The state's highest court sides with teachers union, mandating the district hire substitute paraprofessionals

The Supreme Judicial Court sided with the Boston Teachers Union on Tuesday in a contract dispute over hiring substitute classroom aides that began five years ago.

The Boston School Committee must now hire 18 substitute paraprofessionals for the district, which the committee agreed to as part of a union contract that covered the school years between 2018 and 2021.

The union filed a grievance in 2019 alleging that the district failed to hire the paraprofessionals, and an arbitrator sided with the union in 2020, requiring that the committee hold up their end of the bargain.

Nineteen months later the union appealed to the Superior Court to confirm the arbitrator's decision. But the School Committee moved to dismiss the case, saying the union had not properly alleged a dispute in its complaint. A Superior Court judge agreed with the committee and dismissed the case.

The Supreme Judicial Court overturned that decision on Wednesday, writing that the statute governing arbitrated labor disputes says the court "shall" affirm an arbitrator's ruling unless the ruling violates specific enumerated exemptions. The school committee's claim that he union didn't state a dispute does not meet any of those conditions.

Boston Teachers Union president Erik Berg said the ruling is critical to support educators and students.

" It's important because our paraprofessionals are critical to meeting the needs, particularly of students with disabilities," said Berg. "When they're absent and required services are missing for students, it really hinders their ability to learn and thrive."

Berg said every kindergarten class in Boston Public Schools has a paraprofessional, and some students with individual education plans may need one-on-one para-professional support.

Jessica Tang, president of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Federation of Teachers which represents the Boston Teachers Union, echoed Berg's sentiment and said that the ruling's impact reaches beyond the classroom.

"What it's saying is that if an arbitrator gives a decision or an award, that it has to be enforced and that that has actually a wide ranging impact across the public sector unions," said Tang.

Both union leaders said they will follow through to make sure the district hires the 18 paraprofessionals.

The Boston Teachers Union contract with the district that covered the 2021 through 2024 school years expires on Sept. 1. The union has been at the bargaining table with the district over the new contract since February.

The ruling is separate from current contract negotiations, but Berg said that one of the union's "most important" demands is that the district increases pay for paraprofessionals.

"We have some paraprofessionals who make as little as $30,000, and it's very difficult to retain staff in a school system when the rate of pay is so low," said Berg. "So we're seeking to boost that so we can attract and retain top quality paraprofessionals for our students."