Thanks for the update Andrew. I know some are not optimistic that the teachers will ratify this, but I am keeping my fingers crossed!

The only way this will be ratified by 50%+ of teachers is in an election like the ones that used to take place in Iraq where 99.5% of people 'voted' for Saddam Hussein.
Its an 'unratifiable' contract and all parties who have heard of of it (no steps) know this...Get ready for the labor Board next year!

The buzz with teachers from what I understand is that if this is the best the town can do westford is no longer a place many of them wish to teach long term.
Either the deal will be ratified, making many good teachers look for the door or it wont and this will drag and get messier and teachers will look for the exit. Either way this is NOT a happy time for Westford teachers from what I hear around town.
I guess the WEA doesnt have the fight in it that it once thought it had and has run out of gas leaving its members high and dry. FAIR CONTRACT for teachers. Remember? If this is the WEAs idea of a fair contract I would hate to see an 'unfair contract' Everyone loses here from what I can ascertain...I highly doubt the positive giving vibe once held by our teachers in town will return to what it was anytime soon! Shame Shame Shame

Shame on Westford. It is widely known that teachers are underpaid and underappreciated. My children have just started in the public schools and I would like to think that the high taxes I've paid for years are going to support the teachers who have given this town's school system such an excellent reputation. I support the teacher's union and their right to the fair contract they have earned.

I smell a rat. Something 'funky' and 'rotten' happened quickly behind the scenes to bring about this tentative agreement which is nearly identical to the type of contract which teachers could have received back in November (which WEA claimed was 'unacceptable' and took work to rule actions over)
My GUESS is that the negotiation team was threatened with personal lawsuits or some such thing because out of nowhere they seemed to cave into the town's demands. It will be interesting to see this negotiation team actually stand in front of membership and recommend ratification of this contract. talk about 'shame' that is going to be humiliating I would venture to guess...

All it will take is a single teacher resignation for a job in a different school district
to send a message to WSA, superintendent, & town manager that Westford school system image has been tarnished.

Particularity since the step funds have been already allocated by Olsen in his budget, Where will these funds end up? I dare to ask.

How can anyone make comments about what the agreement is if the details have not been release to the union members and the public?

MAHM3@ How can anyone make comments about what the agreement is if the details have not been release to the union members and the public?"

Because word travels fast 'through the grapevine' I guess....The word from the teachers who have made some inquiries is that this 'tentative contract' contains No COLA in both years, NO Steps this year in exchange for small trades like -2 PD days and 1 less after school meeting per month. If true it seems like the offer that WEA claimed was 'unacceptably unfair' this fall....bizarre.
No steps this year probably means no steps again in FY2014 too so this deal, if ratified, will serve as a precedent for steps not being a given here in Westford and for Westford attracting the 'best and brightest' educators to our town.

Remember the days when a school was run by one principal, a sectertary, one phone (in their office) and a mimeograph machine. How did they ever get things done?

@SBN "it is widely known they are underpaid and underappreciated" are you kidding!!! Read some of the other threads on this topic and it is completely up for debate and you will see what a ridiculous comment. Your kids are just entering the school system so you lack the experience others have had with teachers. There are MANY wonderful teachers in this school system my kids have been very lucky to have had, but there are MANY that are pretty bad and I consider them GROSSLY OVERPAID and time to leave... That's right the tenured ones can't be let go.
@Pellegrino as in other threads if a teacher is so lucky to find another teaching job in another town, then go and don't let the door hit you on the way out!! Oh did you forget what the unemployment rate is?? I think Westford can fill those vacancies faster than a teacher getting a job in another town... But hey go try!!!
I

On the topic of competitive teacher pay all towns being in the same financial boat here are my thoughts:
Down the road this might very well be true. This might as noted above be the 'new world' when it comes to public employees like teachers.
HOWEVER, this lack of a magical money tree seems to have hit Westford extra hard and a bit earlier as other towns (which seem to pay teachers better to begin with) are still honoring step raises and small cost of living raises. I worry about the shorter term (next 5 years) impact this will have on attracting AND retaining excellent teachers here in Westford when our neighbors can do better. Do I think all teachers are going to up and leave? or course not. As noted there arent enough jobs for all our teachers in nearby towns. BUT if a teacher has an offer from Westford and another town I think we are going to loose many more of those candidates in the future now. Also for some of the good veteran teachers who have sterling resumes built after years of teaching here who live nearby why would they not apply for open positions in their own home towns when those positions will pay nearly $15,000 more. Are those scenarios realistic? Of course! Ask principals who hire teachers if they feel there is a competition for good teachers already

Lets fire all the 'real' Westford teachers and just have our kids sit in classrooms and SKYPE lessons from teachers in India and China who will work for $2 a day and no unions or benefits. Thats were the BEST bang for our buck would be. All this fancy book learning going on in town with AP AP AP classes and languages like Latin and German in the high school? Lets teach them all Chinese and Spanish as those are the new world languages, eliminate all Arts, (Except Theater Arts which is a sacred cow in Westford not to be touched), and then rely on computer technology to teach our kids and then we can take all the savings from that part of the budget and build another Market Basket plaza or something 'useful'

Dan,
Its good to know there are some solid reserves and liquid assets on hand to fund our expenses.
Now that the money tree has been removed via a withdrawal I would like to come over and make a large deposit so that the seeds of the next $$$ tree are planted in fertile solil and can bear fruit in the years to come. Smell? There is nothing like the smell of money tree in the morning am I right Dan ol buddy?

Since Mary McCusker has for years been disgruntled with the contracts that the previous WEA negotiations teams have been able to secure with the town, and was the most vocal critic of these contracts several times, I hope she is ready for a boatload of irate members with the contract she is set to 'bring back' to membership.
Funny now that the shoe is on the other foot right? At least we came back to the membership with our dignity still intact!

Doing my best to make sure we can keep a healthy stream of conversation going while removing egregious violations of the terms of service. My personal preference is to be as lax as possible. However, as everyone can see in the terms of service, any Patch employee, including myself, has the right to become more stringent if needed.

Okay, play nice everybody. I'll check back in later.

Appears Billerica is building a new elementary school, Parker, grades 1-8.
It will have 3 floors and house 500 students. Complete by August 2012
Got to believe there will be a few openings.I would not be surprised if a few Westford teachers make the trek. Reason (i.e. If you are at the bottom step you will stay there almost forever even while you work N number of years since Westford appears to not recognize steps). We will see!

Great, Let some of them go to Billerica! Threats are not working these days Pellegrino!!! See if they have the same teaching experience in Billerica as they have in Westford!!

The westford 'Teaching experience' of Westford Helicopter parents buzzing constantly overhead micromanaging every since move in the classroom? That experience

@Jessee James "Based on optimistic preliminary numbers presented to the BoS by the FinCom on 28th Feb, you ain't seen nothing yet. Even with no pay increases or steps, the FY 15 budget will see a reduction of 50 to 70 town employees and higher"

This is why it would have made sense to institute a hiring freeze the past couple of years but OH NO, not in Westford were the town wants in cake and wants to eat it too. The town is still bringing many new positions on board for FY2013 including something like 14 in the schools alone. Its hard to take these 'gloom and doom' predictions seriously when taxpayers see our town increasing staff more and more every year even when we are 'supposedly' on the verge of going broke/bankrupt/bellyup. Jesse, understand as a taxpayer it hard to take this seriously because our leaders talk out of both sides of their mouths saying there is no $$$ while increasing spending.