We hope that you had a nice, restorative April break! It’s hard to believe we’re heading into the last few months of the school year.
There is still much to be done in the next few weeks. Wear It Wednesdays start tomorrow! We are asking members to wear your BTU contract buttons and BTU blue to show support for our contract demands and start conversations with colleagues and the larger community about what we are fighting for and why. We will be negotiating again on Thursday and are eager to get our students and educators the contract they deserve so that we can focus on the changes and reforms needed. Our students can’t afford to wait any longer for the proposals we are advocating for! You can also hear directly from our members in the new video we have put together. To learn more about our contract negotiations and what we’re fighting for, visit BTU.org/bargaining!
If you haven’t already, make sure to join the Our City, Our Schools coalition and send a letter to DESE urging them to publicly denounce calls to place BPS into receivership, empowerment zones or other top-down interventions. Our schools need stable leadership, consistent evidence-based policies, adequate staffing and resources, and educational solutions that come from our educators, families, and students, not top-down, punitive, and ineffective state interventions that wrest control from parents and local communities.
The search for a new superintendent continues, with the job posting now open. The Superintendent Search committee continues to meet weekly on Tuesday evenings and there are now five new language-specific forums scheduled as well.
Building Reps: If you have not done so already, please remember to submit your W-9to Nichole Staude in order to receive the 2021-2022 BR stipend.