Parents in Newton, Massachusetts, have filed a class-action lawsuit against the teachers' union following a strike over contract negotiations that shut down schools for 11 days.
The school district has canceled its February vacation in an effort to make up some of the days lost to strike.
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The lawsuit alleges that the union knowingly, willfully and intentionally chose to break the law by engaging in an illegal strike. Public employees are barred by law from striking in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit adds that the lives of the 12,000 students and their parents were thrown into "chaos" as a result. It also notes that the strike "interfered with the state constitutional right of these children to a public education through intimidation and coercion."
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The class action names the NTA, its leadership team, the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) and the National Education Association (NEA) as defendants, saying the larger unions conspired with the NTA and supported its efforts.
The parents allege that "real damage" was done during the strike, in the form of learning loss, emotional distress and economic impacts and call for the court to award damages.
This is the latest in a series of lawsuits and court action filed because of the strike, and the union is already facing $625,000 in court-ordered fines.
