Oh, those ‘militant’ teachers unions are at it again!
Look closely at the numbers and you can see the disparities
Re “A more militant force for teachers” (Page A1, Feb. 18): The Massachusetts Teachers Association is fulfilling its responsibility to maintain living incomes for people serving in public schools in Massachusetts and push for more equity in teacher pay across wealthy and lower-income communities.
Look at the data: In Newton, which, according to census figures, has the highest 2021 average household income in the Commonwealth at $228,213, 30 percent of elementary and secondary-age students go to private schools, according to state Education Department data. Political reality suggests that many of the voting parents with incomes supporting tens of thousands of dollars per year for private schools create pressure on city leaders to hold down taxes and thus public school costs. Newton’s average teacher pay of $93,000 is 8 percent to 18 percent below other wealthy school districts.
The average Massachusetts household income is $123,174, with 12 percent of the state’s students attending private or parochial schools; for Boston, those figures are $120,939 and 15 percent; for Haverhill, $92,934 and 12 percent. These disparities in city or town income and private school attendance create dynamics unique to each community, where all students, regardless of household income, deserve quality education supported by teaching professionals and support staff paid well enough to live middle class lives.
We claim to deeply care about children, but ignoring the struggles their teachers face suggests that we care so long as it doesn’t cramp our personal lifestyle.
LOUISE VENDEN
Cambridge
The writer previously served on the Select Board and Finance Committee in Provincetown.
MTA a powerful voice for safer schools, and the pandemic was exhibit A
Last Sunday’s front-page article demonstrated the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s powerful voice for teachers, students, and quality education throughout the Commonwealth.
We were reminded that “during the pandemic, the MTA launched a statewide campaign to convince teachers not to enter buildings that lacked adequate ventilation. Few districts ended up opening classrooms full time that fall.”
COVID-19 is still with us; it is government support and protections that have ended. Children and teachers are contracting COVID in schools, bringing it home to their families, and many people are suffering from acute and long COVID. Several community and statewide efforts are underway regarding safer schools through science-based clean air standards: legislation mandating classroom CO2 monitoring; HEPA air purifiers in classrooms; improved school ventilation systems; and sufficient quarantine time for sick teachers, staff, and students. These measures are important for protection from COVID, RSV, measles, and other pathogens that are more prevalent now given COVID’s accumulating damage to our immune systems.
In 2020, the MTA took a strong stand on COVID mitigation through appropriate ventilation. We now know more about effective measures. In 2024, the union’s powerful voice to protect and support teachers, students, and others should once again include systemic protection from serious pathogens.
NAOMI BROMBERG BAR-YAM
Newton
The writer is a volunteer with the World Health Network.
Teachers don’t go on strike unless they’re pressed to the wall
As a reader and, yes, as a teacher and rank and file member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, I’m disappointed in the sensationalism I saw in the article ”A more militant force for teachers.” The only attempt to answer a basic tenet of journalism — the why — was the last line of the story, a quote from Lee Adler, a lecturer at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University: “It’s a statement about how tough it is to be a teacher that they’re willing to get smacked around by [court injunctions] in order to stand up for themselves.”
Historically labor unions don’t become “adversarial,” as the Globe’s subhead put it, unless there is a pressing reason. Focus on the “why” and maybe education can become better for all of our students. The MTA cares first and foremost for the students.
KATHLEEN MCGOURTHY
Melrose
Retiree, grandmother, and now, proudly, ‘militant’
Thanks for adding another dimension to my retiree-grandmother identity: “militant.” I’ll own that with pride as a voting member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association who believes that paraprofessionals should get a living wage, teachers deserve compensation for hours that include so many more tasks than when I taught, and educators deserve respectful family leave benefits.
My eyes always pop at the Globe’s characterization of workers who benefit from union organizing. You can call this grandma a militant any day!
MARTHA MATLAW