Published On: July 15, 2022
After countless hours of organizing, mobilizing and negotiating, we are pleased to share that as of this morning, BTU has reached a tentative agreement with the BPS School Committee and the City of Boston on our multi-year contract. Following a BTU ratification vote which will take place in September, and once also ratified and approved by the School Committee, the agreement will go into effect immediately, and will run through the end of the 2023-2024 school year. (The first year is retroactive.)

From the beginning, our objective in this negotiation process was to fight for a contract that would get us closer to creating the schools our students and educators deserve. We conducted educator surveys, multilingual community surveys, and held several public forums to gather feedback from thousands of families, educators, and community members, to put together a package of proposals that center equity and create the schools our students deserve.

Our negotiating team, silent representatives, contract organizing committee and staff have worked tirelessly over the last several months to secure this contract, sacrificing many a late night, holiday and weekend to get this over the finish line. Thousands more BTU members contributed in other ways–whether it was signing a petition, participating in “Wear it Wednesdays” or showing up to a rally, our goal was always the same: to share our solutions for BPS and to codify as many of them as possible.

Important toplines from this agreement are:

Inclusion Done Right
This contract will honor a commitment to overhauling special education to meet student needs, including targeted reductions in class size based on equity and hiring more educators dependent on the need of student IEPs.

Family-Friendly Work Policies
The City of Boston’s paid family leave policy now applies to educators – all BTU members are offered 12 weeks of paid leave.

Modern School Buildings
Educators will be provided access to facilities work orders so we know what is happening within our buildings.

Affordable Housing
The contract includes a commitment to providing housing support to unhoused families + a pilot program.

Increased Wages
All staff will be provided increases of 2.5% for 3 years, plus a differential that will ultimately yield an additional 2% in overall wages over the life of the 3-year contract.

Diversity Recognition
Juneteenth is memorialized as an official holiday in the agreement, and Three Kings Day, Lunar New Year, and Diwali are now recognized as days when staff who celebrate can do so without needing to use personal time.

We will be holding a Contract Informational Meeting for BTU membership next Thursday, July 21 at 4:00 p.m. to go over the contract in detail and answer any questions you may have. The event will be in-person at the BTU Hall with an option to view on Zoom. Please save the date, a registration link will follow soon.

While we have some major wins to be proud of, our work does not end here. As is the case with all agreements, we don’t always get everything we were looking for, but we never stop advocating – whether it be through negotiations or other means. We still have much to do and will be back at the table soon to begin negotiating the successor agreement.

Again, these wins are only possible because of the tenacity you all bring to our school buildings every day. THANK YOU for your support and dedication.

In unity,
Jessica Tang
BTU President

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