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Name one resource/support that state officials need to provide so that learning is more effective for our students during the pandemic.
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Are you safe at school?
Use our new tracking tool to document and/or report on cases of COVID-19 at your school or college.
FIND YOUR SCHOOL OR COLLEGE
Urge the Baker administration to work with unions on vaccine rollout
The governor's updated distribution plan will postpone vaccination of educators by several weeks.
Take ActionBreaking News
"Governor Charlie Baker and Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley should go back to the drawing board."
MTA President Merrie Najimy
Najimy: Reopening plan shows ‘callous disregard’ for schools, communities
The following statement was released by MTA President Merrie Najimy in response to the Baker-Riley school reopening announcement on Feb. 23.
The state’s plan to fully reopen most schools in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic shows callous disregard for the health and safety of school employees, students and families and rides roughshod over the rights and interests of local communities.
Governor Charlie Baker and Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley should go back to the drawing board. This time they must actually talk to the educators, educators’ unions, parents, school committee members and other community leaders most impacted by their surprise and unwelcome announcement, which seems timed largely to distract public attention from the administration’s failed vaccine rollout.
Educators, through their unions, have been working tirelessly for a year to win the CDC-recommended mitigation strategies needed so that everyone can return safely to Massachusetts classrooms and buildings. That is where we all want to be.
In fact, many districts already have some level of in-person learning because the unions have been able to make progress in creating safe schools to benefit all. But the process has to be done right – not by once again putting the thumbscrews to districts to reopen regardless of what their communities want or need during this dangerous time.
COVID-19 & Schools
Can Children Get COVID?
COVID-19 Variants
Deep Dive: About Pooled Testing
CDC
For MTA Members
Legal Help
Get answers to frequently asked questions related to COVID-19 from the MTA's Legal Division.
Health and Safety Resources
A Guide for Bargaining the Safe Return to Schools and Campuses
Policies and practices for a safe return to our schools and campuses.
Read MoreBuilding Safety Checklist
A list of preparations to incorporate with your local association's building safety plan.
Read MoreBargaining and Online Resources for MTA Members
Resources and tools for bargaining health and safety conditions.
Read MoreInformation Request/Demand to Bargain
Request form based on MGL ch. 150E.
Read MoreAre you safe at work? New tool helps educators track, report COVID-19 cases
A new tracking tool is now available to help educators document cases of COVID-19 at work.
The tracker, available at stopthespread.massteacher.org, allows educators to:
- Search for known and suspected cases of COVID-19 at their public school, college or workplace
- Report on safety conditions at their school, college or worksite
- Share the experience of working in public education during the coronavirus pandemic
The tracker, developed by the MTA and AFT Massachusetts, is designed to give local associations, members and their families useful information as well as hold our elected officials accountable.
Educators rally for safe learning conditions
Several hundred educators gathered outside the State House today chanting and cheering for a safe return to learning. “Stand up! Fight Back!” was one of the rallying cries as members of the MTA, AFT Massachusetts and the Boston Teachers Union — along with supporters from other unions and community allies — demanded that the governor require all school districts to open remotely until health and safety measures are met.
“Our members are longing to get back to in-person teaching and learning, and students are longing to see their educators and friends in person,” said MTA President Merrie Najimy. “But our greatest obligation as educators is to protect the health and safety of our students as we educate them."
ONly when it's safe
Higher education rallies target layoffs, cuts
Students, staff and faculty members who are fighting back against budget cuts at public colleges and universities rallied on campuses across the state, drawing attention to the devastating loss of personnel and programs.
“When they talk about cutting staff, like student life counselors and librarians, and call them nonessential, I need to speak up,” public higher education graduate Melody Rondeau told the crowd during a rally at Bristol Community College in Fall River.
Rondeau said she dropped out of high school and after six years decided that she needed to resume her education. She enrolled at Massasoit Community College, where she received the kind of support necessary to help a nontraditional student such as herself succeed.