BTU educators and parents came together this weekend at the Parent2Parent Conference to learn about the importance of not just joint parent and educator public education advocacy, but also the intersectionality of affordable housing, immigrant justice and youth jobs. It was an informative day filled with inspirational speakers and presentations from parents and educators alike. Special thanks to former School Committee member and BPS parent Regina Robinson, one of the original parent organizers of the conference, for leading a lunchtime talk on parent advocacy!
Boston parents and educators attend one of the breakout workshops on #BuildBPS at this year’s Parent2Parent Conference. Thank you to everyone who attended and to all of our guest speakers and panelists for an inspiring day!
Another wonderful opportunity to continue to learn, share and build is at the upcoming BTU Winter Conference on Saturday, February 9, open to all BTU members. Join us to learn more about the #RedForEd movement, the #FundOurFuture campaign and legislation, and how both inform our contract fight for the schools our #StudentsDeserve! Joining us as the keynote speaker all the way from North Carolina is Durham Education Association Vice President Turquoise Lejeune Parke. Register today! The conference is free, and childcare is available. We encourage Building Reps to attend.
In case you missed it, the Boston Globe article “Boston’s economy is booming, but schools seem cash poor. Why?” highlighted both the needs of Boston students as well as the funding shortfalls. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to sign the Fund our Future petition to demand the passage of the much needed Education PROMISE Act, and take a minute to ask your legislator to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation! Call your legislators or email them today!
If your school is facing budget cuts for the following school year, please fill out this form to help us gather information so that we can best support our school communities.
Since last week, both Denver and Oakland educators are on the path to a strike. Denver’s vote passed overwhelmingly last Tuesday, but the strike has been delayed by a district request for state intervention. You can follow events in Denver with the hashtag #DCTAstrong. We stand in solidarity with educators in both cities!
We continue to make progress on our own contact negotiations, and we will be in touch with Building Reps soon about continued actions into February to #FundOurFuture and fight for a contract that supports the schools our #StudentsDeserve.
Onwards and Upwards for BTU Community Organizer Jonathan Rodrigues!
We are both happy and sad to share that Jonathan Rodrigues, our BTU Community Organizer, has taken on a new role at our parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers, as the Northeast Senior Organizer in the Human Rights and Community Relations Department. We will miss him greatly as one of the founding organizers at the BTU but are thrilled that he will be taking our work on the road to support other AFT locals in the northeast region. While he will no longer be at the BTU full-time, he will still be working with us as an AFT local in the northeast region.
We congratulate him and thank him for his tireless work; his dedication to the educators, students and families of Boston; and his ongoing commitment to fight for not just education justice, but for the values and equity all of our communities deserve!
Have a great week!