BROOKLINE, Mass. —þThe public school district for the Massachusetts town of Brookline has announced schools will be closed on Monday ahead of an impending teachers strike.þþIn a message to families, Superintendent Linus Guillory said the Brookline School Committee and Brookline Educators Union could not reach an agreement following a fourth mediation session late Sunday afternoon.þþGiven that members of the Brookline Educators Union said they will strike Monday if a new contract is not signed Sunday night, and that an agreement was not reached, the Public Schools of Brookline is closing all schools on Monday.þþÿThere will simply not be the staffing capacity to operate all schools safely, nor can (the school district) provide the structured education required by the state for the day to legally count as a school day,ÿ reads Guillory's message.þþThe fourth mediation session, which was an emergency meeting between the two sides, comes after a period of negotiations that began Saturday evening and ended just before 4 a.m. Sunday did not produce a new deal.þþThe president of the Brookline Educators Union said that the School Committee ended negotiations early Sunday morning. In a statement, the Brookline School Committee said the mediator declared an impasse at 3:50 a.m. Sunday after about nine hours of negotiations.þþÿThere's a certain point, I think, and it's happening in the country, where public school teachers are saying, 'I put my life on the line for this community and you fought me every step of the way on that, and now I will not do this anymore,'ÿ Brookline Educators Union President Jessica Wender-Shubow said.þþOn Thursday, members of the Brookline Educators Union voted overwhelmingly in favor of starting a strike on Monday if they failed to reach an agreement with the Brookline School Committee this weekend.þþÿBrookline educators have been working for nearly three years without a contract that addresses fair and reasonable compensation as well as working conditions that meet the realities of a modern, comprehensive education,ÿ reads a statement from the Brookline Educators Union.þþThe Brookline School Committee said the latest round of negotiations, the third session with a state mediator, covered three main issues: wages, educator diversity and teacher prep and common planning time.þþAccording to the School Committee, it offered the Brookline Educators Union a 6% across-the-board increase in all wages, stipends and longevity pay from Sept. 1, 2020 through Aug. 31, 2023. That would be followed by an 8% increase from Sept. 1, 2023 through Aug. 30, 2026, and an additional 1% on Aug. 31, 2026.þþThe School Committee also stated it proposed a forum in which educators designated by the union could meet with the superintendent of Brookline Public Schools to address issues of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. The committee said it also proposed a joint labor-management committee to identify options and costs for providing additional common planning time for educators, as well as for more evenly distributing the existing five prep periods per week.þþThe Brookline School Committee said the Norfolk Superior Court issued a preliminary injunction against the Brookline Educators Union on Friday, which prohibited them from striking or threatening to strike.þþThe court stated that if the union were to strike, ÿserious and irreparable harm will occur to the town, the students and their caretakers, and the public welfare.ÿþþTeacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts since state law prohibits strikes by public employees — which is why teacher strikes are exceptionally rare in the commonwealth. When members of the Dedham Education Association went on strike in October 2019, it was the first teachers' strike in Massachusetts in more than a decade.þþA fifth mediation session between the Brookline Educators Union and Brookline School Committee is scheduled for Monday evening. Because that session may run late, Guillory said an official announcement on any additional school closures will happen no later than 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Source: wcvb.com
