Minneapolis teachers go on strike Tuesday, St. Paul reaches deal

Minneapolis teachers and educational support professionals will go on strike Tuesday, and all classes will be canceled.

Union leaders announced the walkout Monday evening, saying they have been unable to reach an agreement with Minneapolis Public Schools. They will begin picketing outside schools Tuesday morning.

St. Paul Public Schools will be in session Tuesday after the district reached a tentative agreement with the teachers union late Monday.

The teachers unions in both cities pushed for higher wages, smaller class sizes and more mental health supports for students. The Minneapolis union has also asked for a higher starting wage for educational support professionals in the district. Throughout months of negotiations, leaders in the two districts pointed to rising costs and revenue shortfalls due to declining enrollment, saying the unions' requests weren't in the budget.

"Our members have put out a clear mandate — we need a liveable wage for [educational support professionals], we need more mental health supports, we need class size caps and we need competitive wages with other districts," said Greta Callahan, president of the teacher chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers at a news conference announcing the strike. "[District officials] have not moved significantly on any of those things. They are not even pretending to avoid a strike."

Shortly after the union's announcement, Minneapolis schools notified families of its 28,700 students that all classes, from pre-K through 12th grade, would be canceled during the strike. Varsity athletics will continue, but other after-school activities are called off.

In a statement, Minneapolis Superintendent Ed Graff said, "While it is disappointing to hear this news, we know our organizations' mutual priorities are based on our deep commitment to the education of Minneapolis students. MPS will remain at the mediation table nonstop in an effort to reduce the length and impact of this strike."

Families should arrange child care, the district said, noting it can offer only a limited emergency child care program for students in pre-K through fifth grade.

Students can pick up meal bags with one breakfast and one lunch at their schools each day, and school-based clinics and mental health services will continue, the district said.

Negotiations between the Minneapolis and St. Paul unions and the school districts dragged on for months, and the unions filed notice in late February that they would strike as soon as March 8 if agreements could not be reached.

Discussions intensified over the weekend as the possibility of a strike grew closer and mediation sessions between the teachers unions and the districts ran more than 12 hours a day.

Minneapolis Public Schools and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) presented comprehensive offers Saturday, according to an update on the district's website.

At the Monday news conference, Shaun Laden, president of the educational support professionals chapter of the Minneapolis union, said the district's offers were "unacceptable."

"We need deep systemic change," he said, adding that four of the district's bargaining units— teachers, educational support professionals, bus drivers and food service workers — voted to authorize strikes in this cycle of contract negotiations.

Callahan pointed to the debate over the state surplus.

"We should not even be here talking about fighting for a quality education when we have over a $9 billion surplus in this state," Callahan said. "My message to our members is that is more than 9 billion reasons why we need to be on that picket line tomorrow."

Laden said the union is calling for the district to "do better with the resources we have" to raise the starting wage of support staff, which is now $24,000 yearly. That would help fill the hundreds of vacancies and reduce high turnover rates for those positions, he said.

The union's "hard line," Callahan said, is a starting wage of $35,000 for educational support professionals.

Callahan said Monday that the next mediation session hasn't been scheduled.

In St. Paul, talks resumed at 10:30 a.m. Monday, just hours after the previous session adjourned at 4 a.m. Mediation sessions are closed to the public.

The tentative agreement on a two-year contract was announced around 8:30 p.m. Monday. It includes higher wages, including for educational assistants, as well as class size caps, increased mental health supports and one-time payments for educators, the union said. Union leaders say they will share details with members before releasing them to the public.

"This agreement could have been reached much earlier. It shouldn't have taken a strike vote, but we got there," said St. Paul Federation of Educators President Leah VanDassor. At a news conference Monday night, VanDassor said the last days of mediation marked a turning point in the relationship between the union and the district.

"It's a step forward in how that relationship is going to be," she said.

In a statement Monday night, Superintendent Joe Gothard wrote: "I am thankful that both bargaining teams were able to work together and come up with solutions that honor what is best for our students. I believe we have arrived at fair and equitable agreements that respect our collective desire to do right by our students, while working within the district's budget and enrollment limitations."

Gothard said he'll soon be sharing more about the agreement, which must be formally approved by the Board of Education.

The St. Paul union's membership must also decide whether they want to accept the tentative agreement. A ratification vote will be scheduled at a later date, union leaders said Monday.