In addition to salaries and pay raises, recess and lunch times and a controversial reading curriculum are sticking points in the ongoing negotiations between Andover Public Schools and the Andover Education Association.
The union, which is scheduled to offer its counter to the latest offer from the district in a closed-door session Thursday, said it also wants APS to drop the Lucy Calkins literacy program and extend the time periods for lunch and recess to comply with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
APS teachers and instructional assistants have been working without a contract since the start of the school year. The school committee offered a 9.65 percent increase over a three-year contract and removal of a step increase at last week’s bargaining session, School Committee Chair Tracey Spruce said in a note to families Thursday. The offer also included a 9.5 percent stipend increase.
The school committee’s offer was in response to AEA’s most recent proposal for a $2,500 bonus and 16 percent raises for teachers over three years, down from its previous proposal of 16 percent in raises and two $2,500 bonuses.
“Our schools and district are in a crisis,” AEA President Matt Bach said at a news conference outside AHS Friday morning. “The concerns of this district’s talented and dedicated educators continue to fall on deaf ears. The impact of years of being disrespected and ignored cannot be understated. Every worker has a breaking point, and many of our members are there.”
Andover News asked APS for comment and will update this story if they reply.
Educators: Curriculum Isn’t Evidence-Based
Calkins developed the curriculum, which uses a workshop approach for reading instruction, and gained notoriety in literacy education. But in recent years a growing number of educators have criticized the program in recent years, saying it does not align with evidence-based research on how children learn to read.
Last month, Columbia University dissolved its Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, which Calkins founded. Calkins, who resigned as director, remains a tenured professor at Columbia and is on sabbatical for the 2023-24 academic year.
The Recess Dispuet
In Andover, lunch and recess are negotiated as part of the teachers’ contract to match the periods to teachers’ planning time.
Lunch periods are 27 minutes at Andover High School and 30 minutes long at middle schools. At elementary schools, the breakdown varies but totals 50 minutes: K-4 students at Bancroft Elementary, for example, have 25 minutes for lunch and 25 minutes for recess. Meanwhile, at South Elementary, students have 35 minutes for lunch and 15 minutes for recess.
“We are asking that an additional 10 minutes be added to help students get through the lunch lines, eat, and have ample time for recess- as determined by the CDC,” Bach said Monday. “Ironically, the school district is erroneously reporting to DESE that they already give sixty minutes to the students.’
CDC recommends 20 or more minutes of recess every day for all K-12 students. Gym classes can count towards meeting the guidelines. For lunch, the CDC recommends ensuring students can be seated to eat lunch for at least 20 minutes by taking into account times to get to the cafeteria and to wait in line for food
Massachusetts does not require recess and allows local districts to set recess and lunch times. Efforts to require a minimum of 20 minutes for recess and lunch have stalled on Beacon Hill in recent years.
Work to Rule Continues
Teachers will continue “work to rule” demonstrations outside Andover’s public schools until they get a new contract, the AEA said. The demonstrations were held outside all schools on Friday. Going forward, teachers will demonstrate on a rotating scheduled, the union said in a Facebook post.
“None of us want to do work-to-rule,” middle school teacher Julian DiGloria said in an AEA news release. “Just like they have repeatedly ignored concerns from parents, the Andover School Committee is not listening to the concerns of educators, leaving us no choice. We are doing this for our own families and our students’ families. If we don’t take this moment to reclaim our schools, we will continue to see the best in our profession leave while our students are harmed by the decisions made by this community’s elected representatives.”
File photo: Dave Copeland/Andover News