BTU lawsuit prevails against

billionaire-backed ballot initiative

Welcome to the last bulletin of the 25-26 School Year. We hope your Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend was wonderful and that the last week of class brings more joy. After you recharge your batteries, we have plenty of opportunities for members to get involved, get active, and get political this summer.

Campaign Season: Primary Vote on September 1st

Primary elections in Massachusetts are early this year, even before the Labor Day Weekend on September 1. If you are out of town on September 1, make sure to send in your mail-in ballot or take advantage of the early voting period.

Our duty to our students, the institution of public education, and to democracy doesn’t begin and end on election day. The BTU has endorsed a number of candidates for federal and state offices in the democratic primary. Our membership made these endorsements in order to improve working conditions for our members and learning conditions for our students.

If we want our country and our state to chart a better course than the past year, we need to put in the work together. If you want to support our endorsed candidates this summer, please sign up for our BTU Electoral Action Team (BEAT) and look out for opportunities to volunteer.

The early Labor Day this year will also impact the start of our work year. The first days of room setup and professional development will be on September 2nd and 3rd. The 30-minute staff-wide union meeting will still happen on the second day of school. During this meeting, ALL BTU members will be completing a contract survey that will provide vital information to our collective bargaining committee so it can develop initial contract proposals that prioritize the many needs of our members.  It will be important that everyone complete the survey, so we can begin the contract negotiating season strong!

Another scheduling note: Veteran’s Day falls on the second Wednesday of November this year, which is when our monthly membership meeting would be usually held. The membership meeting for November has been rescheduled to November 18th.

Update on Ballot Questions

Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled favorably on a lawsuit backed by a number of organizations, including the BTU.  We are relieved that the SJC blocked a proposed initiative backed by wealthy anonymous funders from appearing on the November ballot. The court ruled that the ballot measure could not proceed because its official summary was not fair, protecting billions of dollars that support public education and other essential services across Massachusetts. Read the BTU’s full statement here.

The proposed measure would have reduced the state’s income tax rate from five percent to four percent, a change projected to slash more than $5 billion annually from the state budget once fully implemented, a move that would put schools, transportation, healthcare, and local communities at risk.

Although this dangerous initiative has been struck from the ballot, there is another ballot initiative on track to go before voters which could have similarly devastating consequences to funding for public education. The “Massachusetts Change State Tax Revenue Limit Initiative” would impose a strict ‘revenue cap’ on Massachusetts. The ballot question would change an existing law which requires the state to issue tax rebates if Massachusetts collects a certain amount of tax revenue by lowering that threshold. While rebates sound good on paper, the actual impact would be significant cuts in state funding to everything from public schools to hospitals.

The initiative is backed by the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance (MOA), an organization which is funded by dark money and represents the interests of billionaires and corporations that would benefit from tax rebates. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO, of which the BTU is a member, has already launched a letter-writing campaign to combat this misleading ballot initiative. Sign on to the campaign and let legislators know that working people will not be fooled by this attempt to gut school funding and social services in communities across the state.

Last week, the MA DESE Commissioner and Secretary released the final report with recommendations on new graduation standards, which will be in effect for the class of 2032. The report from the Secretary and Commissioner contains many recommendations that the BTU generally supports, including access to the MassCore course requirements, a post-graduation plan, and a capstone project. However, the report also calls for mandatory “End-of-Course Assessments.” Depending on the implementation details, these state-designed tests could bring back the same problematic consequences of high-stakes assessments that led Massachusetts voters to pass Question 2 in 2024, ending standardized tests as a graduation requirement. The BTU opposes any requirement that ties graduation to achieving a particular score on a single test.

As new graduation standards are rolled out, it is critical that teachers’ voices are included in the process, and that the state provides funding so that districts can effectively implement the new requirements. Teachers are already overburdened with paperwork, spreadsheets, software platforms and other requirements that take away from the teaching and learning relationship that is at the core of great schools.  The BTU will continue to advocate for implementation steps that don’t add to the burden on teachers.

BTU Events and Announcements

BTU Collective Bargaining Committee & Contract Organizing Committee Applications

Get involved in next year’s contract negotiations! The Collective Bargaining Committee (CBC) is primarily responsible for developing our bargaining package and the Contract Organizing Committee (COC) is primarily responsible for setting up Contract Action (CAT) Teams that will allow us to quickly reach every single member about union actions. BTU members are encouraged to apply to either or both committees. You can find full descriptions of job roles and responsibilities here: CBC & COC Applications

Come celebrate with us on Tuesday, June 23, from 5:30–7:00 PM! We’ll be gathering in person to recognize everyone’s hard work and celebrate the end of another wonderful school year. Please contact Bianca Pierre at bpierre74@gmail.com for location.

Apply to be a BTU Summer Organizing Union Leader!

The BTU seeks 8-12 Summer Organizing Union Leaders (SOULs) to build power for our next round of BPS-BTU contract negotiations. No previous experience is necessary to be a SOUL. SOULs receive training and coaching in effective organizing practices, including how to have effective one-on-one conversations and how to escalate a campaign, in order to develop a deeper understanding of what it takes to build power and win the schools our students deserve. July 27th-Aug. 28th, 2026. Flexible hours. Trainings on Mondays from 2-5pm at BTU. Paid position: $20/hour for 60 hours total ($1200). Learn more and apply at btu.org/soul.

AFT MA/BTU Summer Organizing Institute: June 29-30

Summer Organizing Institute (SOI) is our union’s deep organizing space to build the skills we need to win for our members, students and families in the classroom and beyond. From bargaining strong contracts, building strong school-site union structures and taking our movement to the streets in this critical time— we must be ready. Join us for SOI 2026; Monday June 29th 1:00pm-4:00pm Tuesday, June 30th, 2026, 8:30am-4:00pm at the BTU. This is a FREE institute for all BTU and AFT-MA members with meals included. Learn more and register to attend at bit.ly/AFTMassSOI26

Support SLIFE students and educators
A group of BTU educators who teach in the SLIFE program organized a demonstration in front of the Bolling Building before testifying in front of last week’s School Committee Meeting against recent policy changes and late notice position cuts in the program. To learn more details and support SLIFE students and educators, read this petition!

Call for Submissions: Boston Union Teacher Literary Issue- Deadline July 7th

The BTU’s monthly newspaper is seeking submissions for its annual summer literary edition. Submit any creative works such as short stories, excerpts of long fiction, poems, essays. flash fiction, cartoons etc. All submissions must be original works, accepted submissions will be paid. Send to aslater@btu.org and ccarey@btu.org Deadline July 7th.

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.

Community Events

Immigrant Student Success Virtual Conference: July 8, 11 AM-3 PM

Explore how schools can better support immigrant students in challenging times at the free virtual conference Hosted by The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute, participants will learn how to: Foster belonging, identity and agency in students; Challenge common immigration myths; Gain strategies for supporting immigrant student mental health and wellbeing; Advocate for your immigrant students’ rights. The 2026 Immigrant Student Success virtual conference is free of charge, but you must register to participate. This virtual conference is designed for PreK-12 and adult educators, administrators, counselors, volunteers and librarians.

Byte Into Summer – Virtual Conference: Aug. 18th, 9-4:30pm.

The Office of Technology (BPSTech) invites all Central Office Staff, Educators, and School-Based Staff to dive into a day of technology exploration at our virtual conference on Tuesday, August 18 from 9:00AM to 4:30PM. We’re offering 20 engaging sessions on AI tools, digital learning strategies, and the latest updates to Google apps for teaching and productivity. Click here to register on Zoom Events with your BPS email to secure your spot. After completion, you will receive a customized certificate indicating your total PD hours earned. REGISTER HERE

BTU in the News

Check out our BTU website to find articles and/or public statements regarding

• Massachusetts Graduation Requirements
• Massachusetts Ballot Questions

Thank You for Reading

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