BTU Reaches Tentative Contract Agreement with Neighborhood House Charter School

Welcome back to school after an extended February break! We lead this bulletin with some exciting news:

BTU staff at Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester have finally reached a tentative agreement on their first-ever union contract!

NHCS staff chose to form a union with the BTU in February of 2024. At the time, staff members said they didn’t have a voice in the workplace, lacked basic job and financial security, and expressed their desire to strengthen students’ learning experience. Since then, educators have worked over nearly two years at more than two dozen negotiating sessions to secure this agreement.

Special recognition is due to the dedicated members of the BTU team at the school, who worked to organize their building, form relationships with parents and community members, and advocate for better working conditions so that talented educators could dedicate their careers to NHCS.

In the words of science teacher Julie LaGraves,

“This agreement is about creating better conditions for teaching and learning. With improved wages and stronger protections, educators at Neighborhood House can afford to stay in the community, build long-term relationships with students, and focus on delivering the high-quality education families expect and deserve.”

The tentative three-year agreement, which covers approximately 147 workers at the school, includes:

• Annual wage increases in each year of the contract, helping ensure competitive and sustainable compensation through a clear and transparent salary scale
• Contract language that spells out expectations, rights, and responsibilities for educators
• Strong job security protections, including safeguards against retaliation for speaking up about workplace or student concerns
• A defined, fair process for addressing workplace issues, giving educators and other staff a clear path to resolve problems, including the right to bargain over changes to job descriptions
• Class size and student-to-teacher ratio protections, supporting more individualized attention and a stronger learning environment
• Formal opportunities for staff input in school decision-making, ensuring classroom and workplace expertise informs policies and practices

We will keep you updated on the next steps of the ratification process!

Phone Banking for Budget Forum

At the school department’s last budget hearing, management predicted that it would be cutting more than 400 positions: 265 in teaching and 161 paraprofessional positions. All told, 60 schools are slated to lose staff positions across the district. The BTU is mobilizing to resist these devastating staffing cuts.

“When BPS first [released its budget], it was a proposed cut of 25% of our staff, and with a lot of negotiation our leadership has been able to change that number a little bit, but the number of cuts has been astounding and really hard on staff morale” Sarah Grimmett, a teacher at Charlestown High, said at a BTU membership meeting.

The BTU, AFT-MA and educator unions, families, students and community groups across the country will participate in a national day of action on March 4th in response to the Trump Administration’s brazen attacks on public education which will harm our students and our schools.

Educators will unite and use our voices on March 4th to fight for our students:

• Send a letter to your congressional representative demanding support for federal education funding.
• At some schools, BTU members will be leafleting parents and students to educate them about their rights if they encounter ICE.
• Join the BTU, AFT Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance for a virtual town hall to learn exactly how federal attempts to gut the Department of Education would harm Massachusetts students—and build a path forward together. RSVP here to join

Tragedy in Savannah, Georgia

We are heartbroken to learn of the tragic death of kindergarten teacher Linda Davis, a special education teacher in Savannah, Georgia. Ms. Davis died after a man fleeing federal immigration agents crashed into her vehicle less than a mile from her school. Local authorities have called for an investigation into the behavior of federal agents leading up to the accident. The BTU stands in solidarity with the Herman Hesse K-8 School as they mourn a beloved educator killed due to the reckless actions of federal immigration agents.

BTU Events and Announcements

Phone Bank for Fully-Funded Schools: Thurs., Feb 26, 3:30-5:30 @ BTU Hall

Join us to phone bank our fellow BTU members about harmful BPS budget cuts and to invite members to the BEJA Budget Forum on March 3.

BEJA Budget Forum: Tuesday, March 3 from 5-7pm @ Bolling Building

Is your school facing budget cuts next year? Do you want to make sure your school is getting the funding it needs? Join us Tuesday, March 3 from 5-7pm at the Bolling Building for a discussion about the newly released BPS Budget for next school year and how it affects students. This is a forum for BPS students, families, and educators. Dinner included! Family-friendly environment! RSVP today at bit.ly/BEJABudgetForum

ABA Strand Specialists Solidarity Letter!

The ABA Working Group has put together a sign-on letter to send to the district about the Strand Specialist caseload increase from 4 to 6 classes for next year. This abrupt change means that many specialists will be excessed and classes will struggle. We want as many names as possible on this letter, so please review the letter and sign on using the Google form!

ABA Working Group Meeting: March 9th

The next ABA Working Group meeting will take place on Monday, March 9th, from 5-6pm on Zoom. We will be working on expand our Fall survey to other districts, so please come and bring a friend or two! If you would like to be added to the Zoom invites, email Madison Kronheim at madisonnkronheim@gmail.com or Katie Delarosa at kdelarosa@btu.org

People Power, Pensions, & You: February 26th, Zoom @ 5pm

Are you concerned about the future, climate change impacts on our state and your students’ futures, our collective wellbeing and economic stability? You have a voice in one of the most influential financial entities in the country: the Massachusetts public retirement system. Join others from the BTU, the Cape Cod Center for Sustainability, and the Center for International Environmental Law for a discussion of the issues of the moment and how we can raise our voices to urge climate responsible investing on Thursday, February 26 at 5pm on Zoom

Are you interested in Job Sharing in SY 26-27 and looking for a possible match? Fill out this form by March 15th and we can send you the informational slides from BPS about Job Sharing and possibly help you “find a match” in the district. The deadline for the BPS Job Sharing formal application is March 27 and can be found in Supt Circular.

Retired Teachers Chapter Scholarships: Application Deadline April 7

Each year the Retired Teachers’ Chapter of the Boston Teachers’

Union awards three scholarships to deserving high school seniors who

are the children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, grandnieces or

grandnephews of RTC members. One of these scholarships is

earmarked for a student who chooses to attend a vocational school or

equivalent institution. Applications for these scholarships can be downloaded from the BTU website or picked up at the BTU office.

BTU Dependent Scholarships: Application Deadline April 10

The BTU will be offering 16 scholarships in the amount of $2,000 to high school seniors who are dependents of dues-paying BTU members. If you’re interested in applying for the scholarship, please contact Michelle Frank (mfrank@btu.org) or download this form.

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.

• Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Classrooms Connect & Share: March 9th, 5:30-7:00PM
• Middle Grades Amplify Desmos Math Learning Site: March 18, 8:15am-2:15pm
• Early Childhood Inclusive Practices Learning Cohort Session 4: Writing
• Middle School Day of Learning: March 9, 8am-2:30pm
• Wicked Math Learning Site Series: Feb 12 or Feb 26
• Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Classrooms Connect & Share Series, Mon, March 9th, from 5:30-7:00
• MTSS Learning Cohort Session 4: SEL in MTSS, March 18th, 5:30-7:00

Community Events

CitySprouts Boston Area School Garden Conference, Feb. 28, 9:00-3:00

You are invited to join a cohort of local educators, gardeners, and administrators to: Build the greater Boston school gardening community, brainstorm ideas for inclusive curriculum and lesson models, and discuss how to create a greener future for youth in underserved, overpaved communities.

The day will feature panel discussions, presentations, interactive workshops, and breakfast & lunch. Registration

Teaching 250 Years of Immigration: February 25, 4:30-5:30PM

This free webinar, co-hosted by The Immigration Learning Center and the Institute for Immigration Research, invites educators to examine how immigration has shaped the nation from the Revolutionary era to the present day. Designed for K–12 educators, this session blends historical content, data literacy, and classroom practice to support inclusive and inquiry-based teaching in the lead-up to America’s 250th. Learn more and register here.

Citizens for Public Schools: Ice and Schools Webinar on Feb. 26

Join us Thursday, February 26 at 6:30pm for Citizens for Public Schools’ ICE and Schools webinar. Empower yourself by learning from front-line educators about the impact of ICE on our schools and communities. Learn what is being done to protect immigrant students and how individuals and communities can help. Learn more about the event and registration here

Voices of Boston Public Schools: 1st World Languages Week March 9th-13th

Join us for the first-ever BPS World Languages Week! We are celebrating our vibrant multilingualism with a district-wide Spirit Week featuring daily themes. Students: enter the poster contest. All staff, students & community: submit a video that celebrates “Voices of Boston Public Schools. Learn more here!

Practical Strategies for Supporting Immigrant Students with Disabilities Webinar: March 10, 4:00-5:30PM

This free, 90-minute webinar focuses on practical, classroom-based strategies K–12 educators can use to ensure meaningful access to education for multilingual learners with disabilities, how to make content-rich history and civics instruction more accessible, and how to better support Latino students with ADHD. Join us on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, from 4:00-5:30 PM ET. Learn more and register here.

My America Project: Nationwide arts & civic engagement program
The My America Project is offering USA Flag Kits to classrooms nationwide. The kits allow students to create art pieces which demonstrate their definition of American principles. Classrooms submissions will then be stitched together into a large American flag that will displayed at TBD location in Boston. Register your classroom here!

Friends of the Boston Schoolyard Newsletter

Friends of the Boston Schoolyard advocates for outdoor learning by supporting professional development as well as the maintenance and development of schoolyards as vital public spaces. We are currently looking for a treasurer for our Board. Our most recent newsletter features the Samuel Adams School.

Thank You for Reading

Please send your comments and questions to us at bulletin@btu.org, or call the BTU at 617-288-2000.