Parents and educators urge Holyoke School Committee to settle expired contract and oppose pay tied to licensure

Holyoke At the April 27 Holyoke School Committee meeting, parents, teachers and union representatives urged the committee to settle a contract that has been expired for about 300 days and criticized a district proposal to tie pay increases to professional licensure instead of experience.

Community members said the proposals risk losing bilingual educators and devaluing long-term staff. "This is the first year my second graders have had the same teacher as their older sibling," said parent Isak Axelrod, who told the committee that frequent teacher turnover undermines continuity for students. "Many of my fifth graders' former teachers have left the district."

Why it matters: Committee members heard sustained testimony that pay, retroactive pay and benefits affect staffing levels and student learning. Speakers said restrictive licensing rules and test-language limits disproportionately affect teachers recruited from Puerto Rico and other non-English contexts.

Teachers and bargaining-team members described specific concerns. "We have lanes that compensate teachers for bachelor's, master's and master's plus credits," said Maria Perez, a member of the bargaining team. She argued a policy that links master's-level pay to holding a professional license would "punish" teachers who have not been able to obtain a Massachusetts test in their language. "We're good enough to teach these kids in Holyoke, but not good enough to get paid for it," she said.

Several teachers gave examples of classroom outcomes that they said were not captured by licensure status. "At Morgan, students in math identified as needing urgent intervention fell from 11 to 4 between quarter 1 and quarter 3," said fifth-grade teacher Wendy Blumenthal, noting that she has yet to pass one required MTEL math exam but has produced measurable student progress.

Speakers also pressed the committee on sick and parental leave and on retroactive pay. "We're asking for the industry standard of 14 days of sick time," said Peter Duffy, who also urged longer parental leave than the five days currently offered in negotiations. Brandy Bellachico, a teacher who said she has worked under an expired contract for 300 days, urged the committee to encumber budget funds for retro pay and criticized shifting explanations from district negotiators about whether retro funds existed.

District response and next steps: District staff explained that some proposed changes (for example, licensure requirements) reflect state rules and that principals and central administration regularly review unfunded project lists to determine priorities if funding becomes available. The committee did not take a final vote on contract terms at the meeting; it moved into executive session later on collective bargaining matters.

The committee is expected to continue negotiations in executive session and to return to public agenda items at a later meeting.