The educators' unions are accusing local school committees of not bargaining in good faith, while some school leaders say the unions aren't offering counter-proposals.

Students won't be returning to school in Beverly and Gloucester Tuesday after weekend bargaining sessions didn't successfully end a strike educators began Friday. Marblehead teachers will be joining their neighboring districts' strike starting Tuesday.

At a press conference Monday, educators from the Beverly Teachers Association, Union of Gloucester Educators, and Marblehead Educators Association said their respective school committees and mayors are misleading families about the strike.

The unions said school leaders are not bargaining in good faith and are misrepresenting and delaying negotiations.

"Two of these districts, Beverly and Marblehead, employ the same anti-union law firm," said BTA co-president Julia Brotherton. "It seems clear that, on the advice of that firm, all three districts are deliberately stalling to punish educators and to send a message to other workers."

The unions, which are all associated with the Massachusetts Teachers Association, are fighting for increased wages, specifically for paraprofessionals, and benefits like improved paid parental leave.

"The reality is, we're asking for something reasonable and humane," Marblehead speech pathologist and mother Kaleigh Balestrieri said. "We should not have to choose between being the educators our students need and the parents our children deserve."

Right now, Marblehead teachers have 12 days of paid parental leave, with additional time up to 8 weeks from sick time only on consecutive calendar days, some of which can be unpaid. The union is asking for eight weeks paid by the district.

Margaret Rudolph, a Gloucester paraprofessional, makes about $26,000 working daily at an elementary school, where she's worked for nearly two decades, she said at the press conference. Other paras can make as little as around $22,000. The union is asking to see those wages up to $37,000 by 2027 to 2028.

"I am one of the highest paid paraprofessionals in Gloucester. That is shameful," Rudolph said. "We have given enough. We have reached the breaking point, and it is time for our city politicians to support our schools."

In Marblehead, athletic and extracurricular activities are also canceled, according to a notice on the Marblehead Public Schools website. Union leaders said their members have permission to coach or lead extracurriculars throughout the strike, and the cancelation came from the School Committee.

The most recent bargaining update on the MPS site as of Monday night is dated Oct. 17.

"It is clear that the School Committee is more interested in inflicting pain on students as well as educators, than settling a fair contract to avoid this unnecessary disruption," MEA Co-President Sally Chevry said. "We are demanding that the school committee stop focusing on pressure tactics and simply put their energy into bargaining."

Beverly School Committee Chair Rachael Abell said in a statement Sunday that the BTA hasn't moved from their first wage package proposal for paraprofessionals. Abell said they spent "many hours (Saturday) and many more hours" Sunday working on their proposal.

"We sincerely desire to make progress but we need the BTA to provide meaningful counter proposals versus demands and must understand that the wages cannot continue to be held for other monetary items to resolve," Abell said.

Gloucester School Committee Chair Kathleen Clancy said that the UGE has said they will not put forward another salary counter-proposal. Right now, there's a nearly $2.5 million difference between the committee and the union's salary proposal.

Clancy said their schools will provide breakfast and lunch for students starting Tuesday, as they try "to find common ground as quickly as we possibly can."

"When we see beloved Gloucester educators leaving our district and making tens of thousands of dollars more on day one, in these communities, it breaks our hearts," said UGE Co-President Rachel Salvo Rex. "We must end the hemorrhaging of our veteran educators, our newest teachers and staff who want to stay in Gloucester but cannot afford to."