Students will be out of the classroom in two Massachusetts school districts on Friday after teachers in a pair of North Shore communities voted to go on strike.
Teacher unions in Beverly and Gloucester voted overwhelmingly Thursday to authorize a strike amid ongoing contract negotiations with their respective school committees.
The Beverly School Committee is allowing athletics, theater and band rehearsals, and field trips to continue for as long as the dispute persists, while all school-related activities in Gloucester will be shut down, per district officials.
“None of us wants to do this, but at this point, we have no choice,” Beverly Teachers Association co-president Julia Brotherton said at a press conference Thursday evening. “Beverly schools are in crisis. Critical paraprofessional positions regularly go unfilled because the city pays only poverty wages.”
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The Beverly School Committee filed a petition with the state Department of Labor Relations earlier this week “to dissuade educators from a strike vote,” Chairwoman Rachael Abell wrote in a letter to the community.
“We want to make it clear that the School Committee does not condone the illegal actions of the BTA,” Abell wrote. “We will work with state officials to minimize the disruption to our students’ education and we urge all teachers and staff to return to school. We call on the BTA to end their illegal strike and join us in working with the mediator to negotiate in good faith.”
Gloucester High School students walked out of class Thursday “to demonstrate support for their educators,” the student newspaper, The Gillnetter, reported. Roughly 98% of educators voted to go on strike, the union stated.
Gloucester School Committee Chairwoman Kathleen Clancy also slammed teachers in her district for deciding to skip class for the picket line, saying the committee has asked the state Department of Labor Relations to halt the strike.
“Teachers are essential employees who our children depend on for learning and safety during the school day,” Clancy wrote. “An illegal labor action will cause direct harm to students by forcing many to stay home without a parent or guardian able to care for them, removing access to mental health service options, and limiting students’ abilities to secure warm meals.”
Keller: Here’s why 11 Massachusetts communities flipped for Trump
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Keller: Here’s why 11 Massachusetts communities flipped for Trump
01:19
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The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller’s, not those of WBZ-TV, CBS News or Paramount Global.
BOSTON – Massachusetts has long been known as a Democratic state, but the 2024 election showed a Republican shift.
Presidential election
Vice President Kamala Harris won the state’s 11 electoral votes Tuesday, but former president Donald Trump improved his vote total from 2020. Trump won in 75 cities and towns in Massachusetts. Eleven of those communities voted for Democrat Joe Biden four years ago.
So what’s behind the shift?
Saugus, one of those towns that flipped for Trump, is a great example of a longstanding reality here in Massachusetts. We may be a reliably Democratic state in federal elections, but independents are the dominant voters, and plenty of them, as well as a significant number of Democrats, are to the right of our liberal elected officials.
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“In this two-year cycle we will have gained two state senate seats. We did that in a presidential election year which is often very difficult for the Republican Party,” MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale told WBZ-TV.
Donald Trump supporters dance during a Massachusetts for Trump 2024 election night watch party in Westport on Nov. 5, 2024.
Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Massachusetts Trump voters
It’s no accident that voters in Massachusetts have elected Republican governors in seven of the last ten elections. Voters of all kinds have been feeling the pinch of inflation lately. And this year, controversial subjects like the influx of migrants into Saugus public schools, surely drove some local voters to vote for Trump, who made immigration his signature issue.
One thing’s for sure – voters here and elsewhere are fed up with extraneous so-called “wokeness,” policies that may be well-intentioned but often strike people as gratuitous political correctness. Real or imagined and exaggerated, that sort of thing is catnip to politicians like Trump who brand themselves as the antidote to wokeness.
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Jon Keller
Jon Keller is Political Analyst for WBZ-TV News, and his “Keller @ Large” reports on a wide range of topics are regularly featured during WBZ-TV News at 5 and 6 p.m. Keller’s commentaries are also seen weekday mornings at 5:30 a.m. on WBZ This Morning.
Here’s a look at how the federal holiday might impact your plans, from altered store hours and train schedules to heavier traffic and shifts in local services on Monday.
Holiday observed: Monday.
Retail stores: Open at owners’ discretion after 1 p.m., unless retailer obtains permit to open earlier.
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Liquor stores: Closed until 1 p.m. Monday.
Supermarkets: Open at owner’s discretion.
Convenience stores: Open at owners’ discretion.
Taverns, bars: Open at owners’ discretion.
Banks: Closed.
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Municipal buildings: Closed.
Libraries: Closed.
Schools: Closed.
Mail: Post offices closed. UPS and FedEx will operate as usual.
MBTA: All modes of public transit will operate on a regular schedule.
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Boston traffic rules: Parking meters are free with no time limit. All other parking rules apply.
Trash/recycling collection: Collections will be delayed in some neighborhoods.
Kiera McDonald can be reached at kiera.mcdonald@globe.com.
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