Westford Union Joins 'No Confidence' Petition Against DESE Leader

WESTFORD, MA — More than 100 Massachusetts teacher unions, including Westford's voted "no confidence" in the performance of the state's top education official and accused him of making changes to reopening policies without consulting unions.

The Westford Educators Association, the Littleton Education Association, the Nashoba Regional Education and the Concord-Carlisle Teachers' Education Association were among 104 teachers unions and three non-union education groups to sign a petition expressing concern with state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley's "lack of leadership."

Riley, Gov. Charlie Baker and infectious disease experts have repeatedly said widespread COVID-19 transmission is not happening in in-person school settings.

Although they didn't point to specific evidence of a correlation union officials argued otherwise.

"The Commissioner and DESE continue to ignore the ever-growing body of scientific evidence showing the direct correlation between in-person learning and increased transmission rates of COVID-19," the petition read.

The state publishes weekly reports showing district by district cases of coronavirus cases. And Department of Elementary and Secondary Education board members say they regularly consult with the top scientists and health experts before making decisions.

Still, union officials say there isn't enough data to back up claims that wide scale COVID-19 transmission isn't happening in in-person classes.

In October the World Health Organization said based on data at the time, "schools being open did not lead to rise in community spread where infection was low." It went on to say that early modelling studies suggested that "closing schools reduced community transmission less than other social distancing interventions."

The WHO recommended a risk-based approach to minimizing risk in schools.

Anthony Parolisi, president of the Haverhill Education Association testified Tuesday that when the state changed its transmission risk metrics in early November, reducing the number of cities and towns considered "high risk" for coronavirus spread, it left educators scrambling.

"Since our working conditions are the students' learning conditions, we as educators have a
responsibility to ensure that our schools are safe," union officials said in a statement. "Until Commissioner Riley and DESE decide to listen more carefully and inclusively to health experts and educators from across the state, we will continue to fight for the schools our communities deserve."

The associations also argued that surveillance testing similar to a pilot program in Wellesley should be available across the state.