Copyright Star Tribune
Minneapolis Public Schools and its educators failed to seal a tentative deal on new contracts, and now, teachers and other licensed staff members will start voting Thursday on whether to authorize a strike. Tuesday’s mediation session between the district and union stretched 15 hours, ending just before midnight Wednesday as offers exchanged hands in the latest round of closed-door talks. “We’re not asking for the sun and the moon,” Catina Taylor, president of the chapter representing education support professionals (ESPs), said in a statement Wednesday announcing that a strike vote threatened for the first time last week would proceed. Union members will vote Thursday, Friday and Monday whether to authorize a strike, although, if approved, a walkout wouldn’t likely begin until November since a 15-day waiting period is required to let the two sides continue to negotiate. Another mediation session is also scheduled for Oct. 30. The district didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday, but in a statement last week, officials said “the district’s budget is tighter than ever due to the historic underfunding of public education and expenses outpacing our revenue.” The district added then that it hoped to reach an agreement that’s “fair, student-centered, and ensures the district can thrive even if there are state and federal funding cuts.” Minneapolis district and federation leaders agreed to the previous teachers contract just ahead of a strike-authorization vote in April 2024. That deal, which expired on June 30 of this year, gave the teachers their highest pay increase in 25 years. The Minneapolis Federation of Educators (MFE), which also represents teachers and other licensed staff members, has suggested that the state’s third-largest district could tap budget reserves and funds earmarked for outside contracts to cover any new agreements in the three separate contracts. Teachers and other licensed staff members are seeking pay increases of 7% in 2025-26 and 6% in 2026-27. Adult educators, who work with immigrants and lifelong learners, would be moved into the same salary schedule as teachers, and ESPs would receive pay increases of 12% in the first year and 10% in the second year, under the union’s proposals. In a 44-page document detailing its proposals, the federation accuses the district of spending too much on outside contracts, especially relating to transportation, and of keeping too much in its rainy-day reserves. This year, the district tapped about $15 million in reserves to help erase a $75 million deficit in the 2025-26 school year budget. That follows the use of $55 million in rainy-day funds to help plug a $100 million-plus shortfall in 2024-25.
