Students in Newton, Massachusetts returned to the classroom this week following a teachers strike that lasted more than two weeks, according to several reports.
The walkout began on Jan. 19, impacting 2,000 instructors and about 12,000 students, according to The Washington Post. It was the sixth teachers strike in the state since 2022 and the longest, though strikes are illegal in the state.
Reportedly, the strike occurred over wages for employees. The Newton Teachers Association bargained with Newton Public Schools for 10 months before the previous contract expired on August 31, 2023. On Sunday, a new contract was solidified (via WBUR):
Ratified by NTA members Sunday, it includes a 30% raise in starting salary for teacher aides — from $28,270 to $36,778 — and a district promise to hire at least five more social workers at the elementary schools. The union and the district also agreed to double the number of district-paid parental leave days from 10 days to 20 days and allow total paid parental leave of 60 days, up from 40 days. They also negotiated a 12% increase to annual cost of living adjustments for all educators over the next four years.
The new terms will cost the Newton Public Schools an additional $53 million compared with the last contract. A return to work agreement, meantime, specifies that no educators will face disciplinary action for the work stoppage.
In a statement, a teachers union bargainer, Ryan Normandin, said that the teachers taught their students to “stand up for themselves.”
“We taught our students not to be afraid that when those in power try to take away your rights, that they should stand up for themselves, that they should not do it alone, but together,” Normandin said. “We taught every other district in this state what will happen if they try to balance their budgets on the backs of our students and educators.”
Normandin’s statement was amplified by the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
“We taught our students not to be afraid that when those in power try to take away your rights, that they should stand up for themselves, that they should not do it alone, but together.” — @NewtonTeachers spokesperson Ryan Normandin https://t.co/Y34zPbsuy2
— Massachusetts Teachers Association (@massteacher) February 3, 2024
Nicki Neily, president and founder of Parents Defending Education, reacted to the statement on X.
“You robbed your innocent students of the ability to receive an education,” she wrote.
The Newton Teachers Association in Massachusetts finally ended their strike after preventing more than 11,000 students from going to school for 11 days.
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) February 6, 2024
The union negotiator had the gall to take a victory lap:
“We taught our students not to be afraid that when those in power… pic.twitter.com/CcHHJbjAoH
In recent years, has Townhall covered how many teachers unions across the country went on strike ahead of the 2022-2023 school year. This is the same time most school districts planned to return to full-time, in-person and "normal" schooling since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in record breaking learning loss.