Photo: Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Sausville
BROOKLINE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Several dozen Brookline teachers lined up at Coolidge Corner Saturday morning, demanding a pay increase tied to inflation.
The Brookline Educators Union wrote in a statement to WBZ NewsRadio, "Members of the BEU have been working without a contract and have been unsuccessful in reaching an agreement with the Brookline School Committee. The BEU is fighting for language that ensures Brookline Public Schools are educating the whole child, are racially just schools, and are schools that offer fair pay and working conditions to all educators."
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville spoke to the president of the BEU, Jessica Wender-Shubow who said they have three demands, "Fair pay- time to do our job with proper staffing, and an anti-racist commitment to structural change- not just lip service."
The teachers said that the 1% raise that the district offered is not enough.
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Wender-Shubow said that they want professional status protections for teachers of color written into their contracts and more paid planning time during the school day. She did not comment on whether they plan to strike but said that if they did, it would be a reckoning for the town of Brookline.
"This is a very fortunate community, I grew up here- they can afford to look at inflation," Wender-Shubow said, "It's really important in Massachusetts to get out of the 19th and 20th century and start allowing strikes to be legal."
WBZ NewsRadio reached out to members of the Brookline School Committee, but have not received a response at the time of posting.
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@wbzSausville) reports.
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