Teacher Strike in Newton, MA, Is Over...And People Aren't Happy It Happened In The First Place

 Don't assume that every strike happening in America is being cheered as workers trying to gets their voices heard and fighting to be paid for their worth. 

Going by these headlines, some feel either inconvenienced or threatened:

Now that the teacher strike in Newton, Massachusetts, is over, students are back in school, but the cost of the strike is still being calculated, and not only is the city seeking damages, a family is too.

Lital Asher-Dotan has three children in Newton Public Schools, and while she is thrilled they are back in class, she said is not happy about the financial toll the two-week strike took on her and other families. 

“People had thousands of dollars paid to drive their kids around, paying for day care, for camps and for babysitting,” Asher-Dotan said.

After hearing a judge talk about the impact to students during a hearing about the strike on Friday, Asher-Dotan filed a motion this week arguing families should be able to seek damages just like the city. 

“The family damages are 10 times more if not 100 times more, so we definitely want to be heard,” Asher-Dotan said. 

Newton Public School teachers, students, and staff returned to their classrooms on Monday after an illegal — and unprecedented — strike by the teacher’s union came to an end.

The union reached a tentative agreement with the school district on Friday, and voted on Sunday to ratify a new contract.

The strike, which began on Jan. 19, was the longest in the state since 2022. Schools were closed for 11 days and teacher’s spent 15 days on the picket line. The Newton Teachers Association (NTA) said it sought living wages for all employees and decided to strike after talks with the Newton School Committee, which negotiated on behalf of the district, went on for more than a year.

In a Facebook post, the NTA said the new four-year union contract included a pay increase of at least 12% for all union members, increasing paid parental leave from 10 to 20 days and family sick days from 11 to 14 days, as well as upgrades to minimum wages.

The contract will also strengthen mental health support for students by increasing the number of social workers, school counselors, and psychologists in schools. 

Despite the gains made in the contract, the union faces a hefty fine of more than $600,000 for illegally striking.

Under Section 9A(a) of Massachusetts’ General Laws, it is illegal for public workers, including teachers, in Massachusetts to go on strike. Massachusetts is among 37 other states and Washington D.C. that prohibit teacher strikes. Penalties for breaking the law include fines, termination, license suspensions, and even jail time, according to EducationWeek.

The law, however, has not prevented teachers in the Bay State from going on the picket line. Since 2022, six teacher unions have gone on strike in Brookline, Malden, Haverhill, Woburn, Andover, and Newton. 

Some lawmakers in Massachusetts have proposed legislation that would allow legal strikes for certain public sector workers, such as teachers.

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Gov. Maura Healey, however, is critical of legalizing strikes for public sector employees and said keeping kids in classrooms should be the priority.

“Every day when I see kids out of school because of a strike, my heart just breaks because kids have been through enough in terms of learning loss and the like,” Healey told WBZ political analyst Jon Keller.

If everyone's wages (the teachers, the parents, etc.) allowed them to have disposable income after cost of living expenses, maybe teachers wouldn't have to go on strike and maybe parent could get daycare without freaking out.