MINNEAPOLIS — It's been close to one week since teachers in Minneapolis went on strike. Following a marathon of meetings and negotiations over the weekend, educators returned to the picket line on Monday morning after the union and district were unable to reach a deal.
With students out of school for a fifth day, teachers rallying outside the district headquarters were joined by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, whose district includes Minneapolis Public Schools.
On Sunday, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers wrapped up its sixth day of negotiations with the school district. The union is bargaining for multiple things, including enforceable contract language surrounding class size, mental health support, living wages for hourly ESPs and competitive pay for licensed staff.
"We're here, we're excited, we want to make a deal today, but that means we have to see our superintendent in that space. We have to see the elective leaders of our school board in that space," said Greta Callahan, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers.
Callahan told reporters Sunday there had been some "progress" at the bargaining table Saturday.
"They gave us something that for the first time ever talked about putting class size language into the contract. It's not exactly where we want to be, but it was easy for us then to give a very clear framework for what they can work off of — to settle this contract right now and get everyone back into their classrooms tomorrow," said Callahan.
"They've done it in St. Paul, we can do it here in Minneapolis," added Laden.
Sunday afternoon, representatives for Minneapolis Public Schools also held a press conference, where MPS Board of Education Vice Chair Jenny Arneson outlined what's "on the table" before the union:
- A class size proposal in contract language that guarantees class size caps at the highest need schools
- ESPs salary steps in year two that are on par with the teacher system of pay
- Increased base pay for ESPs
- Over the next two years, ESPs will see an average 9% increase to their salary
- An 8% increase both years to the district's lowest-paid ESPs
- A $3,000 bonus for all ESPs
- For teachers, better wage proposals than what was recently accepted in St. Paul
- Over $3 million in mental health, one-time investments aligned to union's top priorities
MPS Board of Education Treasurer Kimberly Caprini said although the district's current proposal doesn't reach all of the union's demands, they have reached their financial limit.
If this proposal is accepted, "we will have to make other drastic cuts unless the state provides additional funding in the next two years," Caprini said.
Daily updates can be found on the Minneapolis Public Schools website.
In a statement on the website, the district said "MPS has repeatedly proposed initiatives to build a MPS teaching staff that better reflects the cultural and racial diversity of its students, and better retain and recruit teachers of color."
They went on to say, "They fear the recent counter-proposals from the union would steer the district toward long-term financial crisis."
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