Published On: March 26, 2026

BTU Stand Out at City Hall TODAY

Join students, educators and community allies outside City Hall at 5pm to fight for the quality education our students deserve! Let us know you’re coming through this link or by clicking on the flyer above!

Good Morning,

During last week’s School Committee meeting, the school department let on what we already know: Our activism has impact. During a section on BPS’s budget proposal for 2026-2027, which would cut student services and hundreds of school-based positions, BPS officials announced that they would be restoring vital educator positions at 15 schools which were initially slated to be cut, and restoring 3 Supervisors of Attendance who were also on the chopping block.

Our voices are reaching the ears that should have already been listening. Now let’s turn up the volume! Join us today in front of City Hall at 5pm to tell the City Council “Let BPS Students Bloom: Invest 1% More in Our Schools.” If City Hall invested just 1% more of the city’s operating budget, then our schools would be able to provide the same services that our students relied upon this year.

Since the day BPS released its budget proposal, BTU members have been warning that the required staff and service cuts would jeopardize the progress made since students returned to classrooms from the pandemic. BPS just celebrated its highest graduation rate in district history. Why, at this moment of progress and opportunity, are we laying off the educators who helped students achieve this milestone?

If the staffing cuts required by the current BPS Budget proposal stand, students would lose relationships with trusted mentors and remaining teachers would have to meet the complex needs of their kids without the support of educators who meet those specialized needs. Our students deserve the resources they require to reach their full potential. Let’s fight together to make that potential a reality.

No Kings March 28th on Boston Common

As we know, Boston does not exist in a vacuum. The federal government has cut funding to public education and essential social services across the country, but particularly so in states that didn’t vote for Donald Trump. Less than a year after administration officials pushed these cuts in the name of “necessary austerity”, we are spending more than $1 billion a day on a war that is deeply unpopular among Americans of all political persuasions.

That’s why we’re reuniting with our No Kings Movement this upcoming Saturday on Boston Common to continue our resistance to one of the most corrupt and arbitrarily cruel administrations in our country’s history. Join thousands of your neighbors on Saturday afternoon to demand an end to this unnecessary war and for our government to resume spending taxpayer money on initiatives that actually improve their lives. We’ll be meeting at the Citizens Bank at 12:30 for at the Citizens Bank branch on Summer street for an action prior to the No Kings rally.

You can find more details on the rally, and the guest performance by The Dropkick Murphy’s, here!

Glass Ceiling Awards and Family2Family Conference

This past weekend offered just a small snapshot of how we are fighting to protect and progress. The Women’s RIghts Committee hosted its annual Glass Ceilings Award ceremony which honors local women who have been champions of their communities. This year the WRC honored State Senator Liz Miranda and Toy Burton, the founder of the mental health access advocacy organization DeeDee’s Cry.

Sen. Miranda credited her BPS teachers at the John D. O’Bryant High School for helping the child of an immigrant mother graduate from an exam school and Wellesley College and eventually become one of just a handful of Black women to be elected to the Massachusetts Senate.

Toy Burton established DeeDee’s Cry after losing her sister to suicide and recognizing that Boston’s Black and Brown communities had limited access to mental health support services. Toy delivered a powerful speech encouraging all of us to embrace compassion, grace, and collective resilience during difficult times.

Thank you to the BTU WRC for organizing this annual event and celebrating the groundbreaking women in Boston.

(L) BTU Glass Ceiling Awards winners Toy Burton and state Sen. Liz Miranda show their plaques. (R) The BTU Women’s Rights Committee and organizers of the annual ceremony.

Just a few hours later, the BTU and community partners welcomed BPS families and educators to the Carter School for our annual Family2Family conference. Each year this event brings together students, educators, activists and community allies for an afternoon of relationship building and workshops. BTU members and staff, along with parent leaders, led sessions covering BPS programs available to immigrant families and parents of students with additional needs, community organizing, youth justice empowerment and more. However, the most popular session was probably the petting zoo!

Thank you to the Carter school for lending us access to a beautiful facility and thank you to our community allies for all of the hard work and coordination to make this happen!

Check out more photos from this past weekend on our Facebook!

BTU Events and Announcements

Action Toolkit: Fight BPS Staffing Cuts
Over half our schools are expecting budget cuts next school year. We are fighting back for the fully-funded schools Boston students deserve! Use this toolkit to help you educate and organize at the school-level so students, parents/families, and educators understand the proposed BPS budget for next school year, how the budget impacts your school, and how we fight back. Toolkit can be found at tinyurl.com/BTU26Toolkit

StudySync Curriculum Survey for BTU Members
A group of BTU members is organizing to gather input from BTU members who teach with the StudySync secondary ELA curriculum. Your feedback will help us understand your experience with the curriculum and determine the next steps in our organizing. The information in this survey will only be shared among BTU members, but the themes and aggregated data may be shared more widely. Fill out the survey here!

Serve on the BTU Election Committee: Letters of Interest due April 8th!

BTU internal elections will be held next May/June 2027. These elections are conducted by an Election Committee made up of BTU/RTC members in good standing. If you are interested in serving on this committee. please submit a statement of interest to bcanelo@btu.org by April 8, 2026. The BTU President will submit up to 15 names to the Executive Board at their April meeting and then names are brought before the membership for approval. This is a great opportunity to serve your union, help ensure a smooth and fair election process and have fun. Meetings are generally once a month starting in June, 2026. Candidates running for office, including Executive Board, are not eligible to serve on the Election Committee.

NEW-BTU Reading Committee: Survey on Dyslexia in BPS

The BTU Reading Committee is investigating what happens in the BPS special education process when a student is suspected of having dyslexia. Help us better understand current trends and practice across BPS about one of the most common learning disabilities! Please share your insights in our (anonymous) survey here

Dever Digitizing Day: March 26th

The Dever Digitizing Day will be held on March 26, 2026 3-7pm to bring together the widespread Dever community, share memories, and celebrate the Dever’s journey. At the event, in collaboration with University Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston, we will be developing a public, online archive to tell the story of the Dever over the years. Please bring 1-3 photos, artwork, documents, or stories that have special meaning to you and the Dever. What you bring will be scanned or recorded and returned to you, then uploaded to the permanent Dever collection in the UMass Boston online archives. The event will also be a chance to mingle, reminisce, and celebrate together! Please register for the event here.

MassCOSH Environmental Testing Study at worksites

Are you concerned about mold, Co2, asbestos or other environmental hazards at your schoolsite? MassCOSH is working with students to help workers survey their jobsites and provide accurate data that Safety Committees can use to advocate for safer working conditions. The work is as follows:

Build a team to survey 70%-80% of staff at your location
Help coordinate a time for MassCOSH to come test areas of concern
Share out MassCOSH’s findings to staff for discussion and next steps

Only one school will be selected for this study. If you are interested in applying to participate, please contact BTU organizer Wednesday at wromeroklevisha@btu.org to coordinate next steps.

Job Sharing Interest Form

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.

National Board Office Hours: March 24, 5-7PM; April 16, 4:30-6:30 PM

The National Board Leadership team holds office hours monthly. Join us to ask questions relevant to completing your National Board component or reach out about how to begin your National Board Journey. Use this link to attend. Register Here!

National Board Writing/Reading Retreats

National Board Writing/Reading Retreats are an opportunity for National Board Candidates and National Board Maintenance of Certification Candidates to focus on their writing, meet with a reader or engage in Q&A with experienced cohort leaders. Each retreat is 3 hours. Free parking is available. To attend retreats 1 & 2 register here. Registration for retreat #2 will open in April. To request a reader, candidates can reach out to Nationalboard@bostonpublicschools.org with the header, Reader Request.

Saturday, March 28, 9AM-12PM (Emmanuel College)

Saturday May 9, 9AM-12PM (BTU)

Unafraid Educator Week: April 13th-17th

We are asking all schools to stand in solidarity with our immigrant students and families by participating in the Unafraid Week of Action from April 13th-17th. Join us for our next monthly meeting on April 6th at Fenway High from 4:30-6pm. Please go to bit.ly/Unafraid2026 for more information on how to get involved.

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.

Black Educators’ Alliance of MA: Celebrating 60 Years on April 18th

On April 18th, we’re honoring the 60th anniversary of the founding of BEAM with a themed celebration: “Education for Liberation” This is more than an anniversary. It’s a call to action. A call to connection. A moment when organizations, educators, and communities come together and say: we’re all in this fight together. Register at: https://bit.ly/BEAMis60

May Day! International Workers and Immigrant Solidarity: May 1st

May Day is a global holiday that celebrates international worker solidarity, and in Boston, it has been a powerful day to celebrate our immigrant communities. Join the BTU and others to stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors and school communities on the Boston Common Friday afternoon. The event is still in its planning phase so please share any thoughts on what you would like to see this year! RSVP to stay up to date.

Reader’s Digest America’s Favorite Teacher Contest: BTU Member Finalist
Julie Hutcheon, a BTU member with more than 25 years experience as a special education and ESL teacher, is currently in 2nd place for the Reader’s Digest America’s Favorite Teacher contest! Julie has served the Chittick community for her entire career and would use the $25k prize to give back to her students. You can find more information about the competition and voting here!

Educator Appreciation Night at the Red Sox’s May 8th

Red Sox vs the Rays 7:10 pm R.F. Grandstand 5 on May 8th 2026. Tickets are not confirmed until paid. Once you fill out the form, a PayPal invoice will be sent for tickets. Tickets are $33.00 each

(L) Representatives of the St. Stephen’s Youth Program at their information table about the Parent Mentor Program (R) The community resource table at the 2026 Family2Family Conference

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.

MFA Educator Institute Teaching “America at 250”: August 10-14, 2026
Joy of Learning Grant
4/9: Secondary History Telescope Network Learning Site (10-3:30pm)
World Languages Spring Professional Development

Community Events

BEJA is hiring! Part-Time Youth Organizer and Part-Time Parent Organizer

The Boston Education Justice Alliance is hiring:

Part-Time Youth Organizer

Part-Time Parent Organizer

We’re looking for passionate community leaders who believe in student voice, family power, and fully funded, equitable public schools. If you’re ready to organize, advocate, and build collective power in Boston, we want to hear from you. Email Keo with questions: Keo@bostoneja.org. Click here to learn more.

CitySprouts Summer Site Lead Job Application Open!

CitySprouts is seeking energetic, highly-motivated individuals to lead our summer gardening programs in Cambridge and Boston. Educators will be placed into teams to lead cohorts of youth (ages 11-14) in engaging and interactive activities focused around gardening, cooking, STEM concepts, and urban green spaces. The position duration is from June 25th – August 11th; the program will run July 6th – August 7th from 9:00 – 2:00 Monday – Fridays, with training beforehand and two days of cleanup and evaluation after program end. Earn a $6000 stipend and get your hands dirty with us!

Climate Change in the City: Place-based Science in Boston: Application due March 31st

The Stone Living Lab is offering a free, five-day course to explore Boston Harbor through the lens of climate change, place-based learning, and participatory science. At the end of the course, participants will develop a capstone project, lesson, or curriculum that can be used by schools across Boston Harbor. Join us from July 20 – 24, 2026 for five days of learning and exploration in Boston. Explore field sites, meet local research organizations, and develop your skills in place-based teaching and participatory science protocols. The course is FREE, lunch is provided, and participants will earn three graduate credits upon completion of their capstone project.

Link to Apply

BTU in the News

Boston Globe: ‘Really hitting our schools hard’: Special education teachers are leaving the classroom in droves. Why?

‘These cuts are “really hitting our schools hard,” said Erik Berg, president of the Boston Teachers Union. “Those are critical positions that provide the support that our students with disabilities need every day.”‘

Dorchester Reporter: Markey Notches Endorsements From a Flurry of Elected Officials

The president of the Boston Teachers Union, Erik Berg, said Markey “has always been in the corner of working people, educators, and students – and we’re proud to stand in his corner now.”

Congratulations to former BTU President and current AFT MA President Jessica Tang on receiving the Clara Lemlich Shavelson award from the Jewish Labor Committee at their Labor Seder this past Sunday!

Thank You for Reading

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

eBulletin: March 26th, 2026