community members to make it very clear to BESE that receivership is not the answer. While there is always an urgent need to close gaps, BPS actually outperformed all of the DESE-controlled receivership districts in ELA and Math at both the elementary and secondary levels, both before and during the pandemic. Not a single district or school, even after over a decade of state control, has actually exited receivership. DESE has announced that it will be conducting yet another audit of Boston Public Schools, postponing MCAS to do so. The short notice and disruption this audit brings will only contribute to the instability of the district, paving the way for a failed, expensive and undemocratic state takeover scheme which will hurt communities, students and families. The stakes are high, and again, we need everyone to take action.
In regard to our contract negotiations: As we have shared with you all, the frustrating reality we are facing at the bargaining table is that BPS has cancelled four out of seven bargaining sessions in 2022 and has continued to reject all of our proposals. This is unacceptable, and we need to send this message loud and clear to the Boston School Committee. We need all BTU members to sign this petition demanding that BPS immediately sit down to bargain a fair contract that will improve the quality of our schools. We will be presenting it to the School Community in April. Let’s turn up the heat and demand the improvements and investments #BostonStudentsDeserve!
As the Superintendent Search Committee gets to work, community input will remain key throughout the process. Take a moment to fill out this survey to share your thoughts on the new Superintendent search criteria. The survey is available in all major languages. Share your voice today! There is also a student listening session on Thursday and another on April 2 for all.
Congratulations to the Shaw school students, families and educators for an inspiring and successful rally last Wednesday morning! The students there have been advocating that the district keep its promise of expanding the school to become a K-6 school. They learned the day before their rally that the district will be adding a 4th grade next year, but the fight will continue as there were no other promises beyond just one year. The win is a great of example of how students, families, and educators can work together to advocate for their students’ needs!
Lastly, our thoughts are with both Khelmon Bethel, BTU educator at TechBoston, as well as the TechBoston student who were injured last Tuesday night by gunfire. Thankfully, both Khelmon and the student are home resting and expected to make a full recovery. Everyone deserves to feel safe at school or at school-sponsored events, and violence of any kind is absolutely unacceptable. We are working with the district to ensure that the students, families and staff at TechBoston have supportive resources to navigate this awful situation and that there is a solid a plan to address safety both at the school and in the larger community moving forward.
Reminder: We are shifting to a new method of accepting submissions for the BTU Bulletin. If you would like to submit an announcement to be featured in our weekly bulletins, we are now accepting submissions via Google form at bit.ly/BTUbulletin. Thank you for your cooperation!