Andover Teachers, School Committee Reach Agreement; Schools Reopen

ANDOVER, MA — The Andover School Committee and the Andover Education Association (AEA) have reached a tentative agreement following marathon negotiations. Schools will reopen Wednesday.

News of the deal comes after the teachers union voted to go on strike Thursday. Since then, schools have been closed, and the two sides negotiated for more than 60 hours across five days, according to the School Committee.

The agreement boosts teacher pay by 15.5% and instructional assistant pay by 34% over a four-year period. The School Committee and the AEA had been bargaining since January without a resolution.

The AEA applauded the agreement, saying that instructional assistants "now have a dignified wage" and that teachers are "receiving a fair cost-of-living raise."

The deal also includes increased time for lunch and recess, increases to elementary teacher planning time, and fully paid parental leave of 12 weeks.

“We are pleased that students can get back into the classroom tomorrow morning to continue learning,” Tracey Spruce, chair of the Andover School Committee, said in a statement. “With this deal, the administration gained important tools to continue strengthening the instructional practices that we know students need to belong, strive, and thrive.”

The AEA said in a statement: “Andover educators stood up for themselves and won a contract that not only values our work but truly values the public education provided to the students of Andover Public Schools...It was unacceptable to balance budgets by paying instructional assistants poverty wages and denying all educators access to basic benefits available to almost all other workers. We remain committed and united with the community to protect our public schools from unjust cuts."

The School Committee said that the agreement does come with strings attached. While the committee was "thrilled" that the strike ended, they stressed that "with the increased teacher salaries provided under this agreement, the School Committee must consider cuts to programs, services, and school department staff beginning in the next school year."