Beverly Teachers Support As They Return To Classrooms With No Deal

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly Caregivers Supporting Teachers is seeking students, parents and community support as the teachers union seeks to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

Beverly teachers are one of several education unions on the North Shore that returned to the classrooms this fall without a new deal in place after the previous one expired in August. The solidarity rally is being held in the parking lot to highlight that teachers are working without a contract on Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. at Beverly High School with a negotiating session scheduled for inside the auditorium.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story indicated that the Beverly Teachers Association was organizing this rally before Patch was informed that it was Beverly Caregivers Supporting Teachers).

The caregivers group is asking those who attend to wear red and bring hand-written letters or drawings to show their support for a new deal.

The group said in a social media post that "this is a peaceful, inclusive event — hate and bullying do not belong here."

A coalition of North Shore teachers looking to shine a light on what they called a "crisis" in schools, which includes understaffing, low pay and"untenable" safety concerns, pleaded their case for more funding in pending collective-bargaining agreements at a public forum in Beverly late last month.

Hundreds turned out from across the North Shore as several teacher unions — including Beverly, Marblehead and Salem— entered the final days of their current contracts with gaps remaining when it came to compensation, family leave and classroom preparation time.

Salem teachers then reached an agreement on a new deal that is expected to increase wages for the majority of staff 19 percent over the next three years on the eve of the previous contract's expiration.

Marblehead and Beverly unions — which both started the new school year without a contract — were among those who voiced concerns about the lack of staffing — and the safety concerns that result — amid escalating special education needs of students in recent years.

"There is not enough staff in our schools to provide the required services to all students," said Laura Newton, an elementary speech-language pathologist in Beverly at the crisis forum. "If parents and the community knew how badly students legally required IEPs were being violated, they would be appalled.

"While there's a crisis in all of our special education departments, staffing cuts are impacting all students as they lose the ability to access elective classes like art and library. Our schools and profession are being dismantled brick by brick, and the elected officials of our communities cannot stand idly by."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)