North Shore educators on strike rally at State House

A couple hundred educators rallied at the State House on Tuesday, calling for legislators to take action to help resolve the ongoing teachers’ strike in three North Shore school districts.

The strikes in Gloucester and Beverly began on Nov. 8, while the one in Marblehead started four days later. Roughly 10,000 students combined have missed more than a week of school.

Teachers have been marching in their respective districts for higher wages for paraprofessionals, paid parental leave and other items like smaller class sizes. But they came to the State House to call for the governor and legislators to intervene on their behalf.

Clad in a sea of red shirts, the union members chanted, "What's outrageous? Poverty wages!” as passing vehicles blared the occasional honk-of-support. Educators took the mic on the steps of the State House to describe their frustration with the bargaining process, citing delayed responses from city officials to their demands.

In a statement provided Tuesday in response to the rally, Gov. Maura Healey said she has “a deep appreciation” for educators but her priority is getting students back to class.

“It is unacceptable that school has been closed for more than a week in Marblehead, Gloucester and Beverly,” she said. “I'm urging both parties to reach an agreement as soon as possible for the good of our kids, families, educators and staff.”

City officials have referenced budgetary factors as a barrier in reaching agreement. On Sunday, the chair of the Marblehead School Committee said the district is offering paraprofessionals a salary increase of, at minimum, 48%.

"We would like to make our teachers the highest paid on the North Shore," she said in a letter to families, but the union's proposed 34% teacher salary increase is "not affordable or sustainable.”

Officials in Gloucester also pointed to financial limitations. School Committee Chair Kathy Clancy said the city’s offers to union leaders “have now stretched city finances to the point where jobs, programs and services in other city departments are now at risk.”

“Our children deserve to be back in school, learning, with access to the essential services they need and rely upon because every day matters,” she said in a Tuesday press release.

But teachers on Tuesday expressed their dissatisfaction. Abigail Ashe, a first grade teacher in Gloucester, wants better paid parental leave. Ashe, who is seven months pregnant, said the district’s proposed 10 days of maternity leave is not enough for families to bond with their newborns or for her body to heal.

In Gloucester, district administrators have withheld pay for striking teachers. Biology teacher Eric Leigh said he came out to the State House to object to that move.

“Thanksgiving is going to look pretty bleak if we make it to Friday and there's no paycheck the next week,“ he said.

Public employee strikes are illegal in Massachusetts. The Beverly and Gloucester teacher unions have been fined $50,000 for each day of the strike, a number that could rise by an additional $10,000 each day.

In a Tuesday press release, Rachael Abell, chair of the Beverly School Committee, said district leaders have made adjustments to the proposed pay structure for paraprofessionals at the union's request but that leaders have "increased their compensation demands over the last week."

"We are already facing difficult decisions ahead about delaying graduation for seniors or using time off in February, April, or on weekends to reach the state-mandated 180 days of learning for our other students," Abell's statement said.

It's unclear when school will be back in session for students. Marblehead's interim superintendent said schools will be closed again Wednesday. Gloucester Superintendent Ben Lummis told families in a notification on Tuesday that he was not sure if schools would reopen Wednesday.

The last teachers' strike in Massachusetts occurred last January in Newton. The strike lasted 11 days before the district and union came to a deal. It was one of six teacher strikes that have taken place in the state since 2022.

With reporting from WBUR's Sydney Ko.