Ep 30: Jessica Tang, President of the Boston Teachers Union working to advance racial, social and economic justice.

In today's episode of Catalysts for Change, we talk to the President of the Boston Teachers Union, Jessica Tang. She is the first person of color, first openly queer and first woman in over thirty years to serve in this role. Jessica is a co-founder of the Teacher Activist Group-Boston and serves as a board member for several civic and labor groups, including Citizens for Public Schools and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. As a teacher-activist, she has been involved in many different community organizations working to advance racial, social and economic justice.

Our conversation with Jessica covers the Boston Teachers Union, Boston Public Schools, Covid-19, and back to school plans.

Jill and Jessica discuss the Boston Public Schools hybrid Reopening Plan and The Boston Teachers Union Reopening Plan.

One of the BTU’s biggest concerns is reaching the highest need students. Jessica points out in this conversation that one of the most significant learnings from spring was how difficult it was to engage students to get online at all. Teachers don’t feel comfortable going back into buildings that aren’t equipped with basic needs to ensure health and safety. Jessica’s perspective on reopening schools rests on these guiding principles: having the funding to do this right, putting safety first, and focusing on social, racial, and economic justice.

Boston Public Schools’ 2020-21 school year will start in a few weeks, and families are still waiting for a finalized reopening plan.