Teachers in Minneapolis reached a tentative agreement to end their week-long strike

Teachers in Minneapolis reached a tentative agreement to end their week-long strike. 

On Friday, Minneapolis teachers reached a tentative agreement to end a strike that has kept 30,000 kids out of school for more than two weeks over wages, class sizes, and other problems.

According to school authorities, the agreement, which the teachers union’s full membership must yet accept, paves the way for kids to return to school on Monday.

After failing to reach an agreement with the district on a new contract, Minneapolis’ 4,500 teachers and support workers went on strike on March 8, the city’s first teachers’ strike in more than five decades.

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“Our members’ collective action has proved that strikes work,” Shaun Laden, a Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Educational Support Professionals chapter president, said at a news conference on Friday.

The tentative agreement, according to Laden, “substantially increased salary” for education support employees while also ensuring job security and seniority rights for teachers of color.

According to a statement from the union, class size limitations and mental health care for students have also been agreed upon.

According to the union, a return to work deal had not yet been finalized. Still, it was in the works, according to the union.

The district said it might add minutes to the school day or extend the school year’s end to compensate for a lost instructional time due to the strike.

“I know the previous two weeks have been challenging and hard for many of our students,” Kim Ellison, the school board chair, said at a news conference earlier on Friday. “You’ve missed your teachers, school, and friends,” says the narrator.

After failed contract discussions last week, a teachers’ strike in Sacramento, California, was due to begin its third day on Friday.