Harry Guo, Brandon Nguyen, and Eva Liss
Layout Editors and Copy Editor

Students bustle into school as an early autumn breeze flows through the clear morning air. The large oaks out in front bear hues of orange and yellow, signaling that a new school year is well underway. And yet, there is an unfamiliar sight donning the entrance of Andover High School: the teachers and staff, dressed in red. As AHS enters the full swing of the new academic year, the Andover Education Association has begun demonstrations and a new Work-to-Rule policy every Friday in response to continuing contract negotiations with the School Committee. 

In late January 2022, the Andover Education Association (AEA) began negotiating a new contract with the Andover School Committee. These negotiations have tackled issues on planning time, faculty meetings, parental leave, sick days, and personal days. Currently, all APS staff are working without a contract, as the previous one expired on August 31 of this year. The AEA represents about 850 educators in the district and the majority of Andover Public Schools staff. 

According to Matthew Bach, the chair of the AEA and a history teacher at AHS, the “work-to-rule” policy was adopted for several reasons. These include raising awareness among the public, fostering community concern for the issue, and showing “that the school committee is not taking the teachers seriously,” said Bach. Throughout the week, teachers involved with the union at each school have chosen one day to strictly adhere to state-mandated contract hours. For AHS, this means the teachers have worked from 8:15 to 2:51 every Friday, so they were not available for before-school or after-school help. 

Bach pointed to one of the largest issues that have yet to be settled— the salaries for instructional assistants, who work closely with the students who are most in need. “[Instructional assistants] make poverty wages,” said Bach. “They are [diverse and] should be given a boost in this time of historic inflation.” The instructional assistant’s previous contract states that they are paid $19.26 to $28.60 an hour based on a 184-day work year. According to Bach, this previous contract and the school committee’s current proposals only moderately boost their roughly $25,000-a-year salary, which may not adequately keep up with inflation.

With teachers, the AEA says it’s not as much about avoiding poverty wages, as AEA’s main goal with their contract negotiation is to keep up with comparable schools and districts. 

According to Tracey Spruce, the chair of the Andover School Committee, the School Committee has not been able to accept the AEA’s proposal as they are restricted by the town’s budget. The AEA’s initial proposal on January 17, when negotiations started, was a tuition reimbursement and a wage increase of 16% over 3 years. The total financial impact of that proposal over 3 years would be over 10 million dollars. The town’s budget, which comes from taxpayers, allows only a 3.75% increase to the school department’s yearly budget. That increase must fund staff salaries plus every other need within the district, such as transportation, curriculum, school athletics, fine arts, and more. 

“Our annual budget is close to $100 million,” said Spruce. “So you can see how accepting the union’s salary proposal would make it nearly impossible to pay for anything else.”

During the planned session on October 11, negotiations were paused due to disagreements on the negotiation space and the number of representatives the AEA and School Committee were allowed. The law states that both the teachers and school committee can constitute their bargaining team and that both can’t interfere with who the other party brings to the table. At the time of the meeting, the AEA advocated for the use of the Doherty Middle School auditorium to negotiate with the school committee to allow more member support. However, the school committee said they would only meet in the school committee room, which has a much smaller capacity. 

According to Spruce, “The school committee is not required by law to engage in open bargaining, nor is it required to agree to negotiate directly with hundreds of union members, and the committee does not believe that would be an efficient or productive way to reach an agreement.” To the AEA, it felt like the school committee was trying to modify their bargaining team and restrict who was going to be on it. “For us, it’s really important [to have] transparency and democracy [where] everybody sees what happens,” said Bach. 

According to their October 11 update on their website, the School Committee is currently offering “a 9.65% pay increase over three years of the contract… and a one-time $2,000 increase for [teachers with] the top [level of education]. For approximately 25% to 30% of APS teachers at [this top level], their salary in year one of the contract will be $112,058, and [they will have] a 9.5% increase to stipends.” The AEA’s bargaining team presented its proposal to increase salaries by 16% over 3 years and payment of a $2500 bonus, reduced from its previous proposal of 16% plus payment of two $2500 bonuses.

 “I would not have expected the union to accept the School Committee’s initial set of proposals without negotiation,” said Spruce. “I would be surprised if the union expected the School Committee to accept its initial set of proposals without negotiation.” Both the School Committee and the AEA have said they would like to reach an agreement soon in order to return the school year back to normal. “It’s an inconvenience to [teachers] as much as it is an inconvenience to students or parents,” said Bach.

As for when the two sides may reach an agreement, a date for resolution is yet to be seen. However, the School Committee’s next proposal will be released today, November 8, with the next negotiations meeting anticipated for a week later on November 14. 

Further commentary from AHS staff and AEA members was requested but denied.