Methuen teachers say 80 educators will be laid off due to proposed budget

Methuen teachers turned out at a City Council meeting Monday night saying the mayor s proposed cuts to the educator workforce would mean an entire school s worth of educators will have been laid off within two years The Methuen Learning Association explained the proposed Fiscal Year budget represents a continuing trend of steadily reduced patronage for populace schooling The mayor s office has pushed back on the claim stating while teachers may face layoffs the budget definitely includes a million year-over-year increase for tuition positions cut in two years is an entire grammar school wiped out announced Kara Blatt a Methuen special instruction lecturer and union co-president citing the layoffs last year We must stop balancing budgets on the backs of Methuen s children and their teachers Schools across Massachusetts have faced budget crunches in latest years hit by the loss of pandemic-era federal funding enrollment declines and inflation The teachers union stated the cuts target positions including reading specialists English Learner teachers and wellness staff and argued the city has more than million in available tools this year While the School Department has warned that teachers may face layoffs it s fundamental to look at how existing guidance are being spent the Mayor s office mentioned citing the nearly in IT personnel costs alone Mayor David Beauregard s declaration suggested tactics to avoid lecturer layoff like freezing contractual Unit A raises in FY to avoid layoffs and preserve as a multitude of classroom positions as attainable as well as generating revenue through efforts like selling unused school-owned buildings The teachers contend that spending on teaching has dropped since before the pandemic In FY Methuen spent million above the state s minimum required funding level the MEA reported By FY that figure had dropped to just million Related Articles Instruction Department says it will not garnish Social Prevention of learner loan borrowers in default Gurr Jodice School choice offers path to prosperity Astronaut one day artist the next How to help children explore the world of careers Chinese candidate struck a chord emphasizing humanity during Harvard commencement speech FACT FOCUS Trump s declares about remedial math at Harvard don t add up The union members along with neighborhood supporters called on the City Council to reject the budget Monday night The City Council has to reject the mayor s proposal and help a budget that invests in students and teachers not surplus accounts commented Methuen High School theater guide Joanie Walsh