Teachers union leader announces her campaign for Minneapolis school board seat

Greta Callahan, teachers chapter president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, is running for a seat on the Minneapolis school board.

Callahan took to social media Tuesday to announce her campaign for the District 6 seat, representing the southwest portion of the city. The candidate filing period opens May 21.

“I grew up in District 6, I’m the parent of a student in District 6 and I went to school in District 6,” she said in an interview. “I’m excited to work with the board and new superintendent to make change in Minneapolis Public Schools.”

The seat she is seeking is currently held by Ira Jourdain, who has said he will not be running for re-election. It is one of four Minneapolis school board seats that will be on the ballot in November.

In March 2022, she led the union’s 4,500 members through a strike that stretched for nearly three weeks as educators pushed for higher wages, more mental health support for students, class size caps and protections for educators of color.

The union is in negotiations over its next teacher contract and is asking for an 8.5% salary increase for teachers in the first year of the next contract and 7.5% in the second.

Callahan has been on leave from her role as a Minneapolis kindergarten teacher to serve as the union’s teacher chapter president. If elected to the school board, she will vacate that job — by law, school board members cannot make more than $20,000 as an employee of the district.