Brookline Educators Union

BEU issues press release on Paraprofessional and Administrator contracts

JOIN US NOVEMBER 1, 5:15 Town Hall, for School Committee Meeting.  Stay for Open Comment and support Paraprofessionals and union administrators!

 

Some Brookline Educators Still Working Without Contracts

 

 

While teachers have reached a tentative agreement with the Brookline School Committee for a new contract, the Brookline Educators Union is still trying to hammer out new contracts with the Brookline School Committee for paraprofessionals and administrators in the union.

 

At a BEU membership meeting on Oct. 5, members unanimously voted to withdraw voluntary participation in administrative committees until agreements can be reached with the paraprofessionals and unionized administrators. Educators will continue to engage in voluntary activities that directly benefit students.

 

The paraprofessionals are seeking a wage increase and the administrators want to address workload issues.

 

“Our paraprofessionals are grossly underpaid, and they provide invaluable service to the school system,” said BEU President Jessica Wender-Shubow. “The school committee needs to recognize the professionalism and level of skill involved in the work the paras do.  Brookline can do that by providing a livable wage for those doing this important and difficult work.”

 

Wendy MacMillan, a paraprofessional for 16 years in Brookline’s early childhood education program, said that with the same level of experience she’d be making $16,000 more annually if she worked in neighboring Newton. She noted that because of the poor compensation for Brookline’s paraprofessionals, the schools are having difficulty attracting and retaining qualified personnel for the positions.

A shortage of paraprofessionals affects all students, not just those receiving direct services from a para.

 

Wender-Shubow said that the school committee ignores the fact that paraprofessionals occasionally cover classes for teachers, freeing them up for meetings and other district work; and that paraprofessionals often work with students who have significant academic and emotional needs.

 

BEU-represented administrators, such as vice principals, are frustrated by shifting and increasing job responsibilities that make it difficult to support the teachers and classroom staff in their buildings.

 

“The BEU recognizes the importance of all members of our union. We are all educators, and we are all integral to the education we provide students in Brookline,” Wender-Shubow said. “We do not consider this labor dispute resolved until the paraprofessionals and administrators have settled their contracts.”

 

BEU Negotiators report to the membership

We had a tough mediated negotiations session last night. After two years of bargaining, the School Committee has brought a new demand to the table. They already proposed the option of adding two additional workdays, including Saturdays, at half pay. Now they insist on a longer elementary school day, and refuse compensation for it that they have agreed to attach to extra time in the past. Why this sudden change in negotiating strategy? Why rather than addressing workload and trusting teachers, educators’ number one concerns, is the School Committee now trying to force teachers to do even more uncompensated work?

Late in the evening, BEU negotiators asked the School Committee to talk with us face-to-face, not through the mediator. We wanted them to tell us what their rationale is for these proposals. Why are they seeking to tie a longer school day to proposed salary increases that are already lower than most teachers in this region are being given, and lower than the amount that they, themselves have been telling the community that they already set aside for salary increases? We were given no good reason for any of this.

Brookline educators are fully aware that seeking to require elementary teachers to stay in the building longer is nothing but a distraction from the core problem at the heart of these negotiations. The School Committee continues to refuse to agree to any process that will ensure expectations of educators cannot be constantly expanded without limit. The same minutes of the day—be they during school hours or after—cannot be double and triple booked with added data burdens and the expectation of ever more meetings to implement ever more top-down initiatives. Such demands shift teachers’ attention away from building relationships with students who are whole human beings with unique and singular needs.

We have another session on June 29. No sessions are scheduled after that, and given recent developments we are more frustrated than ever. We remain far apart on the Paraprofessional contract as well. We note that when the School Committee recently celebrated that they have been able to cap most elementary classes at 25, they did not bring up that over 100 high school classes have 25 or more students, and close to 150 have at least 24. They have not explained their refusal to preserve currently existing limits on classes per teacher, or their refusal to discuss caseloads with clinicians. We remain committed to ensuring that growing enrollments coupled with unrealistic expectations will not continue to erode quality education in Brookline. Brookline educators know that our schools are at a critical crossroads. When will the School Committee respond to the concerns of those who spend our days in the classroom with students? When will they return to a relationship of trust and respect of teachers?

Brookline Educators are still working without a contract! What has the BEU proposed?

Prioritize individual attention for every child:

– Limit to 4 the number of class sections per teacher in grades 6-12 to open up time for meeting the tar­geted needs of specific children.

– Support co-teaching with necessary prep time.

– Limit non-instructional tasks such as data collec­tion & paperwork.

– Eliminate non-instructional duties for teachers.

– Guarantee every educator sufficient and equitable time to prepare to teach every day.

Enhance the safety of our students and staff:

– Assess specialists’ caseloads according to the inten­sity of student needs.

– Require building aides who can step in.

– Assign more than one educator to rooms with 65 or more children.

-Increase classroom safety with appropriate staffing and equipment.

Respect the professionalism of our edu­cators:

-Reserve time in staff meetings to discuss educators’ individual or collective concerns.

-Strengthen the voice of teachers in the evaluation system.

-Agree to prep periods and paid lunch for parapro­fessionals.

-Guarantee fair compensation for all, including a liv­ing wage & fair scheduling for paraprofessionals.

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