On Wednesday November 8 at 8:15 after nearly 5 hours of mediation, We reached a Tentative Agreement with the School Committee

In the end, the school committee withdrew their proposal to increase the use of assessment results in educator evaluations,  and brought some more money and a few other incentives.  We could not have done this without your support!!

Now, we will put the agreement to a ratification vote by our members.  The vote is scheduled for November 29-December 1, aiming for the school committee to ratify it on December 5.

All of the info is on our website, but here are the highlights.

Thank you so much for your support, and now we begin the advocacy to ensure the time is used well, and negotiate fair contracts for our Clerks, Substitutes and Paraprofessionals which expire this summer.

WE ARE AT A TIPPING POINT! Now is the time!!

Click here to tell the school committee to settle the CEA Units A/B Contract NOW!!

On Tuesday, October 17, the School Committee will be holding a closed meeting to discuss negotiations -  They need to hear from you before that meeting!!

The School Committee's proposals do not adequately address the major issues facing our educators: fair compensation commensurate with that of other professional knowledge workers and safe, reasonable working conditions, particularly for Special Educators who currently cannot provide all the services scholars need as is required by law.  The School Committee also wants to use test scores to rate teacher performance and is unwilling to adequately support our affinity spaces for educators from historically marginalized populations.

Need an update on negotiations & some specific details? This slide deck describes what we have tentatively agreed to and how we still disagree.

We must change the course of our public schools and to do so, educators deserve a fair contract that will attract and retain the best possible educators, particularly educators of color.

The School Committee shut down negotiations in June by unilaterally requesting mediation. Contract mediation is not like conflict resolution - it is shuttle diplomacy.  The two sides are in different rooms and the mediator goes back and forth between them.  Besides being inefficient and impersonal, it starts us on an undemocratic path towards forcing a contract on educators without a chance to vote. (Collective bargaining laws in Massachusetts for public sector employees are tilted in favor of municipalities.)

Thank you for your support - the next couple of weeks are critical to achieve the fair contract that our educators deserve.

On August 31, the Unit A/B (Teacher/Administrator) contract expired and we are not close to agreement on several essential outstanding issues. (Details here). Last Thursday, CEA members voted overwhelmingly to Work to Contract. Weekly, in every school, all across the city, educators will rally before and after school, walking in together at the beginning of the contractual day and walking out together at the end of the contractual day.

 The School Committee has given us no choice but to take this action to demonstrate our frustration with the bargaining process thus far. The School Committee's proposals do not adequately address the major issues facing our teachers and administrators: fair compensation commensurate with compensation for other professional knowledge workers and reasonable workloads, particularly for Special Educators.  The School Committee also wants to use test scores to rate teacher performance and is unwilling to adequately support our affinity spaces for educators from historically marginalized populations.

At 5 PM Tues, Sept. 19, outside the School Committee meeting room, 459 Broadway, the CEA will be holding a rally to call on the School Committee to agree to a fair contract for our educators.

On August 31, the Unit A/B (Teacher/Administrator) contract expired and we are not close to agreement on several essential outstanding issues. (Details here) These issues must be resolved to achieve a contract that respects educators,  allows us to do our best work and creates the best possible learning environment  for scholars. 

The School Committee has declined to change many of its proposals and continues to propose contract language that would significantly increase the superintendent’s  decision-making power and disempower educators.

We must change the course of our public schools and to do so, educators deserve a fair contract that will attract and retain the best possible educators, particularly educators of color.

The School Committee has shut down negotiations and claims we need an outside mediator. Contract mediation is not like conflict resolution. This starts us on an undemocratic path towards forcing a contract on us and not even getting to vote on it as members.

The CEA wants to continue to bargain without a mediator; at the 5/31 bargaining session we presented many ideas to prompt movement so that we could get closer to settling a fair contract together. The School Committee disagreed and unilaterally filed a request with the state’s Department of Labor Relations to appoint a neutral mediator.

WE ARE AT A TIPPING POINT! Now is the time - we need you to engage. Our contract fight needs to be in the forefront of our actions so we do not begin the next school year without a contract.