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Hello, and welcome to the Westfield
Education Association (WEA). We are committed to teaching the
children of our future. The Association consists of approximately
800 teachers, administrators, nurses and classroom aides.
Vote no on Question 3 on the ballot in November. If approved, Question 3 could cut $3,520,000 from the Westfield School budget and have a catastrophic impact on education. Click here for details.
A message from Vice President Matt Wroth concerning union dues deductions for Units A + B, and Unit D
The City Council met in special session July 29th, 2010, and unanimously voted to approve the $744,345 that Mayor Knapik requested for the school budget. The City Council vote was 12 in favor, 0 against, and Councilor Flaherty was not present due to another obligation. The original school department budget cut of $864,345 was approved by the City Council on June 24th, and the reinstatement of $744,345 means the city has saved $120,000. The entire school budget for the 2010/2011 fiscal year is approximately $51,000,000. We would like to thank the City Council for reinstating this money, and the Mayor for his continuous efforts in this area, but especially the individuals who got involved and shared their views with their City Councilors. Thank you. We hope that future negotiations do not include the kind of tactics that were implemented over the course of the last 3 months and look forward to working together with all concerned parties in the future.
Westfield School Committee and Westfield Education Association/Unit A Memorandum of Agreement - 1 year Contract - to be signed and dated in September
Tentative Agreement between Westfield School Committee and Westfield Education Association/Unit D
A note from our Union President shortly before the City Council emergency meeting on July 29th:
As Union President I would like to thank all the Unit A teachers for surviving these trying times. We voted on July 27th, 2010, in favor of the 1 year Contract presented by the School Department. We have given up $534,000 with the hope that the teachers who were notified of their job termination will be rehired. We are disappointed with the methods that the City Council has used over the course of the last 3 months regarding their handling of the School budget. We hope that on Thursday the Councilors will keep the education of children in mind when they vote on whether or not to reinstate the $744,345 that Mayor Knapik will be requesting for the school budget.
Yours Truly,
Lori Hovey
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Teachers and staffing in Westfield have undergone tremendous cuts over the last 10 years.
Did you know that Westfield teacher
salaries rank 290th out of the 328 Districts in the state of Massachusetts?
We are in the bottom 10% of salaries in the state.
A summary of the Finance Subcommittee of the School Committee meeting that took place at South Middle School on July 20th at 7:00.
Unit B voted in favor of taking
3 furlough days in the 2010/11 school year.
Unit D voted in favor of taking
2 furlough days in the 2010/11 school year.
2010
WEA Scholarship Recipients
A book recommended for reading is:
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing
and Choice Are Undermining Education, by Diane Ravitch.
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