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After a months-long contract campaign by the North Reading Federation of Paraprofessionals (NRFP) that featured rallies on the Town Common, paraprofessionals speaking up at School Committee meetings, and parents and students voicing their support for the union’s priorities, the union reached a new 3-year agreement with the school committee in late November.

“The strength and unity of our members showed management that we deserve to be respected and compensated for the hard work that we do every day,” said Nancy Scioli, a Paraprofessional at the Little School and President of the North Reading Federation of Paraprofessionals.

In recent years, Massachusetts libraries have been increasingly affected by a coordinated, nationwide effort to bar or restrict access to books and programming that extremist groups find objectionable. According to the American Library Association, Massachusetts saw 45 documented attempts to censor books and other library resources in 2022 — the fourth highest number of any state. 90% of reported book challenges were demands to censor multiple titles - and of those demands to censor library books, 40% sought to remove or restrict more than 100 books all at once.

“The members of the Massachusetts Library Staff Association fully support the concept of intellectual freedom: the right of library users to read, seek information, and speak freely as guaranteed by the First Amendment,” said Patricia Kelly, Head of Reference at the Lynnfield Public Library and President of the Massachusetts Library Staff Association. “We are so proud and grateful that our union siblings in the NSLC, AFT Massachusetts, and MA AFL-CIO have joined us in support of libraries, library programs, and access to information for all.”

More than a hundred students, parents, educators, community activists, union leaders, researchers, and concerned citizens – many wearing blue Thrive Act t-shirts in solidarity – descended on the State House on Oct. 4 in a passionate display of support for the Thrive Act, a landmark education bill that was given a hearing that day before the Joint Committee on Education..

“Passing the Thrive Act is the equivalent of proclaiming to the nation from the dome of this beautiful State House: The painful, destructive era of test-blame-shame-and-punish is over,” said AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos in her written testimony. “There is a better way to do things, and Massachusetts will once again show the way.”

“With the passage of the Fair Share Amendment, Massachusetts has an opportunity to build a public higher education system that lives up to our values and prepares Massachusetts students to be active, engaged participants in their communities, the workforce, and our society,” said AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “Students today are struggling with the cost of college and a lack of adequate support services, while adjunct educators struggle with low pay and limited benefits. Our public college campuses have insufficient funding to address crumbling buildings, rising student needs, and staffing shortages. We’re pleased to support the Higher Ed for All campaign to reverse the budget cuts that have occurred over the past several decades, and begin rebuilding a truly public state college and university system.”

On Monday, September 18, AFT Massachusetts Secretary-Treasurer Brant Duncan, Grant O’Rielly, President of the UMass Faculty Federation at UMass Dartmouth, and Nick Gula, President of the AFTMA Maintainers at UMass Dartmouth, all testified before a hearing of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Higher Education in support of two bills that would transform our public higher education system for the better. The hearing was attended by dozens of energetic educators, students, and community members, and watched by supporters across the state, including at a UMass Dartmouth watch party.

The Thrive Act, a major education bill and legislative priority of AFT Massachusetts, has been scheduled for hearing by the Joint Committee on Education on October 4, 2023, starting at 2 p.m. in Gardner Auditorium at the State House.

“The upcoming hearing will be a critical opportunity for educators, students, parents, and community members to impress upon legislators the harm caused by state takeovers and the high-stakes use of MCAS standardized tests, and to show there’s a better way forward—the Thrive Act,” says AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “We will be reaching out to local presidents to mobilize members and community allies for this event.”

“It continues to be all hands on deck,” says Kontos. “This is a special opportunity to put our imprint on education for years to come—to move from a deficit model of test and punish to an asset-based model of resources and support. And to a model that supports the whole child—all facets of learning and growth. We must seize the moment and work strenuously in partnership with our allies to make this bill a reality.”

“Paras work hard to support the needs of North Reading students in the classroom every day, and we are members of this community. Some of us are your neighbors, some are your fellow parents, and some are graduates of North Reading schools. But for too long, our basic needs have been short-changed,” said Nancy Scioli, a Paraprofessional at the Little School and President of the North Reading Federation of Paraprofessionals. “As paraprofessionals, we should not have to work 2 or 3 jobs to pay our bills and feed our families, as two thirds of us do currently. We choose to work as Paraprofessionals because we love working with children, but we shouldn’t have to sacrifice so much to follow our desired career path. It’s time to stop under-valuing, under-paying and under-respecting the Paraprofessionals in the North Reading Public Schools!”

The AFT Massachusetts Executive Board voted to endorse a proposed ballot initiative that would end the use of the MCAS standardized test as a graduation requirement, replacing it with locally-developed, coursework-based measures for certifying academic mastery of state standards.

“Every hour students spend preparing for standardized tests is an hour they can’t spend engaged in meaningful learning. The state’s high-stakes MCAS-based graduation requirement hurts the quality of education for all students, and serves as a life-altering barrier for otherwise strong students who simply struggle with test-taking,” said AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “A graduation requirement based on coursework will be fairer, uphold Massachusetts’ strong academic standards, and better prepare students for the complex challenges of college or the workforce.”

A new state budget has taken effect, and for the third year in a row, it includes an enormous increase in state funding for public schools thanks to the landmark Student Opportunity Act, which became law in 2019 after years of advocacy by AFT Massachusetts and our allies.

“Our activism is paying off, with the Student Opportunity Act driving historic increases to state public school funding,” said AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “That means more funding for our highest-need schools to hire teachers and support staff, close opportunity gaps, and offer the wraparound services our students need to recover from the stresses of the pandemic. And it means schools across Massachusetts can think big to make the investments our students need, rather than figuring out how to make do with less every year.”

“The final conference budget is a big win for students and educators in Massachusetts. Permanent funding for universal free school meals will ensure that no child goes hungry at school, or feels the shame of not having enough money to afford lunch,” said, AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “New revenue from the Fair Share Amendment will fund programs to rebuild and renovate our schools while prioritizing environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, so that students and educators can focus on learning and teaching, rather than dealing with windows that don’t open, crumbling cement and bricks, and a lack of reliable temperature control.”

“The budget would also fully implement another year of the Student Opportunity Act, resulting in more funding for our highest-need schools to hire teachers and support staff, close achievement gaps, and offer the wraparound services our students need to recover from the stresses of the pandemic,” she continued. “And at our public colleges and universities, the budget will deliver significant needed progress on affordability for students and building improvements. I want to thank the members of the conference committee for prioritizing Massachusetts students in this budget, and acknowledge the months of advocacy by AFT Massachusetts members who reached out to their legislators and stayed involved during this budget process.”

"Film and television workers create works of art that inspire our students to reach their full potential, reflect our diverse experiences on the screen, and help us relax at the end of a long day. But when multibillion-dollar entertainment corporations reap immense profits but refuse to adequately compensate the labor that produces those profits, they create an industry that exploits workers,” said AFT Massachusetts President Beth Kontos. “It’s wrong that Hollywood CEOs are making millions while workers struggle to pay their rent or provide for their families. AFT Massachusetts stands with film workers in Massachusetts and across the country in their fight to see their labor valued.”

“The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, as well as the Teamsters’ UPS contract campaign, are part of a larger movement across this country. Working people in Massachusetts and throughout the country are experiencing the rising cost of living while their wages remain stagnant. At the same time, those at the very top just get richer and richer,” said Kontos. “The labor movement is pushing back against the income inequality that is holding our country back, and fighting for solutions that ensure large, profitable corporations pay their fair share – to their employees, and for the public good.”