We hope you all have had a nice week! It’s hard to believe we’re already at the end of March. There is much going on and we have many updates to share:
Our next membership meeting is Wednesday, April 13 at 4:30 p.m. It will be an in-person meeting with the option to view-only on Zoom. If you will be joining in-person, you do not need to register. If you will be joining via Zoom, registration in advance is required to verify BTU membership. Please note: ONLY THOSE IN PERSON WILL BE ABLE TO VOTE and Building Reps must be in-person for the meeting to “count.”
The Executive Board has approved of the attached protocols and rules of order for the April In-Person Membership. Masks are required and there will protocols in place to provide varying levels of comfort, including a masks-only area and mask-break/eating only area. Trespassing is prohibited and in the event that a member becomes unruly during the course of a meeting, Robert’s Rules Section 61 will govern. Please remember to bring your membership card! If you can’t find it, we will have a help desk.
DESE has announced that it will be conducting yet another audit of Boston Public Schools, postponing MCAS at 42 schools to do so. The short notice and disruption this audit brings will only contribute to the instability of the district, possibly paving the way for a failed, expensive and undemocratic state takeover scheme which will hurt communities, students and families. As part of the Our City, Our Schools campaign against unwarranted DESE intervention, last week we joined Mayor Wu, Councilor Mejia, family and community members to make it very clear to BESE that neither receivership nor a (dis-)”Empowerment Zone” is the answer. You can watch our coalition’s testimony on this livestream (start at 18:08, 32:40, and 55:35). The stakes are high, and again, we need everyone to take action.
We are supposed to be meeting with the BPS team to continue our negotiations this week. We hope they do not cancel last minute again. If you haven’t already done so, please be sure to sign this petition demanding that BPS meet regularly with us 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!
Building Reps and CAT Team leaders! One great way to spread the word at your school about the contract campaign petition is with “petition pastries”! Ask members to stop by the main office or teachers’ lounge to grab a pastry and sign the petition while learning about the demands we are fighting for. Let’s get to 100% of members signed!Reach out to an organizer if you need support or have questions about this!
BPS has launched a free at-home antigen testing program. iHealth COVID-19 antigen tests will be passed out to staff every two weeks for staff who sign-up for the program. Each kit contains two tests – one for each week. To sign-up for the program, you will need to complete this form. If your test result is positive, please follow the Protocol for Employees Impacted by Coronavirus protocol in order to notify the necessary parties.
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 a student listening session on April 2for all.
We were glad to hear that Minneapolis Federation of Teachers reached a tentative agreement with their district. Congratulations, MFT – collective organizing works!
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!