With the current teachers union contract set to expire at the end of the month, union representatives are calling on members of the Worcester School Committee to take a more direct role in negotiations with the district.
The issue emerged during public comment at the school committee’s Aug. 13 meeting, the final regular meeting before the start of the new school year. Representatives of the Educational Association of Worcester said neither school committee members nor Superintendent Brian Allen have participated directly in negotiations, which they said have instead been handled by the district’s legal representative.
The union represents more than 3,000 Worcester Public Schools employees, including teachers, administrators and paraeducators.
Negotiations began in October. Union representatives said proposals brought forward so far have been insufficient and that the district has failed to provide counteroffers in writing.
Christine Mooshian, who is leading negotiations for the union, said talks had been unproductive for months. The union received an offer of a 2.74% increase in May that it ultimately rejected, she said, but has yet to receive a full financial package to consider.
“The district administration and their lawyer would never negotiate their personal employment contracts without knowing what their salary scale was, why should we?” Mooshian asked. “You cannot expect this negotiation team to agree to this for our 3,000 plus members without hard numbers attached to this contract.”
Union negotiations are generally conducted privately, but Alex Rivera-Ortiz, vice chair of the union’s paraeducators negotiation team, said representatives brought the issue directly to the School Committee in hopes of getting members involved in the discussions.
“The district has relied on the attorney to bargain with us rather than sitting down directly with the paraeducators who are in Worcester classrooms every day,” Rivera-Ortiz said. “That matters. The issues we are bringing to the table aren’t just words in a contract. They impact real students in real classrooms, and the educators who support them.”
The union’s current contract expires Aug. 31. The next negotiating session is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 17, according to union representatives.
Allen receives positive review in first year
Later in the meeting, the committee made public its first annual evaluation of Allen, giving the superintendent positive marks following his first year leading the district.
Allen presented his own self-evaluation in July. This time, it was the School Committee’s turn to assess his performance, with most of his annual goals rated either “met,” the second-highest rating, or “significant progress,” a middle rating.
The report summarizes evaluations completed by school committee members. Individual members’ evaluations are also expected to be made public in the coming weeks.
The committee assessed the same five goals Allen addressed in his self-evaluation: three district improvement goals, a student learning goal and a professional practice goal.
The district goals included implementing a unified communication framework, establishing the Grow Your Own and Vision of a Leader initiatives, and continuing work on school boundary and quadrant alignment. The first two were rated “met,” while the boundary and quadrant work received a rating of “significant progress.”
Allen’s student learning goal sought to increase the percentage of students meeting or exceeding benchmarks on STAR reading and math assessments from 33% to 36%. The committee rated the district’s performance as “significant progress.”
Allen acknowledged during his July self-evaluation that the district fell one percentage point short of the 36% target. He also noted that Worcester recorded its lowest percentages to date of students not meeting benchmarks in both subjects.
The professional practice goal called for increasing the share of collaborative teams effectively implementing new teaming structures from a baseline of 0% to 70% districtwide. The school committee rated that goal as “met.”
Allen was also evaluated under four Massachusetts administrative leadership standards: instructional leadership, management and operations, family and community engagement, and professional culture. He received a rating of “proficient” in all four categories, the second-highest rating on the scale.
“Superintendent Brian E. Allen has demonstrated thoughtful, collaborative, and student-centered leadership throughout this evaluation cycle, earning a unanimous overall summative rating of Proficient,” the evaluation summary reads. “As a visible and approachable leader, he has established a clear vision for the district driven by a firm commitment to the ‘Vision to Action’ strategic plan.”
Among the committee’s recommendations for the coming year is a strategic review of Human Resources staffing models and workflows, with the goal of improving responsiveness to applicants and supporting recruitment of a more diverse workforce.
