School Contract Could Be Settled Today; Union Could Vote by Month's End

Both the Superintendent of Schools and the Framingham Teachers Association President said they have agreed on 99 percent of the contract, with both sides hopeful to reach 100 percent agreement in today's session.

Monday night, Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott said the school district and the Framingham Teachers Association are in agreement on 99 percent of the proposed contract. Tuesday afternoon, Framingham Teachers Association President Sam Miskin agreed with Scott and said they are at 99 percent agreement on a proposed contract. This is the first time, during these negotiations, that both sides have agreed on the amount of progress. Scott and Miskin were both hopeful that the two sides could reach 100 percent agreement this morning, during the latest mediation session. Scott told the School Committee Monday night he was "grateful for the progress." Miskin said if an agreement is reached this week, he would present it to the union membership…

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UPDATED: 9-Hour Mediation Session Described as 'Productive' by Superintendent

Framingham Superintendent of Schools is hopefully for a contract to be ratified in April.

UPDATED: 2:30 p.m.  A 9-hour mediation session was held Monday into Tuesday morning between the Framingham Public Schools and the Framingham Teachers Association. Framingham Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott described the session as "productive." "We accomplished a lot yesterday," said Framingham Teachers Association President Sam Miskin. "We came to agreement on all the main issues with only the topic of supervision and evaluation remaining," said Scott to Framingham Patch. "We worked until about 12:30 am and were able to work out many of the details of the proposals," said Miskin. The Framingham Teachers Association has been without a contract since August. They are seeking a new contract and want three key items: A fourth item …

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Supt. Hopeful on Contract; FTA President 'Little Progress Made'

The next mediation session on the Framingham teachers contract is scheduled for March 18.

Framingham Superintendent of Schools says the administration hopes to have a contract, after the next mediation session. Union President says "we have made very little progress." Those two statements say alot about how the negotiations are going between the Framingham Public Schools and the Framingham Teachers Association. "We have scheduled a final session for mediation on 3/18. We hope to conclude then," said Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott to Framingham Patch. "After sitting through another 4 hour negotiations session, we are still not finished," said Framingham Teachers Association President Sam Miskin, in an email to union membership Friday morning. On Thursday night Miskin wrote "For months now, we have been urging the school …

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Letter to the Editor

LETTER: 'Our Students Have Been The Only Real Victims'

McElwain: "Miskin, and to whatever degree they are involved, the FTA board, the MTA, and indeed any individual, who took part in authorizing, authoring or supporting this 'stress plan' has done a great disservice to our teachers and our community..."

This community’s response to the outing of Mr. Miskin’s message and survey, sent to more than 1,000 FTA members, was completely proportionate to the threats he poses. There is absolutely no misunderstanding, unless it’s his.  The fact that he has not retracted his letter and his survey has not been taken down, only modified, removing the request for School Committee member’s place of worship, and their children’s names and schools, continues to infuriate anyone with the sensibilities to recognize these kinds of tactics. (And in fact, the survey may have been modified only because a number of us reported it to Google yesterday, as a clear violation of their policy on hate, violence and illegal or offensive activities.)  Further, this has …

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Letter to the Editor

LETTER: Teachers Union President: 'For Any Misunderstanding ... I Apologize'

Framingham Teachers Association President: "We have made very little progress."

The recent communication that has become controversial has been blown out of proportion – our focus has been on making connections. For any misunderstanding about the intent, I apologize. We are teachers – we put kids first every single day in our classrooms and schools. We are not out to hurt anyone – and we are certainly not going to involve children. EVER. Period. We have been in lengthy negotiations for a contract and we are looking for ways to ensure the committee, as elected officials, is as invested in and feeling the same levels of urgency that our membership has felt. We asked about children, social groups and places of worships, not because we want to picket a church service or “stress” any particular child, but because our …

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Brad Evans

12:41 pm on Tuesday, March 12, 2013

@FramTeacher 2013 - you cant leave it to the Kindergerten process to fix the class size issues.. It only fixes it for that year - at a certain moment in time. Imagine if you will all Middle school classes at 25 students in all schools.. Now, it is October and 3 new families move in to Framingham, one with twin 12 year old boys (7th grade) and one with a 6th grader. As soon as you assign these …   more ›

Teachers Union Seeks Personal Info on School Committee, Urges 'Stress' Attack

The Framingham Teachers Association in an email outlined plans for "stress" attack on the School Committee, which will include finding personal information about children and spouses.

The Framingham Teachers Association sent an email to its members this week indicating a planned "stress" attack on the Framingham School Committee members. "We, as an Association, have been through a lot in the past year: rallies, pickets, school committee meetings, etc. Over the course of the past few months, we have taken up different work actions that illustrate all that we do for our students, our schools and our community. The parents have heard our message loud and clear and they have offered support by speaking at school committee meetings, emailing school committee members and engaging in debates with some of the less informed members of the community. As all of this is going on, the school committee has been distancing themselves …

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115 Middle School Classes Have More than 25 Students

The Framingham Teachers Association, involved in tense negotiations with the administration, wants language written into a new contract specifically on limiting class size.

Framingham Teachers Association and the Framingham School Administration, while in the midst of tense contract negotiations, do agree on one thing - there are too many middle school classes above the Framingham School Committee guideline of no more than 25 students per class. According to a memo to the School Committee from Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott, there are a total of 115 middle school classes with more than 25 students. Of the 115 middle school classes, 54 of those classes are in core subjects such as math, science, social studies, language arts and world language. And 44 of those core classes are at Cameron Middle School, 4 at Fuller Middle and 6 at Walsh Middle. (See attached chart for more details.) There are roughly …

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Framingham Educators to Hold Rally at Memorial Building Tuesday

Framingham Teachers Association President: "We aren’t asking for the sun and moon, just some small improvements that will benefit the students of Framingham and the greater school community."

Framingham Public Schools teachers and staff will rally for a fair contract outside of the Memorial Building tomorrow, Feb 26, said  Framingham Teachers Association President and Framingham High School computer teacher Sam Miskin The 1,000 teachers and professional education staff members are calling for a contract with limits on class sizes,  a well-defined work day, and a cost of living adjustment, said Miskin.  “Our working conditions directly impact our students’ learning environment,” Sam Miskin said. “We aren’t asking for the sun and moon, just some small improvements that will benefit the students of Framingham and the greater school community.” The Framingham Teachers Association has been without a contract since August.   Miskin …

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Brad Evans

9:57 am on Thursday, February 28, 2013

@Michelle - step changes occur every year and are automatic, so even in a year when teachers took two furlough days, (which was appreciated), most still received a salary increase and as far as lane changes, the "education" they pursue, while laudable, doesnt even have to be in the subject they teach. For example, a math teacher could decide to get a masters degree in art history and would then …   more ›

Letter to the Editor

LETTER: Administration Foot-Dragging; Teachers 'Losing Faith'

Teachers Association: "We are also considering more drastic measures including a “work-to-rule” action. This means that many of us, who enthusiastically take part in extra-curricular activities in our community, will be sitting on the sidelines."

We, the 1,000 teachers and education professionals of the Framingham Teachers Association, recently began picketing outside of our schools. We have taken this step to call attention to our current contract struggle. We view these negotiations as an opportunity to work jointly to make improvements to our schools – including reducing class sizes – that will truly benefit our students. While we maintain hope that the superintendent and Framingham School Committee will join with us in this important endeavor, we are losing faith. While the administration wants the public to believe that class size reduction does not have an impact on student achievement, that premise is just plain false. The information that the administration has put on their…

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Teachers To Boycott Kindergarten Expo; Parents Asked To Pitch In

Framingham Superintendent of Schools: "The kindergarten expo will certainly go forward with whomever is able to join us."

Teachers will not participate in tonight's kindergarten expo, according to several parents and at least one elementary school principal. The reason, according to parents who contacted Framingham Patch, is the lack of a contract for the teachers. The Framingham Teachers Association has been without a contract since August. Monday night, Framingham Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott said "the kindergarten expo will certainly go forward with whomever is able to join us. It is an exciting opportunity to welcome the new parents and make them feel comfortable and getting ready for the beginning of next year, so hopefully teachers will take advantage of that opportunity." "I realize that they (teachers) are still picketing and 'work to rule' …

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