WEA reaches contract agreement for district’s union educators

After 13 months of negotiation, teachers and paraprofessionals from the Waltham Educators Association voted to ratify a new contract for union educators across the district on Jan. 29.

The contract is set to include a 10% salary increase over the next three years, a $3 per hour pay increase for paraprofessionals, 12 weeks of parental leave and a half day for staff and students on the last day of the school year, according to WEA co-president Ryan Hoyt.

WEA and Waltham Public Schools participated in 18 negotiation sessions before reaching an agreement on the 2025-2028 contract.

According to a WEA Facebook post, the contract will assist in increasing competition with neighboring districts.

“We believe that our new contract makes us competitive with our neighboring districts and will help recruit and retain highly qualified professionals for Waltham Public Schools,” WEA wrote in a post on Jan. 29.

The WEA is a member union of more than 800 pre-kindergarten to 12th grade public educators in Waltham represented by both the Massachusetts Teacher’s Association and the National Education Association.

Members of the Waltham School Committee are set to vote to approve the proposed contract at the committee’s meeting on Feb. 4.