Woburn Teachers Agree to Write College Recommendation Letters

Woburn High School teachers have agreed to write college recommendation letters for graduating seniors after great outcry from parents and students.

Teachers have been awaiting a new contract and have even turned down a 10.5-percent pay increase, according to the Boston Herald. Amidst contract negotiations, the Woburn Teachers Association has been operating under a work-to-rule policy - a tactic in which workers do the minimum required under their contract.

According to parents, teachers agreed to start writing recommendation letters Wednesday as frustrations mounted because of rapidly approaching college application deadlines. Woburn High School Principal Joseph Finigan was able to negotiate a compromise with the teachers association.

“We should keep the kids out of the equation,” Woburn Alderman Ray Drapeau told the Herald. “It’s not in their best interest to be in the middle of a labor negotiation.”

The teachers enacted the work-to-rule policy back in May. Negotiations for a new contract have seen little progress. Many are not expecting to a new deal anytime soon.

“I find it very hard to believe that teachers, who care about students’ success, would use the class of 2016 as pawns in their contract negotiations with the city,” Mayor Scott Galvin said of the situation in September.

Parents and students are fed up with the ordeal. They are not against the the teachers in anyway, but fear for quality of education moving forward.

“It should be evident that the gates to higher education and success are far more important than a budget,” Woburn students wrote in a letter posted on Twitter. “By not settling, it is hurting the students and hurting how Woburn looks academically.”