By Michael Maguire

I just might be the only candidate for an election who’d rather have his original job. I love teaching and wish I did not have to leave the classroom. But the ever-increasing demands and ever-shrinking spending power have driven too many teachers out of the profession. I am running to become the next president of the Boston Teachers Union. I intend to help right the ship, and then sail back to my harbor in Boston Latin Academy.

I never intended to become a teacher. My goal was to become a lawyer and perhaps the governor someday. I double-majored in political science and the Classics (both Latin and Ancient Greek). Such a combination would surely grant me admission to a competitive law school. Perhaps it would have, had I not discovered teaching.

In 1994 a teacher at Boston Latin Academy decided to extend her maternity leave. The school needed a substitute teacher for the last part of the year. I needed a job. So my former Latin teacher called me (texting hadn’t been invented yet) to ask if I were interested. If you’ve seen the movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” then you know my story: Latin instead of music.

For the past 31 years I’ve taught Latin and Ancient Greek during the regular year; I’ve taught Latin, English, and algebra in summer school, and I’ve tutored students who were too ill to attend school. There is no better job than helping a young person discover the world.

Unfortunately rent, mortgages, grocery bills, student debt, utility bills, and car payments await us when we get home from work. “Remembering my why” doesn’t raise a family, nor does a 2% raise.

Over the past three contracts the average cost of living adjustment has been roughly 2.5% per annum. Such is not a livable wage, it’s more like low fat milk.

Two contracts ago we also got an additional 1.5% for accepting the district’s (special education) inclusion model. As a parent and a teacher I am in favor of inclusivity provided that educators get the time to fulfill the students’ needs and accommodations. The sad reality is that under this model we do not have the needed time. The result is overworked and overwhelmed adults, AND underserved students. I warned about these consequences when I voted against that contract — urging that we not rush into inclusion, but ensure it was indeed done right.

It gets worse. We have some schools in the district with what we call extended learning time (ELT). ELT was supposed to be enrichment (art, movement, etc) but in many schools the time was added to academics. More academics may seem like a good idea, but kindergarteners and elementary students can’t — and shouldn’t — sit more. Dismissal time is now at rush hour in many schools. Young students ought not sit in traffic for an hour at the end of a long day. We can and must do better.

Something has got to give. So I am willing to leave the classroom to become BTU president to improve our working conditions so that other teachers will not feel compelled to leave the profession.

My goal is simple: educators should be paid for all the work they do. Misogyny is a huge problem in our profession. (See my March 17, 2025 Op-Ed). Every teacher you know takes home papers to correct at night and makes lesson plans over the weekend, all for free. This is not the best way to appreciate teachers. Contrary to public opinion we do not get paid for the summer or vacations — we are paid a contractual hourly rate for a set number of hours — those confined to the school day.

Attracting and maintaining a corps of substitute teachers is imperative. God bless those who are already substitutes; their service is needed and appreciated. We just need twice or thrice as many. Maybe better pay would help?

Every school should have dedicated, licensed, and fully paid professionals who can step in when a colleague is absent. Teaching, which is 80% female, deserves the same treatment and respect as other professions which are heavily dominated by males.

Make no mistake, we are in a crisis now. Schools do not have enough substitutes — some days students have substitutes in 3 of 7 classes. I propose we employ current graduate students in schools of education to be immediate substitutes. It would be a win-win: BPS gets subs, the grad students get experience.

Our students desperately need field trips. Learning about the world only from books or computer screens is like enjoying a meal by only reading the menu. In order to foster more field trips, we need more substitute teachers, more funding, and dedicated transportation.

Some day all of us shall retire (if we don’t outright quit first). When we do, we are essentially on a fixed income. Since teachers are about 80% women, the female retirees live longer and thus need cost of living adjustments. As BTU president, a dignified retirement shall be a priority. Please note that the teachers fund their own retirement.

Finally we need time in our day to do the job. Currently we teachers are like Lucy Ricardo working at the chocolate factory. The district is running the conveyer belt faster and faster each year. I get 47 minutes a day to plan, organize, grade, photocopy (assuming the copiers are working), use the restroom, check email, call parents on our personal phones since the district does not provide phones, refresh the students’ supplies which teachers most likely purchase out of pocket, etc. It’s simply impossible. And anyone who says otherwise is welcome to join me in my classroom.

Let me leave you where I began: Teaching is the best job I never knew I wanted. Should I be elected as BTU president, I shall return to the classroom after negotiating the next contract. I believe a leader should work under the same conditions as those he serves. After all, that’s how we got air conditioners in the schools. A few years ago I challenged the mayor and superintendent to turn off their AC until the schools got AC. They did not turn theirs off, thankfully they installed AC units in most of our schools.

Michael Maguire teaches Latin and Ancient Greek at Boston Latin Academy and is a candidate for the presidency of the Boston Teachers Union. The ideas expressed here are his own.