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 Instruction Association mentioned the proposed Fiscal Year budget represents a continuing trend of steadily reduced backing for population guidance The mayor s office has pushed back on the claim stating while teachers may face layoffs the budget genuinely includes a million year-over-year increase for schooling positions cut in two years is an entire grammar school wiped out noted Kara Blatt a Methuen special tuition guide 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 materials this year While the School Department has warned that teachers may face layoffs it s central to look at how existing materials are being spent the Mayor s office declared citing the nearly in IT personnel costs alone Mayor David Beauregard s declaration suggested tactics to avoid mentor layoff like freezing contractual Unit A raises in FY to avoid layoffs and preserve as plenty of classroom positions as feasible as well as generating revenue through approaches like selling unused school-owned buildings The teachers contend that spending on instruction has dropped since before the pandemic In FY Methuen spent million above the state s minimum required funding level the MEA stated By FY that figure had dropped to just million Related Articles Tuition Department says it will not garnish Social Prevention of participant 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 learner struck a chord emphasizing humanity during Harvard commencement speech FACT FOCUS Trump s indicates about remedial math at Harvard don t add up The union members along with locality supporters called on the City Council to reject the budget Monday night The City Council has to reject the mayor s proposal and endorsement a budget that invests in students and teachers not surplus accounts commented Methuen High School theater facilitator Joanie Walsh