Students Voice Their Opinions About the Contract Situation

Last week, I wrote an article on what kids at South think of an impending strike. It was published in the Sunday Telegraph today with some suspiciously awkward typos. (FYI for anyone unfortunate enough to read it there: I don't know who "Steve Phyllis" is, but I do know Stevie Phillis is not a guy.)

Lately, it seems as though a different kind of March Madness has been on the minds of many students in Nashua — and it definitely has nothing to do with brackets.

As the situation between the teacher’s union and the city of Nashua continues to unfold, from vetoed contract proposals to negotiations and the date set for a teachers’ strike, students are as worried about what might happen as all of the parents, business owners, politicians, and taxpayers in our city.

To get a better idea of what exactly kids were thinking, I posed the following question to my friends and classmates: If the city doesn’t come to an agreement with the teachers, how do you think it’ll affect you?

The answers I received were all very different.

“I don’t think the Nashua community understands how much the students will be affected by a strike,” said senior Peter Shao. “A lot of parents are already thinking about transferring their kids to BG or other schools.”

Some students were outraged at the fact that substitutes may come in to teach if a settlement is not reached before March 31.

“There’s no point of my coming to school during a strike even if other people come to teach us,” said senior Korie Kilgore. “What am I going to learn from a substitute who may not be qualified to teach?”

Another problem that students reported is the question of AP exams in May.

“If the union and the city can’t come to an agreement fast enough, it’ll put a big strain on AP students, because most of us still need to learn material to get ready for the exams,” said junior Krista Spiedel.

“You can’t just expect kids to sit at home and prepare for AP exams on their own without the teachers,” said junior Sarah Swidler. “There’s no motivation.”

Students are also quick to point out how a failure in negotiations would affect school activities outside of the classroom, such as spring sports.

“Our lacrosse coach won’t coach us if the union and the city can’t reach an agreement,” said junior Liane Lippert. “Without her, we’ll most likely have to forfeit any games during the strike.”

For others, it would mean much more than just missing out on extracurricular activities.

“If we don’t have school for a prolonged period of time, Health Occupation students like me won’t get enough clinical hours to get their LNA,” said senior Ashley Wheeler. “For a lot of us, that’s how we plan to get through college.”

It’s no doubt that students are frustrated that the problem has been drawn out for so long, but most are willing to understand the situation from both points of view.

“I try not to look at this as something that’s ruining my high school experience,” said junior Stevie Phillis. “In the end, this is the teachers’ last resort.”

Seniors Teresa Scalzi, Jackie Teller, Megan Crooker and Joanne Dube came up with the idea to wear blue shirts to school to show support for the teachers on March 21. Since then, they've rescheduled another "Blue T-shirt Day" for March 31, after selling blue t-shirts on March 27 at all lunches for three dollars. (There's no profit, either – that's exactly how much the shirts cost at AC Moore.)

No matter what happens tomorrow or in the days that follow, all of the students I talked to are clearly unanimous about one thing; the situation needs to be resolved, and the sooner, the better.

Stay tuned to the blog for more updates as negotiations continue at the Crowne Plaza Hotel today.

--Mayesha