Teachers strike, settle as state shuts down

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By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN

St. Paul School District educators went back to work on Friday, March 13, 2020 after a three-day strike, and are now teaching online during the state Stay at Home order.

“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 St. Paul Federation of Educators (SPFE) President Nick Faber. “Still, this strike demonstrated the power educators have when they use their collective voice.”

The strike followed more than nine months of negotiations.

The agreement includes:

• 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.

• Up to six hours of mental health and trauma-informed training for educators.

• Smaller workloads so that students with special needs get more one-on-one attention.

• Wage increases of 1.5% in the first year of the contract and 2% in the second.

• 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 until a community impact study is completed.

After an SPFE member vote, the executive board certified the results March 20. Students did not return to classrooms, however, as the district implemented online learning.

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