Minneapolis Teachers Strike For First Time In 40+ Years

Minneapolis Public Schools educators tell us they’re forced to work 2-3 jobs to make ends meet, and some of their coworkers are homeless.Teachers and educators with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Local 59 are striking to demand at least $35K/year. It’s their first strike in nearly 50 years.
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[@kodiekulp]

Georgia teacher here. We are with you! Just wait for our return from spring break.

[@thetoknboxshow]

All workers in the USA need to go out and protest low wages and unsafe and hostile work environments. Go Teachers, go!!!

[@Ianpact]

United We Bargain, divided we beg.

[@timmanion2197]

Up the union!!!!!

[@dannydenison6253]

Love to see it. I work as a direct support staff for individuals who have special needs and we just got a raise from about the same pay to almost your ask (12 to 16). It has changed my life And I hope soook much you are able to get the living wage. You all deserve so much more

[@sheilamorin8868]

Per student each year. It has an annual revenue of $717,000,000. Overall, the district spends $10,840.2 million on instruction, $5,148.3 million on support services and $582.7 million on other expenses. They need to be audited to see where the money is going

[@KixngSims]

It’s going to the pockets of the members of the school board. Most of which have never taught a day in their life, and/or don’t have kids currently going to school.

[@ethantinklenberg6607]

Meanwhile Jacob Frey is spending almost all of Minneapolis’ excess funds on police.

[@Educatedunhousedperson]

Exactly!

[@scarylion1roar]

my aunt is a retired school superintendent, the unions helped my paternal grandpa support his family through the great depression, and I remember her b*tching and moaning about teachers union negotiations that ended with teachers getting a $0.46 raise.

[@gracerichards592]

Nobody should have to three and four jobs just to make two ends and these are teachers should be getting the highest pay in America this is not the third world countries unbelievable they way this government treats the regular working people who is the back bone of this country...

[@ZentaBon]

Four jobs? Jesus fucking fuck.

[@JW-uy2on]

It's worth noting that the superintendent (the one who claims there isn't enough money for a pay raise) is paid an annual salary of $230,000.

[@sethfarrell9605]

It's funny to think of how I thought of teachers when I was a kid vs. now when I'm married to a teacher. I never met a doctor, lawyer, or someone from any other profession that cares as much, or gives as much of themselves as teachers. Please, always take time to remember to speak about how little the elected officials care about the children of the community. Lets face it. I don't want someone repairing my brakes for poverty wages.

[@sethfarrell9605]

@Little Wolf So, in order to be a good teacher you should sacrifice the idea of ever being comfortable, and this will make you better at doing your job? If struggle is the measure of success, then why do parents tell their kids for generations that, "We sacrifice so much so that you shouldn't have to." Generations of people lost because they were supposed to have it better than the generation before. Maybe it's more consistent to say that the teachers of now should have a better life than you did, and it is built off the backs of the generations of teachers that had it shitty before them. If you spent a career teaching, thanks for your sacrifice.

[@katieadams5860]

They should be fighting for at least 70k a year. 35k a year is way too low of a demand

[@patriciafichter4790]

But they have money for war and giving cops tactical gear and new cars. Not to mention how big of a bonus these hogs get.

[@leelindsay5618]

Prices of milk, wheat, and gas have gone up in the last 20-30 years, but in the 1990s teachers averaged $24,000 per year so their salary hasn't change since the 1990s. Ignorant folks say reduce your expenses, but no one is saying drop property costs by requiring residency in all single homes or requiring in-state or in-country residence for all multi-home properties. If we didn't have so many homes being bought up cash by hedge funds and foreign investors, the citizens and immigrants could afford to buy a house or rent an apartment. Rents and housing prices for 50% of the homes in any city should be capped at 2x the minimum wage so the workers in the city can afford a home on 2 incomes of 2 minimum wage workers.

[@Draconis89]

That is a good idea, the private sector ruined the housing market really bad we need to change it. It is horrific to look at rent prices for any city, mom and pop landlords don't help the situation either, they basically just want to tenants to provide all the income for them so they don't need to work. Which drives prices up as well, while the landlords big or small just stay home and do nothing they just want to live comfortable off the backs of our labor, it is something I don't want to add to anymore it is a vicious cycle that only gets worst over time

[@JohnSmith-xd8do]

Public school teachers hate their job and the kids.

[@jannettsnow2856]

Really not all teachers hate. You go work for that much and I know few teachers do hate their job but not all stop catergorizing

[@adam_isaac_mp]

We need that energy here in Southern California. School districts here only hire two special ed instructional aides per school and they are all about 97 years old. According to public documents the teachers are the best paid people, but everyone else has to sort out what’s left over. We need to hire more instructional aides and hire full time instructional aides. So far the only way I was able to work as a full time instructional aide was when I signed up for AmeriCorps national service.

[@sheilamorin8868]

Look at where the money is going its not that they don't have enough money they pay the school administrators more than they should mild misappropriation of funding

[@Kate-kp8gx]

I’d like to see 1 CEO do what ESP’s do and last a day.

[@Educatedunhousedperson]

For real!

[@linksfishing5005]

$35,000?!?! You should be able to ask for at least 50.

[@burritobronson2680]

Stay strong, solidarity forever. How can we help

[@lastnamefirstname2390]

You know this country is a lost cause when teachers are being exploited like this. CEOs can get paid 350x and thats ok but teachers having a liveable wage is not?

[@lastnamefirstname2390]

@No name how could you say something so brave and idiotic? If that were the case, your teachers would have been paid nothing.

[@juicyparsons]

@No name I like how you're acting like teachers aren't evaluated on performance 🤡

[@ZentaBon]

@@lastnamefirstname2390 oh my god that's a sick burn

[@ZentaBon]

@No name you get what you pay for :)

[@ShawnErroneous]

Parents need to teach their kids how to behave in school, to listen to the teachers and to take pride in their education. They have failed in every way imaginable and it shows in every inner city where the drop out rate is only passed by the murder rates.

[@periculumesse1525]

Ed Graff needs to go. He is paid to avoid these kinds of problems. He did not prepare - like St. Paul did - to address these issues. Its ED"S FAULT. Leadership is needed. Ed is NOT providing it.

[@juicyparsons]

Solidarity forever. Mind you they went on strike during 20° weather like the badasses they are ✊🏾

[@Educatedunhousedperson]

Less than 20° f this time of year!

[@juicyparsons]

@@Educatedunhousedperson this week will be better 🙏🏾

[@lilianempls]

Was glad it wasn't colder. ;)

[@anastaciabeckles5911]

Those wages a ridiculous

[@gemgal711]

71k a year is poverty in Minneapolis? Where are these states coming from?

[@gemgal711]

@Melon Sauce I know that's why I asked where is the state getting there info from. If you Google teachers salaries it states 71k plus.

[@agentorange20]

@Melon Sauce those ESP might be paid that but they’re not even really teachers, stop conflating. No degrees, certs, just young adults with first time jobs working 70% of the year at best, 1/3 more would have that income closer to 34,000.

[@michellem4287]

No teacher should have to live like this! They are an essential resource and deserve to start at 40/hr nationally. Educators have to face school shootings, a Pandemic and psycho Parents. I don't have kids and I support paying teachers more and creating a less hostile work environment. There's a school in UK that guarantees a 6 figure salary upon completion. That's for just a couple kids! #IstandWithEducators

[@nonesuchone]

Solidaridad ✊🏼

[@tinalulumack378]

✊🏽 I stand in unity and Solidarity with all the teachers in Minneapolis and around the country!!

[@sheilamorin8868]

School Administrator make in Minnesota? The average School Administrator salary in Minnesota is $81,563 as of February 25, 2022, but the range typically falls between $73,282 and $92,950

[@abrahamalviarez5870]

it's crazy how the core of society (our schools) are one of the worst paying jobs, this needs to change, a teacher should give their 110% for their students and get a good wage, it's the base of our society ffs.

[@robinbennett484]

The federal gov needs to start putting teachers' pensions should be federal & federal gov should be subsidizing the schools & teachers

[@theroddys4627]

The thumbnail says they are earning poverty wages, but the poverty line is $13,000 per year and they are saying they earn $24,000. Is there a different set that are below the poverty line? Confused.

[@jannettsnow2856]

Look can you live in 24,000 a year I bet not it's poverty

[@ZentaBon]

You get what you pay for. Want poorly educated students? Saddle each teacher with the draining stress of needing multiple jobs. Energy better spent on teaching students instead in my opinion.

[@JustSheaShea]

I send text messages all day as a dispatcher and I make more than these teachers. I dropped out of college when I realized I would only make $12 as a Speech Language Pathologist Assistant. I don’t mind getting a degree and being called an assistant, but already $42,000 in debt with the promise of chump change at the end was NOT worth it.

[@ethantinklenberg6607]

Kim Ellison is a joke. No one decent has run against her in a long time and she’s got a monopoly over the board. As an ally and someone fighting for a union in Minneapolis as well, these people inspire me every day.

[@lilianempls]

Support you all!

[@adrianmacias4229]

Organize, Organize, Organize. Si se puede! (Yes we can). Teamsters support y’all sisters and brothers

[@justthinking526]

Solidarity

[@desert.mantis]

I Support your strike. Solidarity. Seems like the city needs to defund the police and fund the education system.

[@Markhope-e3z]

I'm done with these educators and they're woke politics.

[@jannettsnow2856]

They deserve more, you have no heart. No one can live on $24,000 a year wake up or step back

[@Markhope-e3z]

@@jannettsnow2856 wake up step backkzbin.info/www/bejne/bHiWn4qvpLZoebM

[@agentorange20]

@@jannettsnow2856 ESP’s aren’t even real teachers. No degrees, credentials, just young adults working 70% of the year like the teachers but not in a formal teaching capacity.

[@Agent77X]

Teachers only work around 170s days a year with basically Summer off, holiday 2 weeks in December off and all the official holidays off too! These teachers are overpaid already! Average teacher makes $71K a year!

[@SilverXT]

They're making 29K and you're saying they're overpaid???

[@Agent77X]

@@SilverXT Look it up! $71K! Average salary! $29K is a Amazon warehouse or Target worker. $2,400.00 a month! Nice try!

[@mikemesser4326]

Now I know what the signs have been about. Worst run strike I have ever seen. Totally ineffective. Illegal (on the first day). I cover this point by point. But before I do, I wouldn't teach for less than 60k. But that's just me. (I love teaching. But I would find other work first.) Day 1 they were walking in the streets blocking traffic. Illegal, dangerous. And all it does is draw negative attention. People start out taking a stand against your cause when you do that. The signs. HOLD THEM still. They are so small that they are a blur when you wave them around. Defeats their purpose. Plus, they say nothing to indicate what the cause is about - or that it is even a strike. I finally did see one sign held still long enough to read talking about smaller class sizes. That's the only reason I recognized what this video was about. Better than holding them still would be to trade a dozen in for a roughly 3' x 8' banner held by two people in place of a dozen signs. Billboards For the cost of a lot of those signs you could get a billboard to cover the same topics. Might be too pricey though. Been awhile since I checked the price. Internet Build a website or create a blog. Hashtag the heck out of your strike and add those tags and the site to your banners. Oh .. class size? Irrelevant. If kids want to learn that will. I grew up with class sizes of 24-60 and even more at times. Sometimes we had temporary buildings with poor AC. No supplies. Books in poor condition. Never slowed me down. And I lived through abuse, parents providing no guidance, school providing no guidance, attempts at bullying, and a brother in a gang. I got accused of cheating. Proved beyond a shadow of doubt that I wasn't. I graduated at the top of my class outperforming Private school students. Okay, I might have been a little unusual.

[@shirleyupvall9360]

Inferior teachers, inferior wages

[@daniellehand186]

Welcome to Biden world

[@par3me]

Will not support more school funding until teachers unions are gone and we can have vouchers. Schools are for the kids. Not for the teachers. It’s like catering to the needs of the police prior to the public. The next is results based pay structure. Not tenure. We fix those two and I’ll be happy to pay more taxes and support school funding. Otherwise, it’s an absolute waste. The money never goes to the teachers. It goes towards administration. We can fix this. We need to understand the problem and this video isn’t it. Throwing money at problems doesn’t fix them. It fuels perpetuates them.

[@timmanion2197]

Papi, I’m impressed: you have those Betsy Devoss, privatize-it -or-kill-it talking points NAILED!!!! Best of luck, by the way, with having those who profit -and I do mean profit - from the results of those oh-so-libertarian voucher scams, be the kids. Whatever work benefits you enjoy, my friend -a decent wage, paid vacation, eight hour days, your family’s kids NOT working, and the list goes on - were won for you by rank and file, regular folks putting it on the line in a union. Are there poor excuses for unions and union leadership? You bet! Have many unions lost their way under the pressure and temptation of big money? Without a doubt. Is the slowly revitalizing union movement as a whole, despite its often desperate faults, our last really effective defense against the naked, rapacious greed of predatory capital that’s driving working folks to their knees in this broken country? Resoundingly, yes! No offense intended, Papi; just another point of view.

[@thaocanhcut]

@@timmanion2197 Well said Tim

[@par3me]

@@timmanion2197 No talking points. It’s called common sense. It’s very basic math really. I’ll lay it out below. By what measuring stick is our current system producing acceptable results? More than half of high school kids see socialism favorable. By any measuring stick that’s an absolute failure. What incentive does the current system have to improve? Currently the more the results decline. The more money is needed to “fix it”. Only perpetuating the problem. Are you familiar with Lasik eye surgery? It’s a really safe, efficient and cost effective procedure. It’s this way because it wasn’t covered under insurance. Those performing the surgery had to be competitive. They had to not only do a great job but also at a better price than their peers. This competition in the market place is always better for the consumer. Remember when there was only two cell phone providers? Everything was expensive and it all sucked. Today you can get a free phone and unlimited service for a buck a day. Do you like having one power company to choose from? Or would others fighting for your business work to everyone’s advantage? Everyone wins when there is a mutually beneficial outcome for all that are vested. There is absolutely no reasonable argument for not having a voucher program. Yes I’m familiar with the common verbal outburst of “robbing public schools of money”. Funny and ironic, if the school was good. It wouldn’t need to worry because everyone would want to attend. This would put pressure on the teachers to produce. Or find another career. Can you everyone reading this really say all your teachers were great? Or did you like everyone else have a handful that you knew were there to cash a check. Some evening hating their jobs, peers, students and parents. Why are these people still employed? An incredibly strong union and tenure. I personally think all teacher’s should start at 60k and go up to 100k plus bonuses based on results. I know many parents that would happily pay more in taxes if there was a better system. We refuse to support and failing system that produces failures as graduates. And yes, if you see socialism favorable. You’ve already failed. Love to hear any talking points to counter. 👍🏼🇺🇸

[@ZentaBon]

You get what you pay for.

[@par3me]

@@ZentaBon Please show me that graph for public education. The more we pay the worse it gets. The problem isn’t money. It’s structure, incentives and accountability. Those that take from the system never see accountability. Those that go above and beyond are never properly incentivized. This structure can only lead in one direction. It’s a failed mathematically. It’s kind of ironic really. We push this kids that can’t do basic math. Then when politicians and unions give them talking points to parrot. They’re unable to see the obvious mathematical flaws in what they push. Again, perpetuating the problem. The data is there and very easy to find and read. It’s really not even debatable amongst those that are finically literate. But that moves perfectly into student debt. 200k loan for a 40k job is a bad ROI. Basic math makes this equation painfully obvious. Yet here we are. Then they want the government (us/them) to pay for it. With massive inefficiencies since it’s the government of course. Let’s not forget this all really got going when the government started handed out money to any kid with a pulse. You can’t write this shit. Yet here we are. 🇺🇸

[@johnanthony5931]

I was researching teachers pay in Mn. The average teachers pay between 36-51k a year. My good friend teaches in Sartell Mn. About a hour north of the twin cities. She makes 54k a year. She says most these teachers on news are Temps or not full-time teachers. Our tax money does pay there wages. I would agree on a raise. But only if they keep there liberal beliefs out of school.

[@jamesharrison6201]

Welcome to the real world. REDUCE YOUR EXPENSES. CELL PHONES, CABLE TV, MANNY-PEDDYS, HAIR EXPENSE, EATING OUT, DELIVERY MEALS, NIKES, DESIGNER CLOTHES, ETC

[@leelindsay5618]

No problem. I will cut my expenses down to zero when the CEOs cut their pay and bonuses down to no more than 30x the lowest paid worker salary and all other profits are shared with the workers producing the product or doing the service.

[@michaeld4861]

yes because 24k a year allows for such extravagant spending... If only everyone were as smart as you.

[@ZentaBon]

In the country with the highest GDP you should have nothing nice and be happy about it. y'all get what you pay for, teachers and employment included. Want poor results? Pay as little as possible. Want amazing results? Pay better.