Newton Parents Group Builds Support For Greater School Funding With Petition Campaign

NEWTON, MA — A coalition of Newton parents who say they want their voices and opinions heard among the back-and-forth between the School Committee, Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and the Newton Teachers Association during the ongoing strike are attempting to build support for additional school funding through an online petition campaign.

The petition called "#fullerfindthefunds" is aimed at making finding additional resources for Newton Public Schools a greater priority in the city budget compared to what they say is the current course that "undermines the core values that have made Newton an attractive city to us."

"Newton is a place whose reputation, culture and core values have been built on a respect for high-quality education and diversity," Genevieve Sabin, who has two children in Newton Public Schools and is a member of the petition's organizing group called Concerned Taxpayers and/or Parents in Newton, told Patch on the fourth school day of the teachers strike on Wednesday. "Those core values are at risk of being undermined if Newton Public Schools don't get proper funding."

(More on Patch: Newton Teachers Strike: 'A Social Justice Issue' As $100K Fine Looms)

As of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the petition had gained more than 1,050 online signatures in less than 24 hours.

"It's a scrappy grassroots effort realizing what's been done here," Sabin said. "Essentially,
the mayor is hoping the parents and taxpayers with their busy lives and under the pressure of their kids being at home are going to bend and say we don't support our teachers. But we do."

The strike was declared amid a five-month contract impasse with the teachers calling for a new deal with pay increases, better paid parental leave, increased mental health support for students, and guaranteed time to prepare coursework and collaborate with colleagues.

Newton teachers voted last Thursday afternoon to walk off the job effective Friday morning after the union said 98 percent of its membership voted in favor of the strike.

The NTA has said that teachers will not return to the classroom without a new contract despite escalating court-imposed fines that began at $25,000 on Monday and are set to double each day. Public sector strikes are illegal in Massachusetts.

The School Committee and Fuller have said in recent statements that meeting the NTA's current demands would lead to citywide layoffs — including teachers — in upcoming years.

Sabin said the petition is not a specific endorsement of all aspects of the NTA's contract proposal but a call for the city to put more of its resources into the school system overall.

"We don't want our teachers and our schools to be underfunded in caving to the pressure of short-termism," Sabin said.

A Proposition 2 1/2 general tax override that would have bolstered funding for schools and other Newton government services failed a townwide vote last spring.

"If this is the wakeup call that people need to get out and vote for those overrides then so be it," Sabin told Patch. "Mistakes that are made in the past are not to be doubled down on."

Sabin said "we want our voices to be heard by the mayor" as well as city councilors who have not adequately advocated for school funding during the contract dispute.

"There are city councilors who have been a bit silent as representatives of the community," she said. "That's a bit disappointing.

"This is an acute crisis that our kids are not in school. If that is not a wake-up call for a city councilor I don't know what is."