Administrators with the Minneapolis school district say they have reached a contract settlement with their teachers, ending the union's strike 17 days after it began.
The agreement came early Friday morning, according to a press release sent out by the school board at 4:05 a.m.
"I'm so excited," school board chair Kim Ellison told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning Show. "This is what we were working toward. I'm so happy that our students get to go back to school."
Union officials have scheduled a news conference at 1:00 p.m. Friday.
If teachers approve the deal, students would return to class in Minneapolis on Monday.
Ratification votes are scheduled this weekend.
This is from the union's press release:
These historic agreements contain important wins for our students and the safe and stable schools they deserve. These deals are what 4,500 MFT members went on strike for. Details will be coming out shortly, but it is important to note that major gains were made on pay for Education Support Professionals, protections for educators of color, class size caps and mental health supports.
This was the first walkout by Minneapolis school teachers since 1970, which came at a time when strikes by public employees were illegal.
"It's all kind of a blur," said Minneapolis school superintendent Ed Graff. "The days run together into days and months and weekends."
A return to school plan is expected to be finalized by the end of the day.
The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Educational Support Professionals walked off the job on March 8th.
The key issues were class size, mental health care for students, and pay raises.
Including Friday, the around 30,000 students in the Minneapolis School District missed 14 days, and will have to make up nine of those at the end of the school year.