BOSTON (WHDH) – Boston teachers, educators, and paraprofessionals joined a nationwide protest Monday as they held a city wide walk-in as they push for a better contract with the Boston Public Schools.
Staff gathered at more than a dozen schools before classes started for the day in an effort to educate the community about their union contract on the exact day that federal funding of COVID-19 relief programs ended.
“Now more than ever our students need support,” said Boston Teachers Union President Erik Berg. “We’re asking that that support be codified in a fair contract that meets the needs of our students and our educators.”
Speaking with reporters, Berg said city teachers are overwhelmed.
In talks with school district counterparts, teachers are asking for more assistance in the classroom.
“We think that students with disabilities and our multilingual learners need and deserve the support of an additional teacher in order to thrive in our general education classrooms,” Berg said.
Adrianne Jordan marched alongside her colleagues Monday morning. She also demanded change.
“ I have to go out and get two or three jobs just to live here to make a decent living and it’s not fair because the work that I do is not just a job to get up and go,” she said. “It’s to support these kids and their families.”
Jordan has been teaching for over 30 years. She said the current state of the Boston Public Schools is driving teachers out.
“ I’ll wait, I’m Wonder Woman. I’ll wait, I have all the time,” she said. “But do our students have all the time?”
The next round of contract negotiations in Boston is scheduled for Oct. 3.
7NEWS reached out to Boston city officials for comment on negotiations and did not hear back as of around 12 p.m.
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