Good morning,
In observance of Black History Month, we encourage you all to join us in honoring and celebrating the triumphs, joy, perseverance and power of Black Americans. Racial justice is a guiding principle in our mission and the BTU commits to elevating Black voices in pursuit of that goal. We deeply value the knowledge, dedication and impact of our Black members not just this month but every day.
We’d like to thank BTU Political Director Johnny McInnis, Elementary Field Rep Lea Serena Antoinette and all the members of the The AFT Black Caucus, Boston Chapter for organizing a week of action in support of Black Lives Matter at School. Last night we hosted a movie screening of the documentary On These Grounds which documents “how Black girls, with the support of organizers, are creating a more just and equitable future for themselves and our entire education system.”
This year’s theme is Collective Value. Check out the flyer above to read the full mission statement that guides this week’s action. We encourage you to wear Black Lives Matter at School T-shirts on Friday and take photos to submit to photos@btu.org so we can share them on our social media accounts. If you plan to attend an event, please be sure to register!
The Humanities department within the Boston Public School Office of Teaching and Learning has released a collection of suggested resources for educators to share with students while discussing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Thank you also to our ethnic studies committee for continuing to create spaces for dialogue and conversation regarding the conflict. We will continue to support our members who wish to engage in respectful discussion around this complex and disheartening global tragedy.
Meanwhile, our parent organization– the American Federation of Teachers– voted last week to pass a resolution calling for a “bilateral Cease-Fire in Gaza and Promoting a Two-State Solution and an End to the Weaponization of Hate.” The AFT posted that resolution here.
Solidarity helps NTA secure contract victory
After 16 months of fruitless negotiations, and more than two courageous weeks on the picket line, the Newton Teachers Association voted to ratify a new contract agreement with the School Committee. We were proud to coordinate with more than 20 local educator unions to organize solidarity events on social media, at rallies and on the picket line.
The NTA showed resilience, dedication and unified power while confronting hostile media coverage, a union-busting administration and significant fines. Throughout their fight, they never lost sight of their motivation: advocating for a public school system that serves students and provides educators with the tools to foster their development. Now that the strike has ended, the NTA needs financial support to cover costs imposed on them by the state and the city of Newton. Please consider donating and check out our Facebook album to see how our members mobilized in their support.
The collective response from educators across the state assures us that we will have allies during our own upcoming contract campaign. Our next membership meeting is on Wednesday, February 14th. This will be one of the most important membership meetings of the year because we will be presenting our new contract campaign package and holding a vote to approve it. Members will also have the opportunity to take a poll identifying which aspects of the proposal should be our main priorities in our public communications strategy. Please don’t forget to bring your membership card and register in advance for childcare.
The Inclusion Done Right Committee is hosting an open forum on Tuesday, February 13th from 6:30-8:00PM at the BTU Hall (180 Mt. Vernon St. Dorchester. MA) and on Zoom for school-based Inclusion Planning Teams (IPTs). Please register today at www.bit.ly/IDRForum to reserve child care or to request interpretation services. Dinner will be provided. The event is open to the public and we encourage our members to share this flyer with your communities. The forum will provide a time and space to share experiences and plan action steps to advocate for the improvements our students deserve as we roll out the inclusive education plan.
Due to our advocacy, BPS is going to provide schools with written feedback and rationale about their allocation decisions from last month. Please be sure to review the response with your school community–the written feedback is one piece of information IPTs can use to plan for next year and make new proposals or adjustments. We know that IPT members spent a lot of time to thoughtfully plan how their school and classrooms will be more inclusive in the coming years which included creating groups of students that are proportionally representative of the school community. After receiving the allocation decisions, IPTs have to reassess what is possible with their given inclusion resources, changes from ESSER, and other budget outcomes.
Please note that at the Inclusion Work Group last week, BPS acknowledged that while the district is moving towards more inclusive opportunities, inclusion in every previously identified general education classroom in the rollout grades might not be possible to the extent that it was designed in the plans that were submitted. As a reminder, the district is also no longer requiring that 7th grade classes implement changes to SEI programs next fall and we continue to work with our advocates and allies to ensure that changes both to inclusion and SEI are done in a thoughtful and collaborative way.
More information will come from the upcoming checkpoints in the spring, summer, and fall to adjust for enrollment and assignment data, Access scores, other student progress data, and continued IEP team decisions. We encourage school staff, family members, and IPTs to continue to advocate for what their students deserve. Your concerns should be brought to the attention of the school inclusion planning team and if a resolution is not possible, the attention of the Inclusion Liaison Katie DeLaRosa.
Finally, last week we participated in an advocacy day in conjunction with our education justice advocates in support of the Thrive ACT. As you may know, the legislation would replace the MCAS graduation requirement with an assessment system rooted in coursework, end the state’s ability to takeover schools and entire districts, and restores decision-making power to our communities. Thank you to all who participated – it was a wonderful show of solidarity and support for the solutions we know will work!
Unfortunately on the same day, representatives from the billionaire-backed Educators For Excellence were on Beacon Hill pushing their misleading bill that purports to promote increasing educator diversity across the state. Instead of joining the Educator Diversity Coalition and signing onto the Educator Diversity Bill that we and dozens of allied organizations are supporting, they continue to lobby for a bill that is a thinly veiled attempt to remove job protections for all educators. The legislation would give the administrators the power to pick and choose which educators they want to see laid off. The bill would have a freezing affect on school staffers’ ability to advocate for their students and to challenge harmful school policies by exposing those staffers to potential retribution. We remain committed to successfully dispelling their attempts to undermine our work as a union on this important issue.
Don’t forget, all are invited to our upcoming Lunar New Years Party on Thursday, February 15 to celebrate and learn more about the Lunar New Year! Educators, students and families are all welcome.
Our contract proposal is the culmination of months of energy, self-reflection and collaboration that reaffirms the strength and passion of our membership. We are in the home stretch of this phase and we know negotiations will be even more taxing on our energy. But the level of engagement you all have shown and continue to show is a reassurance that the BTU is prepared to take on any challenge that comes our way!
Make sure to register for our Inclusion Done Right Committee IPT Open Forum.
BTU Events and Announcements
Nurse Faculty Senate Meeting Wednesday February 7, 5-6:30 via Zoom.
Monthly Nurse Faculty Senate meetings are open to all nurses and healthcare paraprofessionals and are held virtually on the first Wednesday of every month. If you want to attend and have not received an invite please contact Rina Ambrose rina.ambrose@gmail.com
NEW-Winter Workshop Meeting: Increasing Union Engagement in your Building February 8:
Trainings for BTU Building Reps and member leaders on the topics you’ve requested! All workshops are from 4:30-6pm on Zoom. See full workshop descriptions and register for the Zoom link at bit.ly/BTUwws24.
BTU Housing Justice Action Forum: February 12, 5:30pm
The housing crisis is deeply affecting our schools. How can we use our contract campaign and our relationships with City Life/Vida Urbana and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization to ensure that all BPS students and staff have safe, affordable housing? Come to a panel Monday, February 12th, at 5:30pm at the BTU hall, to learn and take action to for housing justice! RSVP here. Dinner provided.bit.ly/HJCForum24
Housing Justice School Conversations
Do you want to learn more about resources to help students experiencing homelessness? Want to learn how you can help advocate for BPS to better support both students and staff in finding housing? Sign up here for Housing Justice Committee members to come visit your school and have this conversation!
Bilingual Education/Accelerated Community to Teachers(BE/ACTT): February 13, 4-6 p.m. at the BTU
The program is designed for paraeducators and others who wish to become BPS teachers. Our program is “accelerated” in that we offer coursework, MTEL preparation, and several experiences and opportunities to get hired in the district- all in 12 months! Join us for an Informational Session on February 13th from 4-6p.m. at the BTU Hall to learn more, and also see our flyer.
BTU Lunar New Year Party: February 15
The BTU and APALA’s Lunar New Year party will be held at the Boston Teachers Union (180 Mt. Vernon St Dorchester, MA 02125) from 5 to 7 p.m. Register in advance so we can prepare enough food!
Retirement Planning Seminar: March 6
There will be a Retirement Planning seminar at the BTU Hall with guests from the Social Security Administration and City Of Boston Health Insurance attending. It is never too early to start planning for retirement. Find more details in this registration form.
Celtics vs Brooklyn Nets March 14th
We have limited amount of Celtics Tickets for March 14th balcony 310. Seats are $135.00 each. We are taking reservation and payment, tickets are on a first come first serve basis. The tickets will not be distributed until February 14th and must be paid in order to secure your seats.
NEW-BTU Dependent Scholarship: April 19
Every year the BTU awards roughly 16 scholarships in the amount of $2,000 to high school seniors who are dependents of BTU members. See the application and additional information.
Dozens of BPS parents and community supporters attended a Community Contract Forum organized by the BTU last week to learn more about the priorities they wish to see in our contract proposal.
Professional Learning & Development Updates
Each week, we have many new and exciting Professional Learning & Development opportunities to share with you. You can find a full description of each listing on our Professional Learning & Development Updates Page.
- AFT Member Benefit Virtual Workshops
- Degree Completion
- Secondary Leadership Certificate in Critical & Equitable Literacy
- Transformative Leaders of Massachusetts Fellowship Opportunity
- The Middle School Experience PLC: February 6th, February 13th, February 27th
- Registration for SP24 RETELL Courses is Open: February 6th
- Wellness While You Work Series: Next Session on February 7th, 4 – 5pm
- Ethnic Studies Learning Site Through the Telescope Network: February 14
- Elementary ESL Planning Cohort: Begins Feb 29, 12-3 PM
- Ethnic Studies Learning Site through the Telescope Network
Labor journalist and author Kim Kelly discussed her book Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor at the BTU Hall this past Sunday. From left to right: AFT-MA secretary treasurer Brant Duncan, author Kim Kelly, AFT-MA President Beth Kontos, BTU Elementary Field Rep Lea-Antoinette Serena, AFT-MA Director of Organizing Brian LaPierre, BTU member and author Neema Avashia. Thank you to Lea and Neema for organizing the event!
Community News & Events
Iron Workers Local 7 4th Annual School Supply Drive: February 24
Our union siblings are hosting a school supply drive at their union hall located at 195 Old Colony Ave. in South Boston. They’ll be accepting donations at this location up until the date. All teachers, parents and students are welcome.
NEW-FREE Summer Middle School Science Program, July1-August 2
The Arnold Arboretum runs a free, science and nature based summer program intended for current 6th and 7th graders from BPS, called Arboretum Young Scientists. We are actively recruiting students who are interested in furthering their learning and growth in science and love being in nature for our 5 week program, July 1 through August 2. The application form can also be found on the AYS (Arboretum) webpage, and it is in both English and Spanish.
BTU in the News
We’d like to congratulate Dave Arinella on his retirement as the East Boston High swimming coach. Arinella has led the program for 48 years! His final meet marked the end of “[t]he longest tenure in Boston Public Schools coaching history.” You can read more about Dave’s storied career here.