We hope you all enjoyed a nice long weekend as we celebrated Veterans Day and recognized the sacrifices of our friends and family who have served. Last week was the midterm election, and we’re excited to congratulate Maura Healey, the next governor of Massachusetts! Maura’s election is historic as the first woman and first openly gay person elected to the position in MA history. We’re thrilled to continue to work with her administration as we fight for the schools our students deserve. Congratulations also to our AFT-endorsed candidates, Diana DiZoglio for Auditor and Deb Goldberg for Treasurer, on their victories, as well.
We are especially thrilled that the Fair Share Amendment (Question 1) and Yes for Safer Roads (Question 4) have passed! Congratulations and thank you to all who put such hard work into passing these important ballot measures that will greatly support our work and communities. You can check out photos from our rally last weekend on FB and view updates from Election Day as well.
We continue to meet weekly with BPS to get more details about the latest contract implementation timeline. They have shared that it is unlikely that pay adjustments (which generally come first) and retroactive pay disbursements (which take longer to calculate) will take place before the end of the calendar year, but we continue to advocate with both the City and school department to expedite the processing as quickly as they can, and we hope that the adjustments can at least happen before the end of the calendar year.
We hope to have a full report soon on the status of the various provisions soon. In the meantime, we are launching “Contract Coffee Hours” at our schools. The first cohort of Inclusion Planning Team schools should have received invitations to sign up for a visit this past week, and our goal is to visit as many schools as possible in the next few months.
Congratulations to our very own BTU Haitian Educators Committee, who were spotlighted in a recent AFT news story! The story shares how several members of the committee came together to support their students and provide more opportunities to engage families. We are proud of their work!
Building Reps: Please remember to help us identify which Building Rep or BTU member will be the point person for your school to be able to view facilities updates. We are still missing information for several dozen of our schools! We will be in touch once we get more details on the next steps.
The Boston School Committee is accepting applications for two members, serving two-year terms (running January 2023 to December 2024). Completed applications are due online by Tuesday, November 22 at 11:59 pm. You can find the application and related information here. Applicants must be Boston residents.
Thank you to all who were able to make it to Cheryl Kelly’s BTU Memorial Event. It was heartwarming to hear all of the stories and many lives that Cheryl touched. We know her memory and legacy will continue to live on in all those who, like Cheryl, advocate so passionately for school nurses, our students, schools, and community. More information about a student scholarship set up in her name will be forthcoming.
We are also saddened so share that former BTU Vice President Virginia Tisei passed away last week. Virginia also served as the former Director of BPS Labor Relations. Details about her service are below.
Don’t Forget: November is Native American Heritage Month! Visit the official NAHM website for resources on incorporating Native American history and culture into your lesson plans from the Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution and more.