Revere Teachers went to this week’s City Council meeting to advocate for budget changes to maintain services for Special Education students. Despite invitations from several councillors, the chair refused to allow any teacher to speak on the school budget – first requiring a Revere resident – then demanding that residents comment narrowly on the published agenda items for that night.

We’ll be raising our voices at School Committee on Tuesday June 16. Members can RSVP with the link in our email newsletter.

Anyone can read our Op-Ed in the Revere Advocate and share it.

Here are the comments we weren’t allowed to put on the record:

Send an Action Network letter to Revere Pols!

The Revere School Committee’s proposed budget, if adopted by the city, would cause real harm to our schools and students through cuts to special education services, student-facing positions, and programs that support our most vulnerable learners. What’s worse, many of these cuts do not have to happen. The School Committee has the ability to reconsider these choices and amend the budget to prioritize students and the services they rely on every day.

We are educators. We understand tight budgets, enrollment shifts, and the broader failures of state funding. We are not asking for the impossible. We are saying that if educators had been part of this process, we could have provided critical input on the devastating impact these choices will have on students and services. Instead of cutting tens of thousands of dollars from public relations management, the School Committee has decided to cut services like Adaptive Physical Education for our youngest students. For many students with intellectual and cognitive disabilities, this is their only opportunity to access structured physical education outside of the classroom during the school day.

Please take action now! Contact the Mayor and School Committee and tell them:

School Committee — We need you to reconsider and amend your budget at the June 16 Committee meeting.

City Council — We need you to uphold your fiduciary responsibility and ensure transparency by thoroughly reviewing the RPS budget.

Mayor Keefe — We need you to send a final RPS budget to the City Council that fully funds our schools instead of prioritizing stabilization and reserve funds.

Send an Action Network Letter to Revere Pols!