Boston City Council approves three‑year contract with Boston Teachers Union

The Boston City Council on Wednesday approved a three‑year collective bargaining agreement between the Boston School Committee and the Boston Teachers Union and a supplemental appropriation to fund the contract's costs in the current fiscal year.

Councilor Allen, chair of the Committee on Ways and Means, told the council the committee held a hearing and recommended passage. "I recommend that these dockets ought to pass," Allen said during committee remarks.

The council approved two related dockets. A message and order reallocating $33,262,466 from the city's reserve for collective bargaining to cover FY2025 cost items passed as docket 0940. A companion message and order funding additional FY25 costs passed as docket 0941. According to testimony at the committee hearing, the contract term runs from Sept. 1, 2024, through Aug. 30, 2027.

Under the agreement described at the Ways and Means hearing, all Boston Teachers Union members will receive a 2.5% increase in FY25 and 2% increases in FY26 and FY27. Teachers also receive flat dollar supplements of $500 in FY25, $1,000 in FY26 and $1,250 in FY27. Paraprofessionals and applied behavior analyst (ABA) specialists will receive market‑rate adjustments and changes to step charts were supplied to the committee. The administration estimated that FY26 contract costs will exceed $61 million and that FY27 costs will be substantially larger.

The administration told the committee the contract covers 6,344 teachers, 2,504 paraprofessionals, 106 ABA specialists and 1,338 substitutes. The FY25 funding move transfers $33,262,466 from the reserve to cover FY25 costs; the administration said FY26 will require additional appropriations.

Councilors who rose to support the contract highlighted parity for paraprofessionals and the importance of moving expired contracts to current agreements. "No better way to do that than in someone's paycheck," Councilor Flynn said in support. Councilor Murphy, a long‑time BTU member, said the changes would recognize increased inclusion work for paraprofessionals and that members would look forward to retroactive pay.

Roll calls recorded the measures as passed. Docket 0940 passed with an affirmative vote recorded for Councilors Colette Zapata, Durkin, Fitzgerald, Flynn, Luizhen, Mejia, Murphy, Repin, Santana, Weber and Worrell (11 affirmative votes recorded). Docket 0941 passed with an affirmative vote recorded for Councilors Braden, Colette Zapata, Durkin, Fitzgerald, Flynn, Luizhen, Mejia, Murphy, Pepin, Santana, Weber and Worrell (12 affirmative votes recorded).

The committee record showed the administration will return to the council with FY26 and FY27 budget impacts as part of the regular budget process. The dockets implementing FY26 and the larger multi‑year budget implications remain subject to future appropriations and committee review.

Implementation details discussed at the hearing include a move to 26 pay periods (from 22), two additional early‑release days in the school year, and adjustments to the inclusion staffing model where classes with higher counts of high‑needs students will receive additional staff. The administration also flagged remaining pay parity issues between BPS nurses and Boston Public Health Commission nurses, which it said it hopes to address in separate negotiations.

The motions recorded at Wednesday's meeting formalize the appropriation and accept the contract provisions described in committee testimony. The file will move through the council's budget and finance accounting process for appropriation and bookkeeping.