Front Page of Boston Union Teacher Newsletter November 1980 Issue https://openarchives.umb.edu/digital/collection/p15774coll27 The picture shows a depiction of Boston Mayor Kevin White (D) tossing peanuts to Boston school children who look up woefully at the scraps. White wears a hat of his “friends” dancing around the Parkman House, alluding to White’s notorious nepotism and corruption at the expense always of the Boston School Department. The title reads “Cooking With Kevin…Goaded Union a la White” by Kathy Kelley, BTU President.
1980.
Boston is still seeing the effects of Judge Garrity’s court-ordered busing and desegregation. Recent decisions on Affirmative Action demand that changes be made to the hiring practices in Boston Public Schools, directly conflicting with Union fights to save tenured teachers’ jobs and honor the protections that come with seniority encoded in the Union contracts. The Boston School Department has gained a reputation for being ineffective, subjecting it to heavy criticism from both City Hall and the BTU.
