SALEM, MA — Dozens of members of the Salem Teachers Union packed Monday night’s School Committee meeting — with several speaking during public comment — after an afternoon rally and the latest negotiating session just weeks before the expiration of its collective bargaining agreement.
Wage increases, workload management and expanded paid family leave were the common themes during the 20 minutes of public comment where many staffers wore T-shirts and held signs in solidarity.
The School Committee followed a negotiation session in which the School Committee made a three-year wage proposal that the union said in a statement Monday night “would see many teachers receive either a negligible pay increase or work more hours.”
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“While we all share a deep commitment to providing our students with an exceptional education the current demands on our educators are unsustainable and are negatively affected (teachers’) ability to deliver their best,” STU Treasurer O’Malley Barton said. “Teacher workload has reached a crisis point. Beyond the traditional classroom responsibilities, educators are burdened with an increasing number of non-instructional duties, such as excessive paperwork, standardized testing preparation and time-consuming data entry.
“This overwhelming workload is not only detrimental to teacher morale but also compromises the quality of instruction that our students receive.”
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Barton said some of the School Committee proposals during contract negotiations — which she said include increased course loads at the high school and weekly grading and progress reports — will only increase these challenges.
“When educators are overwhelmed by these additional duties they have less time to focus on what truly matters,” Barton said, “building relationships with students, differentiating instruction and providing individual support. This impacts student achievement and well-being.”
She said “adding to the problem” is that Salem educators are among the lowest-paid on the North Shore “but are asked to do more and work longer than many other local districts.” She said that leads to trouble attracting and maintaining high-quality educators.
The School Committee in a statement provided to Patch earlier on Monday cited “strong, positive progress towards a new contract agreement.”
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“The School Committee and STU have reached tentative agreement on around a dozen items already and have identified common interests around increased wages, access to additional paid parental leave, and more planning time that will better support our staff and students, among other points,” the statement said.
“We are looking forward to continuing the productive conversations in the weeks ahead as we work to finalize this contract.”
The next negotiation session is scheduled for Aug. 12.
(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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