Leaders in Marblehead and Beverly brokered contract agreements with their striking teachers Tuesday evening, ending two of the state’s longest educator strikes in decades, and following more than two weeks of stalemate that left more than 7,100 students out of class and forced the court to intervene.
The full details of the new contracts in both districts have not yet been made available.
Marblehead students — who have missed 11 days of school since the union’s strike — will return to class Wednesday, as will students in Beverly — who have missed 12 days, eclipsing the Newton teacher strike earlier this year as the longest in recent history. As previously scheduled, it will be a half day of school in both districts before the Thanksgiving break.
Union members in Marblehead voted overwhelmingly to approve the contract, which includes improvements in wages, parental leave, and safety measures, union leaders said at a press conference outside Marblehead High School.
“We ratified a contract tonight that begins to correct systemic problems which have been decades in the making,” said Jonathan Heller, co-president of the Marblehead Education Association. “While we did not fully achieve every goal we were pursuing, we have made significant progress on the issues that matter most to our educators and our community.”
The Beverly School Committee said a deal had also been struck following Marblehead’s announcement.
“We are beyond relieved and thankful to share that the Beverly School Committee and the Beverly Teachers Association have reached a tentative agreement that will allow our students to return to school,” Beverly School Committee Chair Rachael Abell said in a statement. “We deeply regret that their education was negatively impacted by the union’s strike.”
Abell said the new contract includes “strong compensation and necessary improvements.” The union’s leaders signed the agreements late Tuesday night at Beverly High School, where members celebrated with cheers and applause in the auditorium. They voted to ratify it later.
In a Facebook post about highlighting the union’s victories, the Beverly Teachers Association said paraprofessionals will see their wages rise more than 65 percent over the course of the three-year contract, and teachers at the highest salary step will receive a 16 percent raise. The union also won six weeks of paid parental leave, increased tuition reimbursements, reductions in staff meeting time, and more support for dysregulated students and the educators working with them, the post said.
“Our educators will be returning back to school tomorrow with one of the best agreements in the state,” said Julia Brotherton, president of the Beverly union at a press conference Tuesday night outside the high school.
“This new contract,” she continued, “will ensure that paraprofessionals are on track to earning a living wage and our teachers’ salaries will finally catch up to what is needed to attract and retain the best educators for our students in Beverly.”
Marblehead and Beverly are the last of the three North Shore teachers unions to secure favorable contracts after voting to walk off the job this month. Last Friday, teachers and paraprofessionals in nearby Gloucester won higher pay and parental leave after striking for 15 days.
In the last two years, Massachusetts teachers have gone on strike in nine cities and towns, winning higher pay and better benefits, especially for paraprofessionals, whose wages are typically less than half the average teacher’s salary.
Heller said the union won “significant increases in pay that bring us closer to regional standards, safety in our classrooms, and progress towards modern parental leave.” The School Committee also agreed to give the union the right to form a committee, Heller said, that would hold the district accountable for ensuring the safety of students and staff.
Marblehead School Committee Chair Jennifer Schaeffner said fully funding the educators’ four-year contract agreements will require Marblehead voters to override Proposition 2 1/2, the state’s cap on property tax increases. But voters have repeatedly rejected override the town’s requests, most recently in 2023.
“We are going to have some work to do in our community to fund this new contract,” Schaeffner said at a press conference Tuesday evening.
“A Proposition 2 1/2 override,” she added, “will only pass when the community demands it.”
Educators in all three North Shore communities had been working under expired contracts for several months. Gloucester and Beverly educators announced their work stoppage Nov. 7. Marblehead teachers authorized their strike Nov. 8.
All three unions collectively accrued more than $1.5 million in fines for striking illegally, according to court documents, draining their bank accounts. But the financial penalties did not deter them, nor did calls from Governor Maura Healey to return to work.
In an effort to end the North Shore strikes, state and local leaders started responding more aggressively. The Beverly School Committee announced Sunday it would begin withholding pay from striking educators and a spokesperson for Marblehead said Monday the district intends not to issue checks this week to striking workers, most of whom are paid every other week.
In Gloucester, where the district also cut off pay to its striking workers, starting the first day, educators will get their full paychecks this Friday and will get retroactive pay for the one day that was cut from their check two days ago, according to the Gloucester teachers union. Teachers, who get paid every other week, negotiated the reinstatement of pay as part of their return-to-work agreement.
Marblehead teachers won’t be paid for the days they did not work while on strike, according to their return-to-work agreement, but they will receive their usual compensation during the days the school year is extended to make up for students’ missed class time.
Beverly’s return-to-work agreement was not publicly available Tuesday.
An Essex Superior Court ordered Beverly and Marblehead teachers and school committees into fact-finding, which began Monday and is being led by a neutral third party to help resolve the disputes, such as providing information on whether teachers are underpaid, and if so, to what extent the districts can afford to pay more.
But the Beverly and Marblehead unions did not agree to comply with fact-finding because any determination issued by the court-ordered fact-finder would be nonbinding.
Deanna Pan can be reached at deanna.pan@globe.com. Follow her @DDpan.