Thousands of St Paul educators on Wednesday voted to go on strike if a new contract with the district can't be reached.
The teachers have been working without a contract since last April, and is the fourth consecutive time that the ion has taken a strike vote.
There was a walk out by St. Paul teachers in 2020, but it lasted only four days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all schools in the district.
"We're frustrated that we're here again, we've been doing strike votes since 2018, we have to bargain every two years, and we shouldn't get to this point," said Leah VanDassor, St. Paul Federation of Educations president and teacher at Highland Park Middle School.
The union represents 3,700 teachers, and officials say two-thirds of their members voted, with 92 percent favoring a walkout if there is no new contract.
"We've been making good progress with our district on mediation," VanDassor said. "But, there's just so many things that didn't get discussed for so many months, that now we're really spending a lot of time on things that we should have buttoned up a while ago."
The educators are calling for higher wages, lower insurance costs and reduced class sizes among other things.
A strike is not imminent.
Communications Director Erica Wacker says with COVID relief money going away and a more than $107 million district budget shortfall, balancing it all is tricky.
"The COVID relief money was onetime money, we also have had declining enrollment over the past several years and a lot of our funding is based on how many students we have," Wacker tells WCCO.
The district and teachers have been making progress during mediation according to Wacker.
"These contract talks have been productive, and while we don't feel the vote is necessary towards moving this process along toward a fair contract for all three of SPFE's bargaining groups, we do respect SPFE's right to take this collective action," Wacker explains.
She adds that they're working to ensure teachers have the support they need to serve students and families, while at the same time ensuring a balanced budget. The two sides have another full day of mediation scheduled for next Friday.
Teachers need to give the district a ten-day notice before hitting the picket lines.
The St. Paul School District, the state's second-largest, is facing a $107.7 million deficit for the coming school year.
There was a walk out by St. Paul teachers in 2020, but it lasted only four days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all schools in the district.