{"id":133540,"date":"2026-05-19T06:03:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/over-1400-devastating-cuts-to-school-positions-proposed-across-massachusetts-teachers-warn\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T06:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:03:24","slug":"over-1400-devastating-cuts-to-school-positions-proposed-across-massachusetts-teachers-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/over-1400-devastating-cuts-to-school-positions-proposed-across-massachusetts-teachers-warn\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 1,400 ‘devastating’ cuts to school positions proposed across Massachusetts, teachers warn"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Budget constraints are set to hit Massachusetts schools and educators hard in the coming year, with teachers warning well over 1,000 positions are currently sitting on the chopping block at schools across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201c1,400 educators will not be in the classroom or in schools supporting our kids,\u201d said MTA President Max Page. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re facing. And that\u2019s probably an incomplete number. So it\u2019s really terrible at this moment, when kids need more support, to hear that communities are having to make these terrible choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across about 70 school districts, including Boston Public Schools, budgets have proposed about 1,410 cuts to educator and staff jobs, according to data collected by the MTA from districts\u2019 locals and BPS.<\/p>\n

Boston alone has proposed slashing 568 positions in a budget proposal<\/a> passed by the local school committee in March, resulting in slashes to currently vacant positions but also including hundreds of layoffs. The BPS budget is currently before the City Council for approval.<\/p>\n

Other communities set to be hit hard include Brockton at 83 proposed cuts, Framingham at 81, Methuen at 70, Mendon-Upton at 70, and Marshfield at about 63.<\/p>\n

The MTA broke the proposed slashes into teachers, education support professionals and administrators \u2014 though many were unspecified \u2014 showing 919 set to hit teachers and 182 set to hit the support professionals.<\/p>\n

Page cited a combination of federal funding cuts, skyrocketing health care costs, diminishing enrollment and more behind the budget constraints, while local teachers cited local investment issues as well.<\/p>\n

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Education cited the state\u2019s increased investment in education in recent years, which includes a $1.6 billion increase in Chapter 70 investment since the Healey administration came into office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Governor\u2019s FY27 budget proposal includes historic support for K-12 education, with record levels of Chapter 70 funding and significant investments to help districts meet rising costs and better serve students,\u201d an EOE spokesperson said. \u201cWe remain committed to ensuring that every student in Massachusetts has access to a high-quality public education and that our schools have the resources they need to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education cited enrollment trends constraining districts\u2019 financial resources at the April meeting examining the legislature\u2019s proposed $7.66 billion<\/a>, representing \u201call education aid accounts funded at their historically highest levels.\u201d Across the state, officials said, 236 districts are seeing decreasing enrollment, while only 81 are increasing.<\/p>\n

Christine Mulroney, president of the Framingham Teachers Association, said the district is down around 800 students in the year.<\/p>\n

The cuts the community is facing are \u201cabsolutely unprecedented,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other issue is Framingham has over relied on that Chapter 70 money to fund the schools and hasn\u2019t really kept up with its local contribution to the schools,\u201d said Mulroney. \u201cSo because that gap between the funding and the local contribution was getting greater when student enrollment dropped, that caused a huge gap. A $15 million gap. Which, it\u2019s hard to find $15 million to cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her biggest concern is for \u201cour vulnerable students,\u201d Mulroney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have many (autism spectrum disorder programs) that require a lot of staff, and our ESL students,\u201d said Mulroney. \u201cThose two populations in particular, we always want to see those areas improve. They will improve if we staff for success in those areas instead of just staffing for compliance; we can\u2019t just staff the bare minimum. And so I have significant concerns about the potential loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kara Blatt, co-president of the Methuen Education Association, said the city is in an \u201ceducation crisis\u201d hitting safety, on-time learning and other issues.<\/p>\n

The schools are looking at \u201calmost an automatic 60 cuts, 37 classroom teaching positions, which would be one in every grade level, first through eighth, for four schools,\u201d Blatt said, and hits to guidance counselors, special education and more. The proposal is coming at a time the district has already faced hefty layoffs, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just fractured and broken and can\u2019t do what other districts have been doing,\u201d said Blatt. \u201cYou\u2019ve got other districts that might be laying off, but we have already laid off literacy tutors, math tutors. All these other things that other towns right now might be trimming. We\u2019ve trimmed over the last 10 to five years, so we\u2019re down to the bone and see these devastating cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The uncertainty is \u201cimpacting the morale a lot,\u201d and teachers are \u201ctrying our best to support each other and get us through the year and keep as many of our colleagues as we can,\u201d Blatt said.<\/p>\n

In Mansfield, Page said, during a town meeting they were discussing the need to focus on literacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they were laying off a number of reading specialists and librarians, along with cutting back on their arts programs, which we know are essential to young person\u2019s development,\u201d said Page. \u201cSo it just, it just makes no sense. The heart of it is that we don\u2019t have the funds needed to maintain the best public education system in the country, even though we have the resources in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n