BOSTON — Teachers across Boston Public Schools picketed outside Charlestown High School on Thursday morning to advocate for themselves as the union continues negotiations for a new contract.
Teachers across all 116 Boston Public Schools demonstrated that they need more staffing, and better pay for their paraprofessionals.
Para professionals like Shaquille Worrell make about $30,000/year in Boston public schools. Forcing them to take other jobs to suppliment their income after a full school day.
“I work multiple jobs. I do delivery DoorDash, Uber Eats, Lyft, anything I can to try to supplement,” Worrell said.
The Boston Teachers Union is standing with its lowest paid members, asking that they be paid a living wage.
They are also asking for more teachers to help accommodate those students with special needs, and others learning English--both of which teachers currently teach along with the general student body.
As it stands, BPS is believed to be the only Massachusetts district where one teacher is expected to simultaneously meet the needs of three distinct groups: students with disabilities who need specialized learning, students with English as a second language, and the general population learning the standard curriculum.
Educators are demanding that Boston Public Schools stop cutting corners around students with disabilities and multilingual learners.
“Boston students deserve what all other students in this state have: access to a model of staffing that can meet their needs, especially for students with disabilities,” said Erik Berg, president of the Boston Teachers Union. “We’ve been bargaining for nearly a year, and BPS management continues to reject several reasonable proposals that would improve student learning and staff retention.”
The teachers union says that its because of this work load that its hard to retain teachers.
They go back to the negotiating table Thursday night.
The issue will continue to be though, how can the city afford the staffing.
Worrell hopes she and others like her will be heard.
“This is what we love to do. We love to help kids. We love to give back and we deserve to be able to live while we’re doing that,” Worrell said.
“We shouldn’t have to work three or four jobs just to make it by,” Worrell said. “I feel like this should be a career for us and it’s something that we can do and hold our heads high and know that we’re doing something.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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