Educators and parents spoke out on the need for a new contract for the Winthrop Teachers Association during the public speaking portion of Monday night’s school committee meeting.
The collective bargaining agreements covering teachers, nurses, secretaries, and paraprofessionals within the district expired last June. The school committee held an executive session meeting following its regular meeting Monday night to discuss the negotiations, but did not come back into regular session.
“Winthrop has higher rates of teacher turnover than almost any other district in the entire state,” said John Cross, the Union’s Vice-President and a WPS parent. “It is shocking and it is caused by really basic factors. Winthrop’s pay for veteran teachers is well below average. We are the only school district around that doesn’t offer basic, humane benefits like paid parental leave. When teachers are constantly leaving, our students pay the price.”
Winthrop educators and supporters rallying for a new contract before Monday night’s school committee meeting.
Union officials stated that negotiations between the school committee began in May but have proceeded at a slow pace. However, several of the people who spoke on Monday night said they were hopeful that with three new school committee members on board, the pace of negotiations would pick up.
Several of those who spoke said the major issues that need to be addressed in the new collective bargaining agreements are pay for teachers, pay for educational support staff, and improved parental leave policies.
“The School Committee and the Town Council need to feel urgency to settle these contracts now. Our schools, our students, and our staff cannot wait,” said Jason Osburn, an art teacher at the Gorman Fort-Banks and former ESP. “We have support staff who are paid poverty wages – $21,000 for a full-time job working with special education students. We have students who are not receiving the supports that they need because class-sizes and caseloads have grown. It can’t continue like this.”
Suzie Ackerman, a parent of students at Gorman Fort-Banks, said that the town’s educators have been told that they need to do more with less in order to make the district work.
“They have been told that if they don’t like it here, they can go work elsewhere. As a parent in this district, and a resident of this town, that is not what I want,” said Ackerman. “My kids, and all of Winthrop’s kids, need stable, fully-funded schools with educators who feel supported by our community and our leaders.”
In a letter to the editor, Carole Mietzsch noted that the teachers’ proposal for a new three-year contract includes increases across the salary
schedule, including:
A 14.86% increase to the first step of the schedule over the life of the contract
A 19.23% increase at the top step over the same period
Under this proposal, the starting salary for a first-year teacher would increase as follows:
Year 1: $55,816
Year 2: $58,450
Year 3: $61,085
This represents an increase in the starting salary from $53,182 to $61,085 over three years, stated Meitzsch, who said the figures were reviewed by town and school officials.
According to Mietzsch, the School Committee continues to negotiate in good faith and presented a counterproposal during negotiations. The counterproposal was rejected by the Massachusetts Teachers Union Representative and the teachers, she stated, with discussions ongoing.
“In 2025, Winthrop voters approved a $3.5 million Proposition 2½ override to support the schools beginning in Fiscal Year 2026,” she stated. “According to town and school officials, the override was intended to address rising operational costs, stabilize the school budget, and create a sustainability buffer. Of this amount, $1.5 million was designated for a stabilization fund. This fund is intended to support long-term needs such as curriculum expansion, new program offerings, potential reduction of user fees, facilities and field maintenance, and unanticipated expenses. Use of the stabilization fund requires Town Council approval and is not intended to fund ongoing contractual salary obligations.”