Educators from three striking districts rallied at Stage Fort Park

Gallery • 10 Photos

Aleena Brown

Gloucester High School students Oliver Lane (left), Brooke Korpi (middle), and Keith Kershaw (right) pose with their homemade signs.

Hundreds of educators, parents, and supporters rallied at Stage Fort Park on Monday to support striking teachers from Gloucester, Beverly and Marblehead.

The rally began at 2, with parents, educators, and students from the various districts speaking out in solidarity with their teachers and paraprofessionals. 

“We can no longer remain silent,” West Parish Speech Pathologist Christine Travers said at the rally. “We are using our voices. We cannot shoulder the weight alone. We need help. We are stretched so thin during our work day that we can’t complete the legally mandated paperwork that demands hours each week. Instead, we’re forced to do it outside of school hours.” 

During the rally, senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey both reached out to share their support for Massachusetts educators. 

“Our educators fight for our kids everyday,” Warren said in her statement. “They deserve fair pay, good benefits and resources and support for all they pour into our communities.”

“It is our job to put students in safe and healthy classrooms first, which requires that we value and support our educators,” Markey said in his statement. “Our educators deserve good wages, they deserve benefits and protections, they deserve a positive working environment that enables them to support students and communities.”

Samantha Rosato, a tutor at the Glover Elementary School in Marblehead, also spoke at the rally. Rosato previously worked as a lunch paraprofessional, but was paid below minimum wage. She later decided to join the Marblehead bargaining team because “enough is enough”. 

“As I began to participate more in our contract negotiations, I realized how many paraprofessionals, tutors and other essential education support professionals across the state never had a voice at the bargaining table and were routinely ignored and left behind,” Rosato said.

Community members from Wellesley, Haverhill, Andover, Woburn, Brookline and other districts also attended the rally to show solidarity with the striking unions.

To end the event, students from Gloucester and Marblehead gave speeches to show appreciation for their teachers.

“We all love Mr. Gentile, but we also love Rory,” GHS senior Lexi Thomas said. “We all love Mr. Leigh, but we also love Eric. We all love Mrs. Cristina, but I also love my mom. We love our teachers as teachers, but we also need to love and respect them as human beings in giving them adequate resources to be safe and healthy.”