Sam Dysdale
State House News Service

Education Board Vice Chair Matt Hills on Tuesday urged state education officials to consider a novel strategy to deter illegal teacher strikes: don't make up the lost school days.

In a letter sent to Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Pedro Martinez during Tuesday's board meeting, Hills outlined what he described as existing authority that districts could use to seek waivers from the state's 180-day school year requirement for days lost to illegal strikes. That could also prevent striking teachers from making up lost pay.

"Massachusetts law requires a minimum 180-day school year, with educators typically paid for those minimum required days," Hills wrote. "Strikes by public educator unions have been illegal for many years in Massachusetts."

While public employee strikes are broadly illegal, education law means teachers are generally paid for strike days once they are made up. Districts must provide 180 days of instruction, so missed days are typically added to June or school breaks — when attendance is often sparse.

Hills argued that this has dulled the financial deterrent that exists for other public workers who would lose pay for striking.

"Those who are illegally striking are still typically paid for a minimum 180-day school year even when the strike's make-up days result in unusually low attendance which I believe effectively makes the school year less than 180 days for students," he wrote.

Under Hills' reading of state law and DESE regulations, districts could ask the commissioner to waive the 180-day requirement for days lost to an illegal strike, citing "extraordinary circumstances." If granted, districts would not schedule make-up days — and teachers would not be paid for the days they were on strike.

"I believe that Massachusetts law (Chapter 150E) and Department regulations enable districts to request that the Commissioner waive (reduce) the 180-day requirement for days lost to an illegal strike," Hills wrote. "I also believe that Massachusetts law states that school districts are not required to provide compensation for days lost to illegal strikes if the Commissioner grants a district's waiver request."

Hills did not call on Martinez to approve any specific waiver, noting, "I am not aware of any existing or forthcoming request that you may receive."

He framed the letter as clarifying what tools are available to superintendents and school committees as strikes have proliferated in recent years.

Since 2022, walkouts have hit districts including Newton, Beverly, Gloucester and Marblehead, often ending with new contracts delivering double-digit raises but also significant court-imposed fines. A judge fined the Newton Teachers Association $625,000 after an 11-day strike in early 2024.

Hills, a Newton resident and former chair of the district's school committee, pointed to Newton's attendance data to argue that the educational value of make-up days can be marginal.

"The issue of low student attendance during make-up days from a strike can be significant," he wrote. "For example, Newton's recent 11-day strike resulted in some make-up days with absentee rates 7-to-8 times greater than the non-strike average. The initial make-up days after the strike had average absentee rates of more than 34% (almost 7-times the non-strike average last year of approximately 5%) and a daily high absentee rate of approximately 39% (almost 8 times the non-strike average)."

Hills suggested that when attendance dips so sharply, the state is functionally falling short of its 180-day mandate, and that foregoing make-up days could be a worthwhile tradeoff if it prevents strikes.

The proposal cuts against a broader push by the Massachusetts Teachers Association to legalize teacher strikes.

On a website launched last spring about teachers strikes, MTA President Max Page wrote, "MTA members and other public employees are at a disadvantage at the bargaining table because they do not have the legal leverage to withhold labor if a fair contract cannot be negotiated in a timely manner."

He added, "Unions need the right to strike as a core part of their power to win fair contracts, to stand up for members' rights and to improve conditions in public schools and public higher education."

The union supports perennially-filed bills to legalize the strikes (H 2078 / S 1311), which this year are delayed on receiving votes out of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee.

Gov. Maura Healey has repeatedly opposed the strikes. 

In 2023, she said, "Every day when I see kids out of school because of a strike, my heart just breaks because kids have been through enough in terms of learning loss and the like." She added that she doesn't support legislation legalizing the strikes, and that it is "paramount that our kids be in school."

During North Shore strikes in late 2024, Healey said, "Our young people need to be back in school – it's time to get this done."

Incoming Education Secretary Steve Zrike negotiated contracts as Salem superintendent in 2024, and though several neighboring North Shore districts went on strike, Salem avoided a walk-out.

"Just because the contract expires does not mean that we will not have school," Zrike said at the time, according to the Salem Patch. "Because we're making good progress, everything will eventually — any of the wage increases — will be backdated to the beginning of the school year."

"It is not unusual that contracts lapse — especially if there are negotiations that are happening in good faith back and forth," he added.