Except for an ongoing series — the Negotiating Committee meeting with the Newton Teachers Association in Executive Session regarding contract negotiations — there are no meetings scheduled for the School Committee this week.
Posts published in “Schools”
On January 28, the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) presented a proposal, the School Committee presented a counterproposal, and in the evening the NTA presented its second proposal of the day. Each party, through its own press conference, expressed frustration, exasperation, and a belief that the other side was not bargaining…
I fully support our teachers and appreciate all they do and yes, they should get paid more. I was taught by wonderful Newton teachers. Reading the news, though, you would think that Mayor Ruthanne Fuller is on par with the worst fascists of the century. Protest signs have her likeness…
On the morning of January 28, the School Committee and Mayor Ruthanne Fuller each published detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) documents responding to questions about the Teachers Strike and City finances. NPS and SC Frequently Asked Questions, issued by the School Committee, addresses 21 questions in a Google Doc that…
On January 17, the School Committee and Newton Teachers Association (NTA) continued their negotiations, from 8:30AM until about 9:30PM. The core of the NTA negotiating team stayed in the negotiations and did not attend the NTA’s afternoon rally at City Hall. After the day of negotiations, the two sides presented…
The Newton Teachers Association held a rally on the steps of the Newton City Hall War Memorial on Saturday, January 27. A crowd approaching 2000 people – including teachers, parents, students, as well as supporters from area schools and labor organizations – gathered to protest the lack of progress in…
Mike Zilles, head of the Newton Teachers Association, spearheaded no-confidence votes on Newton’s elected mayor and elected school committee. This followed a no-confidence vote on our last superintendent, David Fleishman, because the NTA disagreed with plans to return to in-classroom education. Now the NTA is illegally striking, shutting students out of…
I think that there is impartial evidence that Mayor Fuller and the NPS School Committee have not been negotiating in good faith. Superior Court Judge Barry-Smith decided today to LOWER the daily fine to the NTA to a consistent $50,000, instead of increasing it to $400,000, and he came to…
On January 26, legal representatives of the Newton Teachers Association (NTA) attended two hearings in Middlesex Superior Court, after which the judge issued a ruling that assesses a coercive fine of $50,000 per day that the strike remains in place, starting at 8PM on Sunday, January 28. No fine will…
Regarding comments by NTA President Mike Zilles about Mayor Fuller’s designation of federal pandemic funds for Newton Public Schools (NPS), I’d like to clarify the information. Mayor Fuller invested over $28 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and CARES funds, approximately 40% of the City’s total, in the…