Students in Newton, Massachusetts, were finally able to return to class on Monday after a historically long teachers union strike that kept the schoolhouse doors shuttered for more than two weeks.

The strike ended on Friday night after 15 days of protest and 11 missed school days, allowing students to come back to class Monday morning. The Newton Teachers Association reached a contract agreement with the school district Friday and voted to ratify it late Sunday evening.

Ninety-seven percent of the union voted to affirm a four-year contract that accounts for 13% cost-of-living increases, pay increases for classroom aides and behavioral therapists, and 60 days of parental leave, among other things. The school district will hold a public vote to approve the contract on Wednesday.

Union negotiator Ryan Normandin said the deal was a victory, saying closing schools to reach the new contract terms sent a powerful message to the students who could not go to class.

“We taught our students not to be afraid that when those in power try to take away your rights, that they should stand up for themselves, that they should not do it alone, but together,” he said at a press conference. “We taught every other district in this state what will happen if they try to balance their budgets on the backs of our students and educators.”

Newton parent Trevor Mack, a father of an eight-year-old girl, struck a different tone, telling the Boston Globe that the contentiousness was “long overdue” and “avoidable,” adding, “I don’t think there’s a single party that won in this strike.”

Both the district and the union “lost my trust very early on in their very negative tone and rhetoric,” Mack continued.

The Newton controversy unfolded against the backdrop of a wealthy district with favorable student-to-teacher ratios, as well as higher-than-average teacher salaries and spending per pupil.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, teacher salaries increased considerably in Newton from 2018’s $82,045 to $96,810 in 2022. By contrast, the average teacher salary in Massachusetts was $80,204 in 2018 and $89,889 in 2022. Similarly, Newton’s per-pupil spending is higher than the state average, clocking in at about $24,521, where the state average is $20,133, as of Jan. 18.

The district and the union incurred significant costs over the course of the strike, which started with a walkout on Jan. 19. In total, 2,000 teachers from roughly two dozen schools were affected, but roughly 12,000 students took the brunt of the strike in the affluent suburb of around 87,000 locals.

Since striking is illegal for public sector union members in Massachusetts, a judge continuously increased the fines on the teachers union, reaching $600,000 and threatening to double fines to $100,000 per day if a deal was not reached by Sunday evening.

The school district, on the other hand, is now expected to spend an added $53 million over the course of the new contract.

The strike, which was the longest of its kind in 30 years, was roiled in controversy, and some in Massachusetts see it as a flashpoint that could invite more during contract negotiations in other school districts.

Around 15 to 20 districts in the state are concerned about upcoming negotiations, Massachusetts Association of School Committees Executive Director Glenn Koocher told the Boston Globe.

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“A lot of districts that have contracts coming up are thinking about what this means if the unions are becoming more militant, if they’re not afraid of a judge, if they’re not afraid of being held in contempt, and if they think it can get them more,” Koocher explained.

Teacher strikes have increased in the Bay State since 2022, with unions showing a willingness to weather fines for long periods of time.