FRAMINGHAM – This year, the budget process has been incredibly stressful, more so than in any past year due to the present circumstances. I want to thank the City Council finance subcommittee for the time and attention they have devoted to this process, given the allocation of resources impacts so many residents and employees.
I’d like to thank Dr Tremblay and the School Committee for reconsidering the rental of the Perini building.
They are putting the students of Framingham first by doing all they can to reduce costs where possible, in order to maintain an environment that will attract and retain the best educators available.
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It is deeply concerning, however, that despite their thoughtful review and
reasoning, that City Council could still consider a substantial cut to the school budget.
Some councilors have referred to “removing the cost of living adjustment
(COLA)” as a method to save money, despite the unintended consequences
such a severe budget reduction would have.
Employers in every sector use pay and benefits to attract and keep valuable
employees, which is the same reasoning that the school committee and Dr.
Tremblay used when they reconsidered the rental of Perini as a more viable
solution in contrast to slashing compensation and staffing.
A district that does not offer salaries in line with comparable districts might find itself at a competitive disadvantage to those that do offer fair compensation to educators and education support staff.
Framingham must put its youngest residents first, by doing all it can to maintain a strong workforce including maintaining competitive salaries for all our educators.
We must keep the teaching workforce strong as we head into an uncertain future, where the only certainty is our students will need even more support than in the past.
Christine Mulroney, President
Framingham Teacher Association