Looking at Your Contract

Each of the four units of the Nashua Teachers' Union - Food Service, Paras, Secretaries, and Teachers - have a specific contract that lays out expectations and working conditions. While each contract shares some common language, each contract is also unique to the unit that negotiated and approved the contract. With the teachers' having a newly ratified contract, and food service having a new one soon, I thought now was a good time to remind people of where they can find a copy of their contract. If something comes up, I recommend browsing your contract. Sometimes the answer is on the page in black and white, while other times it's the grayest gray you have ever seen. Your building reps and officers are here to help if you need us.

Current NTU Contracts

Executive Board and Building Reps

AFT-NH Legislative Bulletin 2022-16

HB 1431 (Parental Bill of Rights) advances. The Senate this week also passed HB 1431, the so-called Parental Bill of Rights. AFT-NH champions genuine collaboration between teachers and school staff and parents because we know that it helps students succeed. HB 1431 does not do that. The bill needlessly puts vulnerable children at risk of harm and even death by limiting the rights of kids and the State to protect them. It also prevents vulnerable children who do not feel safe at home from reaching out to trusted adults in the schools because they know it would have to be reported to their parents. This could have devastating effects on the health, safety and mental well-being of those vulnerable children. We wish this were hyperbole, but it is not.

Senate passage of HB 1431 on the policy vote this week continues the trend of Republican legislators attacking public education and teachers. These attacks are purportedly to answer the complaints of a vocal but loud minority of parents who feel that they don’t have enough say in their children’s classrooms. We have fresh data showing that the vast majority of parents trust their teachers and their children’s public schools. Today, NHPR released a story with a poll that showed that 88% of all parents agree “my child’s teachers have done the best they could given the circumstances around the pandemic”, and that 76% of all parents agree that “my child’s school does a good job keeping me informed about the curriculum including potentially controversial topics.” In addition, “just 18% of parents say their child's school taught about gender and sexuality in a way that clashed with their family's values; just 19% say the same about race and racism; and just 14% feel that way about U.S. history.”

We know that bills like HB 1431 are being pushed by a vocal minority, encouraged by NH Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut, and this poll is just further evidence of that. HB 1431 is headed to Senate Finance and then back to the full Senate next week for one final vote. Please take action and SEND A QUICK EMAIL TO YOUR SENATOR AND ASK THEM TO VOTE NO ON HB 1431 to protect our children and because schools are already working with parents and this bill’s broad, and sweeping language will cause confusion and problems for teachers, parents and students in the classroom.

Back to HB1393. Though it was