As the Boston Teachers Union continues labor negotiations with the Boston Public Schools system, Boston University School of Education students who teach in local schools say they are not worried about the chance they will lose valuable teaching hours if the BTU strikes.
SED professor and internship co-coordinator Marcia Edson said the proposed one-day BTU strike would not seriously interrupt student-teachers' required hours -- 100 for the kindergarten practicum and 300 for the first-grade and second-grade practicums.
"I don't anticipate any problems at this point," she said. "I've been in contact with students, and none of them have expressed any concerns."
The BTU threatened to strike last week because its members were dissatisfied with the lack of progress in labor negotiations, which have lasted 13 months, according to a Feb. 15 Boston Globe article.
But after the BTU postponed the strike last week because the two sides were making progress, it voted to defer discussion of the strike to its meeting next Wednesday, according to the group's Feb. 16 message to its members.
Edson said she was told BPS teachers would notify their SED aides the day before any actual strike.
"Students I spoke with are in close contact with their teachers, and they are very informed about the situation," she said. "If there is a strike, the students will [just] stay home that day."
In the meantime, BPS spokesman Chris Horan said he hopes the district and the BTU can still reach an agreement.
"We are hoping that we can finish these negotiations and have all sides be satisfied," he said. "We really do not want to disrupt the education of the 47,000-plus children that are in the school system, nor do we want to hinder the hours that our student teachers need to complete their studies."
Though a potential strike may keep SED students out of the classroom, some said the debate surrounding the possible strike has taught them a life lesson about what problems come with being a teacher.
"Going into the field of education, I expect that at some point I will be in the same position as the teachers," said SED senior Kelsey Rodgers.
Rodgers, who teaches at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Chinatown, said she was uneasy about the situation at first but was then relieved when she learned the strike would last only one day.
"I was a little concerned about the strike before I knew much about the circumstances," she said, although she said she thinks the illegal strike is a less-than-ideal bargaining method.
"I think that striking is something that should be a last resort and something that should not be abused," she said. "Long-term strikes can be detrimental to the education of children, but in some cases, where teachers are overworked and underpaid, teachers do need to have their voices heard."
BTU President Richard Stutman declined to comment on negotiations, citing a court-ordered injunction against the Union to discuss the strike.
Be the first to comment on this article!