Reflections on Equity and the BTA Strike from a Parent and Former Teacher

Revised November 17

I recognize the passion that many of the Beverly teachers have, but I am wary of the emotional outpouring stemming from the strike, and I'm conflicted, based on what I’ve seen of the numbers.

I taught high school on the North Shore for eight years from 1999-2007. I was an engineer previous to this, a disgruntled corporate employee looking for a different life. I found that different life teaching physics, after a stint as a long-term substitute teaching algebra. I worked continuously round the clock, creating lesson plans and grading papers. Classroom management was terrifying at first, and I assuaged my terror by having very structured classes. I was relatively young, 28, and only a decade older than my seniors.

?But I loved it. I loved the rigor of teaching; I loved working hard, even if it was frustrating because some of the students did not. Eventually, I had accomplished all I could, and being the life-long learner that I was (and still am) took a job as an adjunct professor teaching English to not only try my hand at teaching something new but also have a job that complemented my writing life and new master’s degree. I spent 11 years teaching literature and writing at a community college until I could not tolerate the petty wage any longer and accepted a job as a technical editor at a top-notch engineering and science firm. Teaching would now solely be the tutoring I do for my twins who are now at the Beverly Middle School.

My point in discussing my background is to show that I’ve traversed boundary lines—between corporate and academic; between teacher and parent. As a teacher, I thought I was paid too little for the amount of work I did and the overall purpose of educating society’s next generation. As someone in the corporate world, I’m seeing that the grass isn’t always greener, especially with respect to wages and benefits. As a teacher, I was often focused on my own agenda; as a parent, I fully realize all that’s at stake.

The original offer that Mayor Cahill cited in his op ed letter in Patch was a 25% average increase in new money over 3 years. This translates to "proposed wage increases, an additional step for teachers, paid parental leave, expanded sick leave usage, expanded 403(b) employer match, tuition reimbursement, and an additional personal day."

To truly understand the situation, we need to look at where Beverly teachers are now and with respect to the surrounding districts. The Boston Globe puts the current bottom teacher wage (2023-2024) at $48,131, compared to the average for peer districts at $55,443. This is low, and Mayor Cahill acknowledges this in his op ed letter. But for the 2024-2025 year, and a new contract, the bottom teacher salary jumps to $54,006 from its value in 2023 and puts Beverly in line with other districts, at a 12% raise. Other salary levels follow suit.

I spoke with Rachael Abell, Chair of the Beverly School Committee on November 15 and she sent me the full list of educator salaries from 2024 to 2027. After running the numbers, a first-year teacher with a bachelor's degree translates to about a 3.7% increase, while a first-year teacher with a master's degree translates to 4% and a seasoned teacher of 10 years and a master's degree also translates to 4%, for each year of the contract. Indeed cites an average wage increase for the private sector as 3%-5% per year, and since approximately 80% of Beverly workers work in the private sector according to Data USA by Deloitte, this is in league with the rest of us. Also, as Mayor Cahill states in his letter, taxpayers have recently built a state-of-the-art middle school as well as paid for other schools' enhancements. This is a hard fact.

Regarding parental leave, you need to know the details before you can pass judgement on the city's offer. Here are the facts: there are two sets of parental leave law, one at the federal level, i.e., the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and one at the Massachusetts level, i.e., the Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) law. The FMLA is unpaid and the PFML is paid through an accrual system set up by your employer, similar to how social security works. The FMLA dictates up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period to care for a newborn, adopted or fostered child, a sick family member, or one's own health. Because this is a federal law, teachers automatically get FMLA, but they are not eligible for the PFML. Only private companies are eligible for the PFML in Massachusetts and the evidence is here, in this article by WGBH.

The article quotes a teacher from Canton claiming that she got "12 weeks of paid time off using sick time and an additional 20 paid days independent of sick time" as "an outstanding medical leave package." Working the numbers, 20 paid days is 4 weeks paid by the district and 12 weeks accrued. According to Abell, the offer on the table for Beverly is 3 weeks paid by the district, before teachers can use sick time accrual of up to 180 days, which is 36 weeks accrued. The problem is for new teachers, it takes time to accrue sick time (and also not use them for illness).

It's important to note that the fact that the PFML is not required by law for teachers is not a Beverly problem, it is a Massachusetts problem. If Massachusetts extended the law for teachers, districts would fall in line, and this wouldn't be such a problem.

There has been a lot of talk about paraprofessionals at the poverty level for the offered wages and this isn't true. If you look at the lowest para wage the city is offering, it is $26,500 (as of November 15). According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the poverty level for one person is $15,060 in Massachusetts, two people is $20,448, and three people is $25,820 (higher numbers of people living under this wage would be unreasonable, in my opinion).

Translating the para wages into hourly, the City of Beverly is offering a range of $25.32-$29.62 per hour for 2024-2025 (as of November 15) with more experienced paraprofessionals at the higher end. By the 2026-2027 year, paraprofessionals are expected to see their salaries increase to $27.23-$33.44 per hour. Their wage increases are 3.8% to 6.4% per year depending on their status. Indeed has an average para wage for Massachusetts as $22.63 per hour. Zip Recruiter cites $20.48 per hour for Massachusetts. So, Beverly is comparable. Please correct me if I am wrong, but paraprofessionals don’t create lesson plans, don’t manage classes, and are not required to have a college degree.

We're at the point where an Essex County Superior Court judge is fining the teachers $50,000 for the strike and an additional $10,000 per day. The Beverly Teachers Association wants Mayor Cahill and Abell fired. It's a mess of emotional distress manifested in the battle cries of the rallies and the dramatic videos posted by the BTA. It's all gotten way out of hand. Meanwhile, my kids spend their days playing video games, while my husband and I work from home. It feels like COVID all over again, and there doesn't appear to be any end in sight.

Speaking of kids, where are the students in all of this? After all, education should have students at its center, and money alone is not the sole reason for a topnotch learning environment. It is a balance of many factors, as I'm sure the teachers can tell you. Teachers are also arguing for more time for lunch for elementary school students and smaller class sizes, and I can tell you parents champion these ideas as well. How to get them requires a balancing act of satisfying the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's regulations for learning time, population increases, and the budget (smaller class sizes means more teachers, and that in itself is a balance between raises and new salaries). It's going to take a unified front to make this balance work.

I don't think demonizing the city officials is the answer. The moral of the story is that they seem to be in line with the rest of the districts in what they offer. Let's not make perfect the enemy of good.