Minneapolis teachers, support professionals return to picket lines Monday

Monday will be the tenth day students in Minneapolis Public Schools have been out of class.

This comes after the district issued what it called its best and final offer Sunday for education support professionals as members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers continue to strike.

RELATED: District puts forth ‘final offer’ for Minneapolis Public Schools support staff

District officials say after Monday, students will be five days short of the instructional time that is required by the State of Minnesota, and now parents and students are hoping a resolution comes soon.

“It’s been hard for him,” said parent Chialao Yang, the parent of a student in Minneapolis Public Schools. “But I think it’s a learning curve for us in general, to know that, you know, we’re working for the, the teachers and hoping that they will get a bargain coming up.”

With the latest offer, Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education Chair Kim Ellison says cuts will need to be made if a deal is approved.

The offer includes a wage increase for 85% of education support professionals to $23 per hour. According to the district, that would bring most of them to an annual salary of nearly $35,000 a year. They would also receive $6,000 in bonuses over the span of two years.

“We believe this contract both means what they asked for and demonstrates a measure of the respect they deserve. We are asking them to accept this offer today,” said Ellison.

The district is pushing this deal, but the union disputes the math.

“They’re trying to make it seem like they’re offering exactly what we want, but 4% is not much money. It’s a dollar, it’s not bringing us up to $35,000 – it will probably bring us up to $27,000 starting, which is not what we want, said Mary Webb Hampton, a member of the MEFT and ESP bargaining team.

Monday, teachers plan to picket outside of schools and district buildings, and will rally at the Davis Center in North Minneapolis at 12 p.m.

Bargaining between the district and union is also expected to resume Monday afternoon as well. You can watch an update provided by union leaders Monday morning in the video player below.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS will continue to update this story as the situation develops.