BOSTON TEACHERS UNION LEADERS SHARE STATEMENT ON MAYOR MICHELLE WU’S STATE OF THE SCHOOLS ADDRESS
Boston educators back Mayor in plan for significant investments in building facilities, defense of immigrant students and families
BOSTON – The Boston Teachers Union today responded to Mayor Michelle Wu’s State of the Schools address, voicing strong support for her commitments to rebuild and modernize school facilities and to protect immigrant students and families.
Union leaders said the Mayor’s plan reflects shared values of equity, inclusion, and investment in Boston’s public schools and communities.
“We are happy that Mayor Wu is putting our students and our schools front and center by making the State of the Schools address an annual event on Boston’s calendar,” said Erik Berg, Boston Teachers Union President. “The Mayor’s support for schools, students, as well as teachers and other educators in Boston has been an important part of her first term.”
Berg added, “The City of Boston and BPS have opened three brand new school buildings in the past three years, and cut the ribbon on significant renovations on three others. This investment in creating updated learning environments for our students has been unprecedented in recent decades. It represents a much-needed start on bringing our schools into the 21st century. At the same time, we are concerned about the possibility that the momentum will stall — and now more than ever we need to continue to prioritize new buildings along with significant renovations, because too many of our students continue to learn in dilapidated school buildings. Even if we continue building a new school every single year, it will take 109 years to replace every school building. The BTU continues to call for multiple new builds and renovations each year.”
“We also appreciate Mayor Wu for standing up and standing strong in defense of our immigrant students and their families in BPS,” said Lea Serena, Vice President of the Boston Teachers Union. “We are deeply concerned about cuts from the federal government that will harm our schools, and we call upon the city and the state to provide investments so that our schools can meet the needs of our most vulnerable learners, including multilingual learners and students with disabilities. While we were able to make some strides in our recent contract negotiations towards better serving our students with disabilities, we need to ensure that there is adequate staffing in place to meet the needs of all learners.”
Serena continued, “We applaud the Mayor’s initiative to provide afterschool care in more schools, and are particularly happy that the City will begin with our 20 Community Hub Schools. Hub Schools are a critical initiative that grew from the BTU contract into a strong partnership between the BTU, the BPS, the City of Boston, and many community organizations.”
The Boston Teachers Union emphasized that realizing these goals will require continued collaboration between educators, city leaders, and the community. “The BTU remains committed to working with the Mayor’s administration to ensure every student learns in a safe, well-resourced, and inclusive environment, and that every educator has the support needed to provide the high-quality education Boston’s students deserve,” shared Berg.
###
About the Boston Teachers Union
The Boston Teachers Union proudly represents more than 10,000 teachers and other professionals, including school nurses, psychologists, guidance counselors, paraprofessionals, and substitute teachers. Together, we advocate for the interests of students, parents, and education professionals throughout Boston.
We support investment in public education to ensure a stronger future for our students and our city. As a union of educators, we are part of a movement that seeks to improve the quality of life for all working people.
We are united against all forms of prejudice and bigotry that would seek to devalue the lives or liberties of our students, families, or colleagues.