Contact: Megan Boldt, megan.boldt@edmn.org, 651-245-9163 (cell)
St. Paul educators still waiting for district response on contract proposal
St. Paul, Minnesota, March 10, 2020 — St. Paul educators are still waiting for district leaders to respond to their scaled-down proposal offered late last night in hopes of averting a strike.
The Saint Paul Federation of Educators’ plan reduced and stretched out increased staffing over multiple years to give the district flexibility in budgeting. SPFE’s proposal represents just 3.4 percent of the district’s total budget over the next two years.
The district’s last proposal dramatically slashed the number of support staff the Saint Paul Federation of Educators proposed to help meet students’ needs.
“We made a sincere effort to work with the district on reaching an agreement that wouldn’t leave any student or educator behind while giving the district flexibility with its budgeting,” said SPFE President Nick Faber. “We are ready to come back to the table when the district is ready to make some movement.”
Educators will rally at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Global Arts Plus Upper Campus, 810 Palace Ave. in St. Paul. From there, they will march to the district’s office at 360 Colborne St. for another rally at 4 p.m.. The St. Paul school board was supposed to meet this afternoon at district headquarters, but cancelled its meeting.
SPFE leaders will be available for interviews after the 4 p.m. rally at 360 Colborne St.
SPFE’s top priorities include more mental health supports in every building, more multilingual staff to help students and families feel welcome in school, additional educators working with students with special needs and expanding restorative practices across the district.
Negotiations began last May between SPFE and the district. The union offered 31 proposals and filed for mediation in November because the district never offered counters to many of those proposals. Monday marked their 12th mediation session.