Story at a glance
- Teachers in Minneapolis Public Schools are continuing to strike over wages, class sizes and mental health support.
- District officials and the teacher’s union have been going back and forth negotiating a contract for days.
- Minneapolis Public Schools offered to increase starting wages for education support professionals to $23 an hour, which is about $35,000 annually.
A teachers strike in Minneapolis enters its 10th day Monday as teachers continue to negotiate over class sizes, salaries and mental health support for students at Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS).
Educators and district officials have been going back and forth over terms of a new contract. Over the weekend, Minneapolis Public Schools released a status update on its negotiations with teachers and said it offered to increase starting wages for 85 percent of current education support professionals (ESP) to $23 per hour or more — which is close to $35,000 annually.
MPS also offered to increase wages over two years by 8.2 to 34.6 percent, depending on the job classification, bringing the average increase to 15.6 percent. The district also offered to increase pay for the lowest paid ESPs from $15.45 per hour to $18.10 per hour.
“MPS shared its last, best and final ESP offer with union leaders that underscore the district’s commitment to honoring the contribution ESPs make to our schools and students,” said MPS in a statement on Sunday.
America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.
However, issues concerning class sizes and mental health support were not addressed, according to the latest status update provided by MPS.
The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Educational Support Professionals (MFT) has not gone on strike in nearly 50 years and now is asking for pivotal changes they argue create, “safe and stable schools.”
Among the teachers’ demands are requests for more mental health support like counselors, social workers and psychologists as well as efforts to better support and retain educators of color. Teachers also want safer COVID-19 protocols, like offering quarantine support for educators who are caregivers too.
MFT leaders responded to MPS’s “last, best and final” offer in a video posted to the union’s Facebook page, saying they had passed over the district’s offer and that both parties were scheduled to discuss it again on Monday afternoon.
“This contract needs to get settled. We want kids back in school and it feels like we’re the only ones who are acting like that right now,” said MFT.
MPS has approximately 31,000 students and about 6,100 staff members across its district, Minnesota’s largest urban school district. MPS has cancelled classes for pre-K through 12th grade for the duration of the teachers strike.
READ MORE STORIES FROM CHANGING AMERICA
NASA’S MARS HELICOPTER WILL CONTINUE FLYING ON RED PLANET
WOLVERINE CAPTURED, COLLARED IN ‘ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXPERIENCE’ FOR UTAH RESEARCHERS
HEAVY ALCOHOL USE LINKED TO 232M MISSED WORKDAYS IN US EACH YEAR
WHAT HAPPENS IF BIDEN CANCELS STUDENT LOANS?
changing america copyright.
