Teachers In Minneapolis, St. Paul Prepare Signs For Picket Lines

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- A possible teachers strike in the Twin Cities would begin in just a few days from now.

Teachers spent much of Saturday making signs as they prepare to walk off the job. They are fighting for higher wages, smaller class sizes, and more mental health services.

"The importance of today is to be ready should we need to go out on Tuesday," first-grade teacher Maria White said. "We had hundreds of people make over 4-thousand signs. just being ready to be out there on Tuesday to show the district we are fighting for safe and stable schools."

Mediation talks are going on all weekend.

If there's no deal by Monday, Minneapolis and St. Paul students will not be in class Tuesday, March 8.

Minneapolis has about 29,000 students while St. Paul has roughly 34,000. Collectively, they have around 6,500 teachers. They also employ hundreds of lower-paid support staffers who are covered by the contact and who often say they don't earn a living wage.

Minneapolis administrators say they can't spend money they don't have. The district says it faces a $97 million budget shortfall for the next school year, and that although one-time federal funding will cut that to $26 million, the funding gap will persist after next year. The union has been seeking a 20% wage increase for teachers and a $35,000 minimum for support staff. The average annual teacher salary in Minneapolis is more than $71,000.

St. Paul administrators say they're facing a shortfall of $43 million. They've proposed increases of 1.5% across all work groups, while the union has proposed a 2.5% raise. The average annual salary for St. Paul teachers is more than $85,000.

(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)