BEVERLY — Nearly 200 people rallied in support of Beverly teachers Thursday outside Beverly High School. Inside the school, negotiations on a new contract remained apart.
School Committee President Rachael Abell said Friday that the Beverly Teachers Association proposed a compensation package that represents a $4.3 million increase over the most recent proposal by the committee.
In a post on the district’s website, Abell said the School Committee will take time to assess the financial impact of the proposal and will provide an update to the community “as soon as possible.” The next negotiating session is scheduled for Oct. 3.
The Beverly Teachers Association and the School Committee have been negotiating a new contract since February. Thursday marked the 11th time the two sides have met, the first since school began Sept. 4.
Teachers’ previous three-year contract expired Aug. 31, but they are continuing to work under terms of that prior deal.
The latest negotiation was preceded by a rally outside the high school, where teachers and supporters, including several children, wore red T-shirts saying “I love Beverly teachers” and holding signs such as “Safe Schools Now” and “Living Wage Now.”
Parent Matt Davidson, who has three children in the schools, told the crowd that teachers are leaving Beverly because of a lack of support and low pay.
“They are overworked, they are underpaid with case loads that are too large,” Davidson said. “It is not working. It is not working.”
Davidson also said students on individualized education plans are not getting all of the help they need due to a lack of resources.
“This is not fault of the teachers, but a clear lack of support for them,” he said.
Another parent, Travis Shultz, said he and his wife have three children in the Beverly public schools but decided to send another of their children to private school because the city is “continually investing less in our kids than the average of the state.”
“Part of why we moved to Beverly I thought was because of the excellence of the schools here,” Shultz said. “But then after seeing how little we were investing in our kids and our teachers I was embarrassed.”
Parent Kim Blyth said the fact that negotiations continue to drag on is “embarrassing.”
“These delays are not just bureaucratic hurdles. They are unfair and unjust,” Blyth said. “Our educators work tirelessly, often going above and beyond to ensure our children receive the quality education they deserve.”
According to the update posted by Abell, the union’s proposed compensation package equates to an 8% increase per year for the next three years. She said that represents an approximately $4.3 million increase beyond the district’s most recent offer.
The School Committee has proposed an immediate salary increase of between 4% and 12.1%, followed by 4% and 3.5% cost-of-living increases in the next two years. According to Abell, 61% of teachers would make more than $90,000 per year under that proposal.
“Our goal remains to provide our students a high-quality education that fits within our city’s fiscal means,” Abell said.
Beverly Teachers Association President Julia Brotherton said the two sides are “getting pretty close” on the raises for the first year of the contract. But, she added, “the problem is that 4% and 3.5% will never get us anywhere near parity with neighboring districts (like Salem and Danvers).”
“We need the School Committee to return to the mayor and find a way to give our paraprofessionals a living wage and a competitive salary for our teachers,” Brotherton said.
Mayor Mike Cahill has said that the $5.6 million budget increase for the schools this year is “very possibly the largest one-year increased city investment in our schools in Beverly history.”
Apart from salary, Brotherton the two sides are “getting close” on issues such as personal days and the creation of a health and safety committee.
“I feel like we’re making good progress,” she said.