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From YouTube: Boston Teacher's Union Contract Announcement
Description
"This is a contract that is fair to teachers, but most importantly, it is good for our kids," said Boston Public Schools Superintendent Chang at the announcement of a new agreement with the Boston Teacher's Union. Just in time for the 2017 school year, Mayor Walsh, Superintendent Chang, and the BTU's new president, Jessica Tang, announced this collaborative new contract at Boston University's George Sherman Building.
A
A
A
A
And
I'd
say
that
makes
us
the
best
school
system
period.
We
have
the
best
teachers,
we
have
an
incredible
staff.
We
have
incredible
principals.
We
have
an
incredible
superintendent.
We
really
just
have
a
good
feeling
in
our
city
as
far
as
making
education
number
one
priority
and-
and
it
starts
it
starts
either
at
the
top
or
it
starts
at
the
bottom.
A
When
I
say
at
the
bottom,
I
don't
mean
the
bottom,
but
when
you
walk
into
a
school,
whether
you're
talking
to
a
janitor
whether
you're
talking
to
a
lunch,
monitor
whether
you're
talking
to
a
teacher
whether
you're,
talking
to
a
para,
whether
you're
talking
to
a
principal
assistant
principal
whoever
it
is,
you
can
feel
some
energy
in
that
school.
When
you
talk
to
a
parent,
you
can
feel
some
energy
in
that
school.
A
A
A
Now,
I'm,
just
gonna
do
a
few
of
the
little
little
things
I
have
here,
but
I
know
that
there's
still
a
little
bit
of
a
way
to
go.
There
is
obviously
your
lawyers
have
to
finish.
Looking
at
the
document,
then
we
have
to
get
a
vote
by
the
membership
and
then,
when
you
get
the
vote
by
the
membership,
we
have
to
get
a
vote
by
the
City.
Council
I
mean
the
School
Committee,
so
there's
a
little
bit
to
go
in
this
contract,
but
just
some
of
the
some
of
the
highlights
that
I
have
here.
A
It
includes
a
two-year
contract
and
includes
fair
wages
for
last
year,
so
it's
retro,
so
the
new
teacher,
sorry,
the
old
teachers,
it's
retro
I
know
they'll,
be
happy.
Perfect
timing,
I'm
sure
pay
those
summer
bills.
It
also
makes
progress
on
a
number
of
issues,
and
this
contract
is
one
of
those
contracts.
A
That
I
think
it's
important
for
people
to
understand
that
there's
a
lot
of
issues
that
that
over
the
last
year
and
a
half
we'll
be
negotiating,
and
what
we
did
here
with
this
contract
is
get
to
an
agreement
where
we
can
move
forward
and
then
stop
the
clock
over
again
and
we'll
be
able
to
sit
down
with
the
new
bargaining
team
with
the
president
in
the
new
bargaining
team.
Some
of
the
folks
on
our
side
have
changed
since
this
negotiation
started.
A
A
Overall,
it's
good
for
our
students,
good
for
our
teachers
and
good,
fried
district,
and
it
continues
to
allow
us
to
continue
to
be
the
best
urban
district
in
the
country
and
that's
something
that's
important.
It
also
says
something
on
how
we're
gonna
succeed
as
a
city
when
you
respect
when
you
respect
the
people
that
you
work
with,
you
can
always
move
forward
together
and
that's
something
that's
important.
A
It's
true
in
labor
negotiations
and
that's
something
that
it's
especially
true
in
education
when
the
passion
for
this
work
runs
deep
with
mutual
respect,
progress
is
always
possible
and
and
I
had
you
know
the
past
president
I
had
many
good
conversations
with
the
past
president
of
this
Union.
As
you
know,
my
late,
my
backgrounds
in
labor
and
we
weren't
able
to
quite
get
to
an
agreement,
and
one
of
the
first
things
that
Jessica
said
to
president
Tang
said:
is
that
I
really
want
to
get
this
contract
behind
it?
A
So,
what's
happened
in
Boston
for
the
new
teachers
over
the
last
year
and
a
half
we've
worked
together
to
get
the
longest
school
day,
not
to
get
a
longer
school
day
in
the
city
of
Boston.
One
of
the
criticisms
for
us
that
we
had
the
shorter
school
day
in
the
country.
We
no
longer
have
the
shorter
school
day
in
the
country
that
was
a
mutual
respect
between
the
teachers
in
the
district
to
be
able
to
come
up
with
an
agreement
to
be
able
to
do
that.
A
We're
able
to
double
down
on
capital
investments
through
our
bill
BPS
plan
in
an
unprecedented
commitment
to
our
capital
learning
environment
in
the
city,
we're
working
to
invest
a
billion
dollars
into
our
schools.
That's
gonna
build
new
schools
around
the
city
of
Boston.
That's
just
a
start.
We're
gonna
be
working
together.
We
are
speaking
in
one
voice
at
the
Statehouse
I
think
that's
very
important
to
understand
that
we
were
at
the
Statehouse
last
week
the
the
Union
in
the
school
department
talking
about
how
do
we
advance
our
district
forward?
A
So
those
are
some
of
the
changes
that
we're
seeing
we're
gonna
see
that
we
have
to
do
they're
still
going
to
be
issues
before
us
and
there's
still
plenty
of
work
we
have
to
do,
but
today
is
a
step
forward
in
the
strength
of
this
relationship
and
the
strength
of
our
resolve.
I
want
to
thank
everyone.
Who's
been
working
hard
on
this
I
want,
especially
when
hear
from
three
people.
I
just
want
to
do
a
quick
thank
you
to
all
of
them.
I
want
to
thank
Mike
O'neill,
the
school
committee
chair,
who's,
been
a
chairman.
A
I
think
this
might
be
a
sturdy
negotiation.
He's
been
able
to
do.
I
want
to
thank
Michael
and
the
School
Committee
for
the
continued
support
in
our
district
I
want
to
thank,
as
I
said
earlier,
president
Jessica
tang,
her
great
work
or
leadership
here.
I
also
want
to
give
a
shout
out
to
the
board
the
btu
board.
Eric
I
want
to
thank
you,
Eric
for
your
work,
I
wanna.
Thank
all
the
board.
Members
feel
great
work
as
well,
and
in
last
night
at
I
think
it
was
three
o'clock
in
the
morning.
A
My
phone
lit
up
and
I
looked
over
because
was
a
text
and
I
said
who's
this
from
and
was
from
Tommy
Chang,
and
to
be
honest
to
you
when
I
see
that
text
at
3:00
in
the
morning
I
was
concerned,
why
was
Tommy
Chang
text
me
at
3:00
in
the
morning?
I
thought
something
something
was
wrong
and
he
said
to
me:
we
got
it
done
tonight,
so
Thank
You
superintendent,
Tommy
Chang,
for
that
text.
B
So
thank
you
for
taking
your
time
this
week
to
do
that
on
behalf
of
my
colleagues
in
the
Boston
School
Committee,
including
our
Vice
Chair
Hardin
Coleman,
who
was
with
us
today
as
well.
I'm
encouraged
by
this
tentative
agreement
with
the
Boston
Teachers
Union.
As
the
mayor
said,
there's
going
to
be
some
time.
The
lawyers
are
finalizing
the
agreement
and
then
it's
going
to
be
going
to
various
parties,
including
the
btu
membership,
but
I
believe
this
is
the
most
prudent
agreement.
B
It
focus
on
areas
of
common
agreement
while
providing
reasonable
financial
support
in
exchange
for
reasonable
increased
flexibility
for
the
district
in
several
key
areas.
We
fully
understand
the
concerns
expressed
by
Boston
teachers
union
members
over
the
lack
of
a
contract
in
place
in
the
past
year
and
with
the
new
school
year
again
approaching,
combined
with
the
new
leadership
of
the
btu.
It
made
perfect
sense
to
put
this
as
agreement
in
place
on
the
areas
we
could
agree
on,
while
still
committing
to
take
a
fresh
approach.
B
As
the
mayor
said
to
conversation
around
issues
that
will
take
more
time,
I
applaud
the
work
of
dr.
Chang
and
his
team,
as
well
as
the
work
of
president
tang,
the
BTO
negotiating
team.
I
also
thank
Boston
school
committee
member
Michael
Oconto,
who
was
our
representative
through
most
of
the
process
and
I
uppity
thank
the
mayor
and
his
team
for
their
consistent
input,
advice
and
support.
All
teams
hung
in
the
over
the
past
months
and
months
of
discussions,
and
especially
into
the
wee
hours
of
this
morning.
B
B
And,
like
you
all
I,
my
blood
boils
when
I
hear
people
question
the
quality
of
Boston
Public
Schools,
most,
who
say
that
haven't
been
in
a
public
school
in
30-plus
years,
and
they
do
not
know
the
great
work
going
on
in
all
of
our
schools
across
this
city.
One
way
or
another
and
like
all
of
you,
I'm
extremely
disheartening
as
denigrate
public
education.
B
Well,
today
shows
that
Collective
Bargaining
works
when
we
are
all
committed
to
a
greater
good,
as
we
are
here
in
Boston
and
this,
as
the
mayor
said,
this
was
about
a
respect
on
both
sides
sitting
together
in
an
era
in
our
era
of
respect
and
doing
what
was
right
and
we
will
collectively
continue
to
show
the
nation
that
Boston
doesn't
sit
back.
Boston
leads
and
Boston
excels.
B
The
Boston,
School
Committee
looks
forward
to
taking
action
on
this
and
I
in
our
September
meetings,
as
the
BTU
membership
body
will
be
considering
and
taking
action
at
the
same
time
as
well.
Thank
you
for
your
time
and
for
the
work
you
do
day
in
and
day
out
to
provide
outstanding
educational
opportunities
in
every
classroom
every
day
for
all
of
our
youth
and
let's
have
a
great
opening
week
of
school
very
soon,
right.
B
When
I
was
that,
when
I
was
in
Boston,
Public
Schools
I
wasn't
so
excited
by
the
opening
schools,
I
got
to
admit
that
they
have
to
leave
at
a
Saeta
state
of
the
Yetta.
Me
continues
to
this
day,
but
I
am
really
pumped
about.
What's
going
on
the
Boston
Public
Schools.
Now
the
mayor
said
so
many
great
things
we're
doing
together
with
the
city
in
with
the
btu
we're
going
to
continue
to
make
the
Boston
Public
Schools
the
best
urban
district
in
the
country.
We
do
that
together.
C
We
are
10,000
members
strong
and
we
include
not
just
teachers
but
also
paraprofessionals
nurses,
librarians
social
workers
and
related
service
providers.
In
the
agreement
we
are
announcing
today
prioritizes
and
improves
upon
key
support
and
resources
for
our
students
and
will
also
help
to
attract
and
retain
our
highly
qualified
teachers.
C
So
those
resources
and
practices
will
promote
conflict
resolution.
/
punishment
will
improve
the
learning
environment
and
will
help
stood
our
students
make
better
choices
that
protect
their
future
and
that
get
us
to
the
root
of
issues
that
impact
their
education.
The
agreement
also
gives
applied.
Behavior
analyst
specialists
are
a
BAS
the
opportunity
to
join
the
btu
family.
C
Aba
Sarki
supports
for
our
autistic
students
and
students
with
special
needs,
and
so
we
are
thrilled
that
we
are
able
to
reach
a
tentative
agreement
for
them
as
well.
Another
highlight
of
this
agreement
is
that
acknowledges
how
many
of
our
professional
educators
are
also
parents.
This
is
reflected
in
the
improved
family
leave
policies
for
early
career
teachers
and
paraprofessionals
than
accommodating
nursing
mothers
and
schools.
Among
other
measures.
What's
significant,
also
about
this
short-term
contract
is
that
the
futures
of
this
contract
can
be
implemented
immediately
for
this
school
year.
C
Our
first
priority
is
our
students
and
their
families,
and
we'll
continue
to
work
with
our
city
partners
to
focus
on
ensuring
a
great
and
smooth
start
to
the
new
school
year.
It's
fantastic
to
be
working
with
an
administration
and
city
leadership
that
really
shares
our
vision
as
educators
of
creating
excellent
educational
opportunities
for
all
of
our
students.
So
thank
you
again
to
everyone
who
helped
to
make
this
possible.
C
Thank
you
to
our
members
for
the
work
you
do
every
single
day,
including
today,
at
our
summer
learning
institute
and,
of
course,
to
the
students
and
families
in
Boston
who
partner
with
us.
Every
day
as
well,
we
really
look
forward
to
working
with
you
all
in
the
brand-new
school
year
and
we
know
that
there's
work
to
do,
but
we
are
ready
to
do
it
in
collaboration
with
everyone
here.
So
thank
you
again.
So
much.
D
Thank
You
president
tang
mayor
Walsh,
thank
you
for
being
here
today
and
always
being
supportive
of
the
work
that
we
are
doing.
Boston
Public,
Schools,
Thank,
You,
chairman
O'neill,
for
being
here
and
vice
chairman
Harding
Holman
I
also
want
to
do
a
special
thank
you
to
the
negotiation
team
of
Boston
Public
Schools
I
wanted
to
highlight
a
few
people:
Erika
Jayne
Pietro
I'm,
like
calabash.
C
D
Missing
somebody
I'm
missing
well
and
Dave
Murphy.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
efforts
to
make
sure
that
this
deal
got
done.
This
agreement
represent
a
renewed
focus
on
collaboration
between
the
Boston
teachers
union
and
Boston
Public
Schools.
It
is
agreement
about
our
shared
values
of
making
sure
our
schools
are
safe,
welcoming
and
sustaining
to
all
youth
in
Boston.
This
agreement
sets
the
collaboration
sets
I
would
say,
sets
the
collaboration
tone
needed
to
address
some
complex
issues
that
we
have
to
deal
with,
but
I
am
highly
optimistic
that
we
can
get.
D
Most
importantly
is
good
for
kids
hire
nursing
levels,
we're
gonna,
foster
restorative
justice,
and
we
are
going
to
make
sure
that
every
single
student
feels
safe,
feels
welcomed
and
feel
sustained
I
want
to
take
us
just
a
special
moment
to
just
to
all
the
teachers
who,
over
the
last
few
weeks
in
the
last
few
months,
have
done
your
part,
however
small,
however
big,
to
make
sure
that
our
families,
our
students,
our
communities,
are
safe
and
they
filled
a
firm
is
sustained.
This
is
I
want
to.
D
And
then
I
want
to
thank
also
all
the
teachers
here
for
your
own
commitment
to
your
own
professional
learning.
A
few
years
ago,
when
I
first
started
in
bps,
I
was
really
surprised
to
find
that
we
don't
work
together
to
grow
our
own
professional
learning
and
this
week
is
evidence
that
the
adult
in
this
system
care
about
their
growth
as
much
as
they
care
about
the
growth
of
young
people.
So
I
want
to
thank
all
of
you
for
being
here
this
week
and
thank
I
want
ya.
D
C
Would
be
remiss
of
me
for
not
to
acknowledge?
Also
the
members
of
our
team
I
mean
I,
really
can't
tell
you
how
many
hours
our
team
has
put
into
getting
this
done
over
the
last
18
months,
and
so
I
apologize
I
should
point
them
out
to
Eric
Berg,
our
vice
presidents,
Betsy
Dryden,
our
secretary
treasurer,
is
also
here
and
Karen
crew.
Our
field
rep,
one
of
our
field,
reps
Michael,
McLaughlin,
Paul
tritter,
and
our
rank-and-file
teachers,
who
show
up
to
hours
hours
of
negotiations
as
well.
C
Melanie
Allen
is
here
from
our
team
from
the
Hernandez
and
there's
a
number
of
other
staff
to
of
Jonathan
Rodriguez,
one
of
our
organizers,
Shaniqua
Farrow,
Suraj,
Cassandra
Hamels.
Also
on
our
negotiating
team,
Colleen
hearts,
Michael
McLaughlin
I,
think
I
mentioned.
Is
there
anyone
else,
I'm
missing
Brenda
Cheney
on
our
executive
board?
There's
several
executive
board
members
here
as
well
and
I
needed
to
take
the
moment
to
point
them
out
because
we
had
the
bTW.
C
You
are
a
team
and
everything
we
do
is
a
team
effort
and
of
course
our
members
are
part
of
our
team
as
well,
and
so,
if
I
could
name,
every
single
one
of
you,
I
would
as
well,
but
I
did
want
to
give
a
special
thanks
to
our
negotiating
team
staff
and
officers
Garrard,
also
its
executive
board
member
who's
here.
So
thank
you
all
very
much
and
I'm.
So
sorry,
if
I
missed
anybody,
but
thank
you
I.
B
A
What
just
again
thank
everyone!
Thank
you
to
all
the
teachers.
Thank
you
to
all
the
principal
that
are
here
or
all
the
powers
that
are
here.
If
there's
any
parents
here,
thank
you
and
we're
gonna
say
it's
quite
we're.
Gonna
do
questions
over
on
this
side.
Thank
you.
Everyone
enjoy
Thank
You,
councillor,
sabi
George
would
being
one
of
us
I
want
to
thank
Rob
can
solve
all
the
chief
of
staff
at
the
school
department
and
I
want
to
thank
my
new
chief
of
staff,
Dave
Sweeney
as
well
for
all
his
great
work.