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No school in Newton on Monday, but not because of any snow
By adamg on Sun, 01/28/2024 - 9:07pm
The Newton Teachers Association and the Newton School Committee failed to reach agreement again this weekend, so the teachers will remain off the job. That will mean another $50,000 added to the $375,000 in fines Middlesex Superior Court Judge Christopher Barry-Smith has already levied against the union.
More detailed coverage: Fig City News | Newton Beacon
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According to letter from the Newton School Committee
Without knowing the back story
Without knowing the back story of how the teachers and the school committee have treated each other thus far in the negotiations, we have no way of reading this letter and understanding whether or not the teachers’ “take it or leave it” position is appropriate.
Imagine the bleak psyche of
Imagine the bleak psyche of people who believe we pay teachers too much.
Not the issue
The city of Newton has a certain amount of money and is not allowed by statute to further raise taxes.
How shall the money be allocated? That's what we elect the mayor to do (with input from the superintendent of schools).
If the city could print money, I'm sure this would be over already.
Zero-sum problem
If the schools get more money, who is getting less money?
The budget information is all available online. The teacher's union should be clear about whose money they want.
In 2023, the schools got 260,955,803 out of 485,272,847 total revenue, or 53.7% of revenue. Other major expenditures included municipal departments, debt, retirement. The teachers are asking for an additional 13M or so per year. Where does it come from?
There are two possibilities: it is redistributed within the school system - that is to say, teacher layoffs, increased class sizes, and cancellation of non-mandatory classes - or it is taken from elsewhere in Newton.
The people spoke
There was a prop 2.5 proposal in March of 2023 and the voters rejected more funding for schools. They did vote to renovate two schools.
Newton might have the best school system in the state, so if I was a teacher there I’d be pretty pissed off. They are giving a lot of kids a good opportunity in life.
But the Mayor has to be accountable to the electorate, not that NTA. She’s acting as a scapegoat but really the voters of Newton did this.
This, 1000 times this
There’s a common tendency to give the voters a pass when handing out accountability for the effects of government policies.
With schools
I wish the school budget was entirely separate from the overall municipal budget so that people could vote for one without affecting the other.
They are pretty much one and the same
Many places the school budget is the only big ticket item in the municipal budget.
Also, management by plebiscite sucks, as it provides no mechanism for negotiation or iterative refinement of a budget or a law
About those voters...
This is sorta Prop 2 1/2 coming home to roost... (Though they can vote for an override, as they did for that monstrosity of a high school*.)
(*I'm a Brookline High alumna, so yes, there may be some school rivalry involved in the "monstrosity" evaluation. It's probably actually a really great facility. ;) )
A lot of voters objected to the monstrosity
Many Newton residents were upset by the needless costliness of the new Newton North. Nothing can be done about it at this point; however, it's made it harder to pass subsequent over-rides by generating mistrust about how the money will be used.
I support the schools and sympathize with the teachers. However, raising demands in the middle of negotiations and then walking into mediation saying "take it or else" then walking out do not show good faith on the part of NTA leadership. Meanwhile the kids are being hurt.
Globe Article has the Details
The globe did a really good job breaking down the remaining differences between the sides.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/29/metro/newton-teacher-strike-contr...