MPLS Superintendent Calls New Contract 'Fair And Equitable'

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Public Schools reached a tentative contract agreement with striking teachers and education support professionals Friday. Pending a membership vote by the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, students can plan to return to class Monday.

As of Friday, students missed 14 days of classes since the strike began on March 8. Under state law, public school districts must offer 165 days of instruction. Schools must also fulfill grade-specific requirements for total hours of instruction.

Minneapolis Public Schools are now nine days under the annual state requirement. The last day of school was originally scheduled for June 10.

"This has been a life-changing experience for all of us," Minneapolis Superintendent Ed Graff said in a statement. "Through it all, we have seen the power and passion of our community, the commitment of our staff and the intense need to focus on our students. I believe MPS and MFT have arrived at a fair and equitable agreement that honors the requests and needs of our staff."

Graff said that graduation ceremony dates are not impacted, and more details about calendar changes will be shared with families "soon."

Meanwhile, the union praised the new contract for the "major gains" made on staff pay, race equality, limits on class sizes, and mental health support for students.

"This is a historic day. This is a historic fight," Federation of Teachers president Greta Callahan said at a news conference. While praising the new contract, Callahan also vowed to continue the fight for better conditions.

Details of the tentative contract have not yet been released. However, Friday's agreement came about five days after the district presented its "final" offer to the union.

Here were the details of that offer:

• Increase starting wages for 85% of current ESPs to $23 per hour or more, bringing most full-time teachers close to $35,000 annually
• Increase wages over two years between 8.2 percent and 34.6 percent (depending on job classification), with an average increase of 15.6 percent
• Advancement on the salary schedule
• Move lowest-paid teachers from $15.45 per hour to $18.0 per hour
• Pay teachers $6,000 in bonuses ($3,000 in each of the next 2 years)
• $3.5 million to additional hours for ESPs; and
• Four additional paid duty days for professional development and collaboration