EXCLUSIVE: Worcester Union Head Calls off Teacher Protest

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Walter Bird Jr., GoLocalWorcester Reporter

The president of Worcester’s local teachers’ union said a meeting on Wednesday with the School Superintendent Dr. Melinda Boone led to “progress” being made. It also led him to cancel a planned protest at Thursday night's School Committee meeting at City Hall.

“We’re going to bargain (Thursday) and call off the picket,” Education Association of Worcester (EAW) President Len Zalauskas told GoLocalWorcester. “We’re going to try a cooling off period over at least for the next couple days.”

Zalauskas said he was going to meet with teachers at Claremont Academy today to say the protest, which was scheduled for 6 p.m., will not be held.

Teachers must reapply

Teachers there have been outraged over a vote by School Committee members that authorized Boone to impact bargain with teachers and require them all to reapply for their jobs. She informed them in a letter earlier this month. There would be no guarantee that they would return to Claremont in the fall, although no one would be fire. Some teachers would be transferred elsewhere in the district.

The decision yielded a protest outside Boone’s office and led her to hold a meeting on Monday at the school with parents and some teachers. Only six parents showed up.

As GoLocalWorcester first reported, a contingent of education leaders met on Wednesday in Boone’s office at the Durkin Administration Building. Among them were state Secretary of Education Paul Reville and Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) President Paul Toner.

'Good will' offered

While there were no dramatic results – Boone, for example, did not offer to rescind the original letter she had delivered to teachers in which they were told they must reapply – there was enough said to convince Zalauskas to extend an olive branch.

“It was a token of good will,” he said of offering to cancel the planned protest. “I felt as though we made progress. She didn’t say she’d rescind her letter, but she did say let’s try to work this out.”

Boone could not immediately be reached for comment.

“It was a productive conversation,” Zalauskas said. “I want to see if it will lead to something. She basically is willing to have a conversation. I think it’s a good start.”

Not a distraction

Earlier Wednesday, Zalauskas told GoLocalWorcester he was hoping to resolve the issue at the meeting. That was also the hope of School Committee member Dianna Biancheria, who did not attend the meeting. She said the protest scheduled for Thursday night was common knowledge, but denied the issue had become a distraction for the School Committee.

“(The picket) says they find this as important as the community and I do,” Biancheria said. “I support the fact that voices need to be heard. Policies, procedures and laws need to be followed. Respect and dignity should be shown to parents, student and staff.”

When it was pointed out that only 6 parents turned out to listen to Boone on Monday, Biancheria said, “I don’t know what the procedures were or what avenues were taken to express that that meeting was taking place.”