Contract talks are underway between the St. Paul School District and the unions representing its teachers and cafeteria workers, and district officials are pledging a united front to contain costs.
There is a lot riding on the outcome.
Enrollment has been on the decline, budget-cutting has become an annual exercise and at least one union — the St. Paul Federation of Teachers — is urging the district to go to voters next fall to pursue new funding for schools.
Board Chairman Jon Schumacher said that the district first must show that it is using its budget efficiently and effectively. As part of that effort, district officials outlined in advance of its second negotiating session with teachers on Oct. 12 what they call the "guiding values" for talks with all of its unions, one of which states: "Working within our budget while meeting financial obligations."
The district also announced this week its intention to have all employees be paid $15 per hour by 2020. Teaching assistants are on track to hit that mark in 2019 — at a cost of $600,000. The district's current offer to cafeteria workers would get them there in 2020 for $350,000, but union members have raised objections to that proposal in often raucous recent appearances before the school board.
In a statement Tuesday, Superintendent Joe Gothard said: "We are investing in the people who make a significant impact on the lives of our students every day. They are the staff who provide meals to our students and those who work in classrooms alongside our teachers."
As for the teachers, more than half of those in St. Paul earn more than $75,000 a year, compared with 15 percent of other teachers in the state.
Contracts expired this summer for teachers and cafeteria workers.