| Good Morning,
Happy Pride month! The BTU’s LGBTQ+ Committee welcomes all members to attend a social at the BTU Hall on Wednesday, June 4th (register here!) and to march with the BTU in the Pride Parade on June 14th in downtown Boston (RSVP here!). There are also some great classroom resources for Pride Month available at ShareMyLesson. We also encourage you all to join us in celebrating Caribbean American Heritage month!
BTU members fight for a fair contract at Dorchester Charter Schools
On Thursday May 29th, educators and staff of Neighborhood House Charter School and Codman Academy Public Charter School joined forces to rally for a fair contract in Codman Square. Within the past year and a half, staff members at both schools separately sought out the BTU to organize their school buildings and negotiate their first ever union contracts.
BTU officers and organizers have been actively involved at the bargaining table with the negotiating teams from both schools. While some progress has been made, NHCS and Codman staff are calling on administrators to agree to additional and longer negotiation sessions in order to arrive at a contract agreement before the end of this school year.
NHCS and Codman’s goals are straightforward: include enhanced educator and staff voice on setting school policies, establish more job security, improve staff pay and increase transparency to address the severe rate of attrition, and secure more resources for students.
Through our work together, it has become clear that educators at these schools are deeply committed to their students and the school mission, but they cannot continue to sacrifice financial stability and job security. We strongly encourage you to join our action campaign and send letters to NHCS and Codman administrators calling for a speedy resolution to contract negotiations. Thank you to the brave workers of NHCS and Codman for standing up and speaking out for students and their colleagues!
Solidarity and Support for our colleagues and families
We also would like to acknowledge some recent events, and the effects that they have had on our community. The recent murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim in Washington, DC, and yesterday’s tragic and violent attack in Colorado have caused pain and heartbreak for Jewish members of the BTU community, and for those who wish and work for peace in the Middle East and around the world.
Closer to home, ICE’s detention of Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 18-year old high school junior in Milford, while on his way to volleyball practice, is causing additional fear and anxiety for many of our members, our students, and their families. We strongly condemn ICE enforcement tactics and disregard for the emotional impact their actions cause to families and communities.
This detention of a beloved student comes as the Supreme Court has temporarily allowed the Trump Administration to revoke Temporary Protected Status from more than 500,000 immigrants who have settled in the US after fleeing natural disasters and potential political persecution.
The Supreme Court’s ruling now exposes more than a half million families, including BTU members, to potential deportation despite the fact that their court cases are still under consideration.
The BTU is working in conjunction with other groups to provide support, resources and guidance to educators and BPS families regarding immigration enforcement. We also encourage you to read through Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s recent guidance on individual rights and ICE actions.
BTU hosts annual scholarship awards breakfast
On Saturday May 31st, the BTU and Retired Teacher Committee (RTC) hosted its annual breakfast at our Hall to distribute scholarships to graduating seniors. The BTU awarded $152,000 in scholarships to 76 seniors from nearly every public high school in the district, including many who are dependents or relatives of active and retired members.
The BTU is extremely proud to support the continuing education of BPS graduates and provide assistance to the next generation of leaders. Thank you to the volunteers for the dedicating their time to read through applications and organize one of the BTU’s most anticipated annual traditions. Check out some photos on our Facebook!
Seeking Members for BTU/BPS Climate Committee
The recent contract settlement includes a provision for a joint BTU/BPS committee focused on climate change and climate justice curricula. If you are interested in serving on this committee, which is slated to meet regularly and make recommendations on climate curricula, please email Will March at wmarch@btu.org with a resume and statement of interest, including your relevant experience.
Documenting BTU’s History: BTU Hall, June 25th, 1-4pm
Do you have a story to tell? Old photos, flyers, or posters you treasure? Come share them at the BTU Year-End Digitizing Day!
In 2018, the BTU hosted our first “digitizing day” in partnership with UMass Boston. We scanned 190 photos and documents and recorded 18 short video interviews about our union’s history. The event inspired other local unions and helped UMass Boston win a grant to support participatory archiving. Thanks to this grant, BTU now has its own equipment to record our history, and we’re testing it out on the afternoon of June 25th!
Please come share your personal memories and archives of your work and organizing as an educator! We are particularly interested in stories and documents that address three topics on all of our minds this past school year: the history of education for students with disabilities as we fight for inclusion done right, the history of school closures as we face such closures at the end of this year and in years to come, and the history of school desegregation, fifty years after the first year of court-ordered desegregation in Boston.
You are welcome to drop in anytime during the afternoon. We will have scanners for documents (you will keep the originals) and booths set up for short interviews. To make things flow smoothly, you can also sign up for a specific interview slot. |
