Absent an agreement, the 600 teachers of New Haven Teachers Association (NHTA) will walk out of their classrooms and onto picket lines on May 20 for the schools that the 12,000 students of New Haven Unified deserve.

New Haven teachers have been in lengthy negotiations with New Haven Unified School District (NHUSD) to secure the resources New Haven schools and students need, stop cuts to student support services, win fair pay to recruit and retain dedicated teachers, and fight attempts to increase class sizes in grades 1-3. Despite every effort by NHTA to work collaboratively to reach an agreement, NHUSD’s administration and school board refuse to improve student learning conditions and stand with teachers #ForOurStudents.

“We are putting New Haven Unified School District managers and school board members on notice,” said NHTA President Joe Ku’e Angeles in an announcement on May 8. “While we all remain hopeful to reach a fair, student-centered settlement that appropriately compensates teachers, we’re prepared for the worse. And we know it’s going to take a real change in direction by management and our school board to help make an agreement happen.”

New Haven parents and the community are standing up to fight alongside teachers—a community town hall meeting on Wednesday night was standing room only and more than 1,100 tuned in to the Facebook Live stream. This comes after the May 6 release of the non-binding, neutral Fact Finder Report, which showed that New Haven Unified can indeed afford to meet NHTA’s demands for the resources their students deserve.

“We have considered the report and we are now giving the district notice we’re going on strike May 20,” Angeles said. “We hope district managers and school board members will come to their senses.”

NHTA President Joe Ku’e Angeles

Last week, NHUSD’s Board of Education adopted a vicious, anti-union resolution that threatens teachers who exercise their legal right to strike. The school board had to hastily call a special meeting to amend that resolution, which included factual errors about the legality of a strike. CTA has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge over the union-busting resolution.

A GoFundMe has also been established to raise money for NHTA’s Strike Fund.

Stay up to date with the New Haven teachers’ struggle by liking their Facebook page and following on Twitter and Instagram. Please help share news and information of their fight and help NHTA win the resources New Haven teachers need and their students deserve. #WeAreNHTA