I received this email the other day from a student who was an active leader in an Our Education petition drive in her school in Marlborough, MA. Basically, a long-standing contract dispute between the teachers in her school and the school board (called school ‘committees’ in Massachusetts) boiled over at the beginning of the calendar year with some ugly consequences. Of course, whenever these kinds of arguments take place between teachers unions trying to take care of their constituents and school boards trying to keep costs and taxes down for citizens, the people who ultimately get hurt the most are always the students.

In this instance, students in Marlborough have had all of their extracurricular activities and events cancelled for the past three weeks, and not a single teacher has been available to help out before or after school. Read below to hear our student’s dire first-hand account:

Dear Aaron:
I was wondering actually if there was any way that you might be able to use the situation currently happening at my school for help with your campaign, especially in my county. Marlborough teachers have been working without a contract since the start of this year. Negotiations were taking so long and having no outcome that the state sent in a mediator. A contract was drafted, the lawyer/representative from the school committee approved and the teachers' union voted and passed it. After all this however, the school committee voted no. The teachers have now decided to work ONLY their contracted times from 7:10 to 2:10. Since they cannot strike, this and their voicing their opinion at the school committee meetings are the only actions they can take. But, the students get hurt the most in this process. Students who need to make up an assignment, a test, lab, gym class, etc. can't after school because teachers leave. Students can't get help from their teachers to prepare for a test because the teachers leave. The whole point of school is to promote and encourage learning and the skills to be able to do so. If a student wishes to better understand the material he/she should be encouraged not turned away. Other grievances include the fact that annual programs like the Mr. MHS pageant and the sophomore semi-formal have been postponed, canceled because teachers will not volunteer to chaperone as part of their civil disobedience stand. School doors open at 7:00. Granted only ten minutes, our school of 1,574 kids is left in the supervision of a few administration personal, which is unsafe. But perhaps the two most upsetting facts are that there are rumors throughout the schools that teachers who are past the necessary retirement age/service or who are comfortable seeking another job if necessary will retire to set a message. We need our teachers. They care about us so much but it seems the teachers and students alike have hit a dead end. Marlborough High School is up for accreditation in 2-3 years. The new Mission Statement was just passed in January. Only now can the other committees as a part of the MIESC process start working. But they can't because of this work day enforcement. If our school does not have adequate time to prepare such documents that are necessary for this process and our school fails its accreditation test then it will not be valid in the eyes of colleges and such. Wondering your thoughts and asking for help.

I’m not blaming anyone per se—one could certainly see it both ways in this debate—but the point is that, yet again, POLITICS is trumping kids. The worst part is, these kinds of stories are happening all across the country.

What can students do during times like these? We’ve been working with this student to organize a group of her peers to attend the next school committee meeting to make sure that board members, teachers, and other people involved with the dispute realize that every day they go without coming to the table and settling this thing is a day where hundreds, even thousands of youth are being done a major disservice. Because it’s one thing for unions and school board members to bicker with one another in a head-to-head fight, but it’s another thing when they realize that what they are really doing is conspiring together to harm children… feel free to write us at info(at)oured.org with any ideas, suggestions, or thoughts on this matter!