New Teacher Contracts Increase Pay By 6.65% Over Three Years

FRAMINGHAM, MA- The new contract for Framingham district educators was approved at Wednesday night's School Committee meeting. The $10 million contract increases teacher pay by 6.65 percent over three years but also increases the workload.

The three year contract was negotiated through interest based bargaining between the Framingham Teachers Association and the Unit A Subcommittee comprised of Framingham Public School staff and School Committee members. Negotiations had been going on between May and August and resulted in over 50 hours of talks.

Superintendent Tremblay said at Wednesday's meeting, he's been a big advocate for interest based bargaining and was happy to see it in action through the contract negotiations. "I believe that it allows for, many times, for issues to be worked through and resolved that aren't even related to the contract in some cases," Tremblay said.

Teachers aren't the only ones who fall under the contracts umbrella, Unit A includes guidance counselors, social workers and adjustment counselors, coaches of athletics, school librarians, and others.

"This achievement launches a new era for our students and community as we work to address challenges and create opportunities for all who touch the Framingham Public Schools. I expect the implementation of these collaborative changes will set the tone over the next few years and continuously improve our already strong school district," School Committee Chairman Adam Freudberg said in a statement.

With a 6.65 percent increase over three years, 3.5 percent of that is scheduled to start in the 2019-2020 year of the contract. An increase in pay also allows Framingham to compete with districts like Boston and Cambridge in hiring and in retention.

In a question and answer informational released by the district it mentions the new salary schedule allowing Framingham to compete to hire teachers that reflect the diverse student body. Mayor Yvonne Spicer highlighted that point during Tuesday night's meeting. "When children can see a reflection of themselves in the classroom it only enhances the experience of learning," Mayor Spicer said.

The contracts paves the way for a longer day for both teachers and students. District wide teachers will now be working seven-hour days. Elementary school teachers will teach an extra 46 hours per year under the new contract.

Students in the elementary schools currently get six hours of instructional time, middle schoolers get six hours and 25 minutes and high schoolers get six hours and 30 minutes. The new contract extends elementary student instructional time by 15 minutes in the 2019-20 school year and calls for at least 90 minutes of literacy and 60 minutes of math each day.

The contract also forms a new committee to study the workload of special educators, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers and others to “ensure equity of workload and consequent optimum services for children.” A second committee will search for incentives for harder to fill positions like special educators, science and math teachers and bilingual teachers.

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