Hundreds of people rallied at Newton City Hall in support of the city's teachers as talks between the teachers union and the school committee were set to resume on Saturday.
It has been more than a week since the teachers union went on strike, but they say it has been about 16 months since trying to get a new contract from the school committee.
Parents, students, and teachers from about 40 different teachers' associations from across Massachusetts attended the rally on Saturday.
The Newton Teachers Association says it's available to bargain at any moment and as long as needed this weekend.
While the school committee says it has been revising its offers and negotiating in good faith, yet they haven't been able to come to an agreement.
The union says little progress has been made on the bigger sticking points, including living wages for aides and behavioral therapists, greater mental health resources for students and better parental leave policies.
While the school committee wants that agreeing to the union's demands would require layoffs of 60 employees this year and another 60 within the following 5 years.
They also say both sides are about 36 million apart on their proposals.
The union has accrued $375,000 in court imposed fees for the strike that has lasted 6 school days.
"Overwhelmingly people agree that mayor fuller and the school committee needs to do more to fund the schools." says Ryan Normandin, negotiator for the NTA. "Mayor Fuller has been defunding the schools for years and it's time for a reckoning".
If no deal is reached by 8pm on Sunday, the union will incur another $50,000 in fines as classes would be cancelled again on Monday.
