HENNEPIN COUNTY, Minn. — The state's largest school district has tentatively agreed to a new contract for the first time in more than six months.
"This contract is nothing like we've ever negotiated before," said Anoka-Hennepin Education Minnesota (AHEM) Local 7007 President Val Holthaus.
The union and the district have been negotiating since the contract expired last June. AHEM filed for mediation with the Bureau of Mediation Services on Nov. 22 and the first session was scheduled for Jan. 3, 2024. Holthaus says the two met with mediators twice, calling them marathon sessions.
"They knew the teachers were united and they knew teachers were rallying in numbers they had never seen before," said Holthaus.
From gathering at board meetings to walking out at the end of school days, the union said it was calling attention to a lack of pay and short staffing. Holthaus says the district is down about 20 teachers.
"The pandemic was a huge bell weather of how the state of education has been," said Holthaus. "We needed to do something to attract teachers to Anoka-Hennepin and keep our teachers in Anoka-Hennepin."
The tentative deal includes an 8% pay raise over the two-year contract, a $750 bonus, added insurance contributions and sick day credits that apply toward insurance premiums when a teacher retires.
The statewide teacher's union, Education Minnesota (EdMN), released new data Thursday and reports, that for the first time in 2024, more than 50% of its regular local school districts have some sort of settlement.
That amounts to about 174 unions that have settled across the state. Another 164 have not yet - EdMN reports that's the slowest pace of settlements in 20 years, which is how far back its reliable data goes.
And like AHEM, it says at least 45 unions have filed for mediation, including Minneapolis and St. Paul.
It is perplexing to some experts, especially given the legislature backed billions of education dollars this past session. Anoka-Hennepin received $65 million, according to AHEM.
"I'm hoping that the movement that Anoka-Hennepin teachers made and the negotiating team for the district made will set a precedent to other school districts and also attract students to go into education," said Holthaus.
The district provided a statement about the tentative deal that would take effect immediately, writing, "The agreement was reached within the budget authority provided to the negotiators and the district is expecting AMEM membership to ratify and the School Board to approve the contract at their Feb. 26 meeting."
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: