STA RELEASE

Members of the Stoughton Teachers Association will hold a rally starting at 5:45 on Tuesday, December 10, at Stoughton High School in an effort to bring attention to their unsettled contract. The Stoughton School Committee is set to meet at 7:00 the same night.

Andrea Pires, a fifth grade teacher and President of the Stoughton Teachers Association said, “99% of teachers who were recently surveyed report that they are devoted to their students and the Stoughton Public Schools. At the same time, the crisis in Stoughton’s schools has over 50% of those same teachers considering employment elsewhere. Part of this crisis is due to the fact that our School Committee continues to violate the law by not following our contract, and they recently returned $780,000 to the town while stating that they can’t afford teacher salaries.”

Nearly 200 Stoughton teachers participated in a STA survey regarding teacher attitudes toward the School Committee and Superintendent in October. The number of teachers seeking employment elsewhere was one of the findings of the survey.

The next bargaining session between the School Committee and the STA is Wednesday, December 11. “Teachers in Stoughton will rally on Tuesday to send the message to the School Committee that the dysfunction cannot continue. It is time to put their radical salary proposal to bed, and to settle this contract in a way that respects educators’ hard work,” said Pires.

Over 50% of Stoughton teachers who participated in a recent Stoughton Teachers’ Association online survey say that the unsettled teachers’ contract has caused them to consider seeking employment in another school district. “This was, without a doubt, the most disturbing revelation of our survey, said STA President Andrea Pires. “Staff turnover has been a major concern. Stability is what will allow us to build a cohesive team with a common vision and purpose to move the Stoughton Public Schools forward to be the best we can be for our students.”

Pires attributed the teachers’ attitudes to the protracted and contentious negotiations for a new contract. “The school committee and the superintendent are saying that our salary schedule should be restructured and reduced while at the same time they are voting to give back $780,000 in surplus money from the school department budget to the Town. It’s outrageous,” said Pires.

The STA survey was conducted over a ten day period at the end of October. It was designed to assess teachers’ attitudes about teaching in Stoughton; the school committee’s management of the schools; and the superintendent’s leadership of the schools. Almost 200 Stoughton teachers participated in the survey. The full survey results can be found at http://stoughton.massteacher.org/

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marguerite Rizzi, reached out of town in a training session, wrote, "I am sorry that the union is choosing to use the media when the real way to settle a contract is to get to the table and talk, which they have declined to do--in spite of repeated offers of multiple dates from the School Committee."

The Stoughton Teachers' Union last met with the School Committee Negotiation Team on October 3rd. In spite of being offered numerous dates in October and November, the Union chose December 11th as the next bargaining date. Yet they continue to come to the School Committee meetings presenting petitions pleading for the School Committee to give in to their demands. There can be no resolution until they come to the bargaining table. There is no doubt that the teachers feel that the unsettled contract has a negative effect on morale, but the Union bargaining team needs to take ownership of the delay and acknowledge their responsibility for the negative morale.

In a letter distributed to Stoughton residents, the STA claims that over 80% of the salary cells would be slashed. They fail to represent that no teacher will have their salary reduced. In fact, every effort has been made to insure that everyone will receive an increase, including teachers already at the top step of the old system. These “top Step” teachers would be guaranteed additional money under the new salary system. The current School Committee offer is what the School Committee is asking the STA to work from to help achieve the following reasonable goals: