The St. Paul school district has reached a contract agreement with its teachers union, ending a three-day walkout.
The agreement was reached early Friday morning, and while all classes are still canceled, teachers are expected back at work at 1:00 p.m.
St. Paul educator strike ends today! #WeAreSPPS #WeAreSPFE https://t.co/7LjrpawvWe
— SPFE Local 28 (@SPFE28) March 13, 2020“Elected officials at all levels should be on notice,” Union president Nick Faber said. “Educators are willing to take mass action to get the schools our students deserve.”
A ratification vote has not been scheduled.
St. Paul schools have about 37,000 students.
Here are some of the gains made by the union, according to statement released early Friday:
- More social workers, nurses, intervention specialists, psychologists and multilingual staff.
- Expanding restorative practices to build positive school climates and help end the school-to-prison pipeline.
- More manageable workloads so we can give our students with special needs more one-on-one attention.
- Wage increases.
- Building-based substitute teachers for schools that chronically have a difficult time finding substitutes.
- Prep time for educational assistants who are interpreters
- An agreement to call for a moratorium on new charter schools.
Union leaders also said growing concerns about the coronavirus prompted both sides to take swift action to settle the dispute.
The tentative agreement gives students some of the additional supports they need and deserve. As school closures become more of a reality with COVAID-19 spreading across the nation, it was in the best interest of all involved to settle the contract.
“Only an unprecedented pandemic and concern over the health and safety of our students and staff stopped St. Paul educators from fighting harder and longer for more resources for our children,” said Faber. “Still, this strike demonstrated the power educators have when they use their collective voice.”
This was the first teachers strike in St. Paul since 1946.
