Marblehead Teachers Strike: 'We Are Optimistic' Despite Schools Closed Tuesday For 6th Day
MARBLEHEAD, MA — Marblehead Education Association President Jonathan Heller expressed hope Monday night that face-to-face negotiations with the School Committee that occurred for the first time since the teachers voted to strike two weeks ago will lead to progress toward a new contract and a return to the classrooms after school was canceled on Tuesday for a sixth straight day.
“Finally we are having some real conversations,” Heller said during a Monday night news conference with bargaining scheduled to continue into the late evening. “I know the (negotiators) came back feeling that they are being heard. We don’t have any tentative agreements yet.
“But there is progress.”
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Heller said those conversations on Monday centered around paid family leave and job security for tutors and paraprofessionals, with wages still to be tackled as the sides remained about $5 million apart on offers, according to School Committee statements.
“We wanted to have these honest conversations,” Heller said. “When we can have that, we’re confident we can make significant progress.”
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MEA teacher Caroline Todd added: “Conversations are not commitments. Commitments are what we need to get our kids back in schools.”
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MEA members are expected to join striking union teachers from Beverly and Gloucester at a State House rally on Tuesday.
While sides over the weekend reached an agreement on a proposed joint school safety task force, wages continue to be a roadblock with the MEA pushing the School Committee to seek a tax override large enough to “fully fund” schools, including the new teacher salaries, and the School Committee looking for a smaller override that Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer said could be more palatable to residents who have repeatedly voted down general tax override proposals in recent years.
Heller on Sunday said the union’s proposal would require an average $926 increase in taxes — which he said would equate to $1.72 per day for a house valued at $1.2 million in town — while the town’s proposal would require a $300.74 tax override increase.
“The prospects for an override of that size are slim given the town has rejected four of them in the past 20 years,” School Committee Chair Jennifer Schaeffner said Friday night. “If it fails then we would have no choice but to reduce staff by about 75 positions. Our goal is to keep teachers and staff employed and keep school class sizes smaller than many surrounding districts.”
The MEA is also facing escalating fines for being in contempt of the state law prohibiting public sector union strikes. Fines began at $50,000 per day on Thursday and were prescribed to increase by $10,000 each day the schools are closed.
(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)
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