Beverly Teachers Strike: City Council Votes Down Funding Resolution

BEVERLY, MA — The Beverly City Council on Monday night voted against interjecting itself in any tangible way into the ongoing negotiations between the School Committee and Beverly Teachers Association on the day BTA officials accused Mayor Michael Cahill and the School Committee of "walking away" from the bargaining table.

More than 100 people — mostly wearing red in support of the teachers amid a strike that threatened to cost a 12th day of school on Tuesday — packed the meeting that included impassioned comments from Councilors, who expressed support for teachers and paraprofessionals, deep concern about the financial future of the city and wariness about overstepping their role in the negotiations.

• Beverly Teachers Strike: 'They Walked Away From The Kids'

"The reality is that the current spending that the mayor has proposed and the City Council has become accustomed to supporting is unsustainable," City Councilor Brendan Sweeney said. "No matter how this vote concludes, we are looking at a dire fiscal situation after the next fiscal year."

Sweeney went on to say he would oppose the resolution "because it undermines the work of our city's bargaining team."

City Councilor Hannah Bowen introduced the resolution that would have committed the Council to "acting with the utmost urgency on any additional funding request resulting from a settled contract" and to "working with residents and other city and state leaders to ensure sustainable funding for our public schools, including living wages for our educators and healthy learning environments for our students, and for our other critical services."

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City Council President Julie Flowers, Councilor Kathleen Feldman and Bowen voted to support the resolution. Councilors Matthew St. Hilaire, Scott Houseman, Steve Crowley and Sweeney voted against it.

"Whether a resolution is passed or not is not going to change what happens in that negotiating room," Bowen allowed. "We cannot and should not directly have that impact."

But Bowen said presenting the resolution during the Special City Council meeting provided the opportunity to have the public discussion — and show support for teachers, students and hopes for healing following the eventual end of the impasse amid what Flowers called "the heaviness and uncertainty of what lies ahead."

• Beverly Teachers Strike: 'Deeply Disappointed' Schools Stay Closed An 11th Day Monday

That impasse showed no signs of breaking on Monday with BTA co-President Andrea Sherman saying of Cahill and the School Committee: "They walked away from us. They walked away from the city. They walked away from the kids."

School Committee Chair Rachael Abell cited a court order of state-mandated "fact-finding" if the sides could not reach a deal, or make what she called significant progress, by Sunday night. The BTA has repeatedly refused to take part in the "fact-finding" process, arguing it will only delay the return to schools.

Abell said the union's proposal remains $3.3 million above what she said "the city can afford."

"We need the strike to end," Abell said on Monday. "Our students never should have been out of school in the first place and they certainly should not be out of school today. As a result of the BTA's continued and relentless demands, the School Committee informed the union that we will cease mediation while educators remain on strike and comply with the fact-finding process mandated by the courts.

"We hope that the BTA will reverse their decision to flout the law and will end its strike so that we can reopen our schools with a fair deal."

Abell added: "The Committee will resume talks with (BTA leaders) as soon as its members return to work."

(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.)