At 8:30pm on Friday, October 12th, the Burlington Education Association (BEA) and the Burlington School District reached a tentative contract agreement for Para-Educators. Details of the contract will be shared upon ratification.
“For the past three years, Burlington Para-Educators have been working to make livable wages a reality. On behalf of the BEA, I would like to thank the hundreds of community members who have attended school board meetings, contacted school board commissioners, attended rallies, marches, attended the Labor Day parade, signed petitions in support of livable wages, wrote letters to the newspapers, and in countless other ways, supported our campaign for livable wages for our Para-Educators,” says Rebecca Smith, BEA President. “We encourage the community to continue to support the other school employees still in negotiations. We’d like to especially thank the Vermont Workers’ Center, the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign, and the other participants in the Burlington Livable City Coalition. The BEA is committed to working in collaboration to make Burlington a truly livable city.”
Stay tuned for next steps to support the rest of the Burlington School support staff still in negotiations, which includes the food service and custodial and maintenance workers. Having livable wages for all Burlington School staff will be a huge step forward for our community.