Minneapolis Teachers Union Storms School Board Meeting Demanding a Better Contract

February 13, 2018 11:12 PM

The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers is making its demands known.

On Tuesday, hundreds of educators marched into the Minneapolis Board of Education meeting demanding the contract they've been working without for months.

Minneapolis Public Schools officials said the teacher's union is asking for a 5 percent increase in salary this year and again next year.

The union is also demanding smaller class sizes, recess at all elementary schools and for nurses, art teacher, music teachers and social workers to be staffed in all schools daily.

Minneapolis Public Schools is already deep in the red and is frantically searching for items to cut from the budget.

"We're all aware of the uncertainty of having a contract that has not been settled," Superintendent Ed Graff said.

The district is facing a $33 million budget deficit and said meeting the teachers union's demands would multiply that five times.

"I think there's a genuine agreement that we want to do whatever we can to continue our dialogue and reach resolution of our contract as soon as possible for our students," Graff said.

Both sides are now preparing for another debate.

Two more mediations are on the calendar to try to reach some common ground. The district said there have been seven negotiations and four mediations so far.