Boston Public School teachers were out on informational picket lines at schools across the district Thursday morning, taking action after nearly a year of contract negotiations.
The picketing happened 20 minutes before school started and wasn't planned to disrupt the actual school day. Union leaders said Charlestown High School would be one of the key locations, and there were dozens of educators out braving the cold there and holding signs that read "Inclusion done right!", "A living wage for paras", and "Full staffing."
For the Boston Teacher's Union, it's yet another demonstration as they continue to push for a new contract that includes better pay, better working conditions and more support to be able to teach all students equally efficiently.
Union leaders say Thursday's planned picket comes after the two sides failed to reach any meaningful progress on critical issues when they bargained last month.
“We are seeking nothing more and nothing less than what students and educators have in every other district across the commonwealth," said BTU President Erik Berg.
For Victoria Lopez, who teachers history at Charlestown High School, the contract is necessary to change dynamics in the classroom.
“Right now I’m teaching a class that was supposed to be a sub-separate bridge class with kids who came out of special Ed but are not ready to be in Gen Ed because we don’t have enough staffing they also put Gen Ed kids to make it inclusion.
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Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper said she believed they were making progress on the contract, coming to tentative agreements on more than a dozen issues. However, the issues of pay and licensure remain points of contention.
"We want to get this done and so I think we just have a renewed commitment to be at the table and do our best thinking with our BTU leadership and with our BTU partnership because again we have incredible respect for them,” Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper said Thursday.