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Readers: Do you agree with the North Shore teacher strikes?
As three North Shore towns continued their separate teacher strikes on Monday, what changes would you like to see for public school educators?
Negotiations between educators and school committees in Marblehead, Beverly, and Gloucester remain unresolved as the teacher strikes continued on Monday.
The three North Shore teachers’ unions are pushing for increased wages for teachers and paraprofessionals, improved paid parental leave benefits, and other issues like school safety and class sizes.
As of 2020-21, all three districts paid lower salaries than their peers, according to an analysis by The Boston Globe.
As a result of the strikes, students have been out of school in Beverly and Gloucester since Nov. 8, and since Nov. 12 in Marblehead.
Since it is illegal for teachers to strike in Massachusetts, a judge ordered the Gloucester and Beverly teachers’ unions to pay $50,000 if the strike wasn’t called off. The fines go up by $10,000 each day the strike continues.
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The Beverly Teachers Union has filed a lawsuit with the Department of Labor Relations, alleging that the Beverly School Committee has been bargaining in bad faith. However, the school committees in all three districts have stated that meeting the strikers’ demands is financially impossible under current budget constraints.
The Beverly Teachers Association was in court on Monday and could face additional fines for refusing to return to the classroom.
Despite the challenges and pressure to dissolve the strikes, union officials said they believe the benefits of the movement outweigh the cons.
“We will continue to stand strong together,” a Marblehead Education Association representative said during a livestreamed news conference Sunday night. “We know there are consequences right now for our students. But the long-term consequences of us not standing up for our schools, for our town, and most importantly our students — those consequences are much greater.”
We want to know: Do you agree with the strike?
What changes would you like to see made for public school educators and paraprofessionals, if any?
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Tell us by filling out the form or e-mailing us at [email protected], and your response may appear in a future Boston.com article.
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