LETTER: I Challenge the Framingham Teachers Association To ‘Really Put Students First’

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FRAMINGHAM – As a long-time Framingham resident whose children aged out or left the Framingham Public Schools many years ago, I am fortunate to have avoided the challenges that parents of current students have faced since the Covid pandemic began in March.

I commend these parents for how they have and continue to rise up and overcome the many roadblocks that have been thrown at them to ensure that their kids keep moving forward educationally and in all aspects of their young lives. 

Unfortunately, it appears that many of the challenges that these parents face are coming from the union that represents their children’s teachers, the Framingham Teachers Association (FTA).

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Hardly a week goes by without a news article, OP/ED, or letter to the editor from union representatives blaming administrators, the School Committee, the state department of education, or the Governor for ignoring or disrespecting teachers and not putting students first.

The FTA’s actions are what make the executive committee’s quick response to the letter from parents George Julakis and Jeff Shimelman, which supports a return of students to the Framingham schools for hybrid in-person learning, so difficult for me to swallow. Is the union really putting students first by continuing to push back on their overseers at the local and state levels when so many cities and towns in Massachusetts have had safe returns in some form of in-person learning with few problems?

Only time will tell how today’s children will fare overall given the massive disruption in their education.

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Still, eight months of in-home learning has already revealed that keeping students at home is hurting too many children and families.

I challenge the FTA to prove that your union really puts students first by stopping your negative PR efforts, getting back in the classrooms, and working with the powers that be to solve any problems that might arise.

Nancy Donchin

Framingham