BREAKING: Worcester Teachers Union to Protest in Boston

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Monday, May 07, 2012

Walter Bird Jr., GoLocalWorcester Reporter

Claremont Academy teachers will head to Boston to protest Worcester School Superintendent Dr. Melinda Boone's recent move, which forces teachers to reapply for their jobs before returning next year. It touched off a firestorm of controversy and led to protests outside both the school administration building and city hall. Now these teachers want to make sure top state educators are aware of their frustrations.

The furor is being carried into Boston, where the Education Association of Worcester (EAW) plans to protest Boone’s decision at the end of the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s (MTA) annual Meeting of Delegates this weekend. The two-day meeting is being held Friday and Saturday at the Hynes Convention Center. The protest is set for Saturday.

The union also intends to protest again before the School Committee’s next meeting Thursday, May 17 at City Hall. A protest was also held at the last committee meeting.

“This is a Wisconsin-style attack,” EAW President Leonard Zalauskas said in reference to the budget battles in that state that spurred protests among thousands of educators and union members. “You don’t go into a place tell everyone they need to reapply for their jobs or they’re going to be displaced.”

Zalauskas said the union and teachers have received “a lot of support” in opposition to a move that could see many of the teachers at Claremont Academy moved to other schools in the city. 

“People don’t think it’s right, what she’s doing,” he said of Boone.

Zalauskas and other union members are specifically concerned with the requirement that all teachers attend professional development workshops during the summer. According to Zalauskas, it is the first time in Worcester that such a mandate has been implemented for a Level 3 school. Teachers, he said, are being told they must attend the workshops, at less than hourly wage. 

In addition, Zalauskas has accused Boone of handpicking a new principal at Claremont. Ricci Hall, the current principal at University Park Campus School, is taking over as principal at Claremont in the fall. 

“We’re also picketing about the children at the school who are being hurt by this,” said Zalauskas. 

Teachers simply want to be included in decisions that directly affect both them and their students, he said. 

“The superintendent has stated publicly her philosophy is to include teachers, parents and the public,” said Zalauskas. “That didn’t happen with Claremont. I’m hoping Dr. Boone will stop making impulsive decisions and include the professionals who work with their students in decisions of this magnitude.”
 

Related Articles

• BREAKING: Claremont Teachers Protest: “Let Us Keep Our Jobs”
• Claremont Academy Teachers Protest School Overhaul
• Claremont: Parents Showdown with Boone
• EXCLUSIVE: Secretary of Education Meets With Boone Over Claremont Decision
• NEW: Battle Lines Drawn in Claremont Academy Dispute

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