More than 1,000 educators from across Minnesota are expected to rally at the Capitol on Thursday as they demand better pensions.

This comes as St. Paul teachers have set a strike date, and several districts across the state continue to negotiate contracts with teachers. Several unions representing educators are asking for better pay, adding they believe it will help the teacher shortage.

RELATED: St. Paul Public Schools officials speak after teachers file strike notice

Educators are calling for legislation this session that will improve pensions for not only teachers, but licensed staff, administrators and superintendents. They say teachers hired after June 30, 1989, have now reached the year where if they started even a few days earlier, they would have been able to retire with a full pension up to nine years earlier.

Now, the teachers who didn’t make the cutoff have to work until they’re 65 if they want to avoid losing a big amount of their pension.

Education Minnesota says it believes respectable pensions are a way to recruit and keep qualified teachers to help fill the staffing shortage in schools.

Thursday’s rally comes as thousands of St. Paul teachers are on the verge of a strike, and teachers in Minneapolis continue fighting for a contract with higher pay.

Thursday’s rally starts at 3:45 p.m. in the Capitol’s rotunda.

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