Hudson

Thousands of teachers and parents were shocked in 1987 when Hudson School Superintendent Peter Toohey sent a letter to school staff that the Middlesex News said “could best be described as pouring gasoline on a fire.”

As teachers were trying to decide whether to strike, Toohey sent them a letter that said, “If you allow a small group of militants to determine what is to happen, you are choosing the position of the majority of German citizens who looked the other way in prewar Germany when the Nazi scourge undertook the genocide of European Jews.”

The community was outraged by the incendiary comments, with more than 1,200 residents quickly signing a petition demanding that the School Committee denounce the letter. The Middlesex News editorialized, “How can any educated person compare a teacher strike with the Holocaust? Wild rhetoric like that can serve only to alienate teachers and discourage efforts to reach an equitable contract agreement.”

That proved to be true. The situation worsened. The teachers struck, but the schools were kept open despite the lack of staff. Mayhem ensued, according to students who reported that children in grades four, five and six were put in charge of younger students. At the high school, the students said, “Kids were going wild in the halls. It’s out of control.”

The three-year contract was finally settled after 72 hours with raises of 6.5, 6.5 and 7 percent in all three years, the reinstatement of sabbatical leaves and other benefits.