MINNEAPOLIS TEACHERS CONTRACT: AT A GLANCE; Rank and file vote today on pact with new rules on staff selection
Terry Collins. Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minn.: Jan 11, 2008. pg. B.5

(Copyright 2008 Star Tribune)

Minneapolis teachers start voting today on a potentially groundbreaking contract reached this week between the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and the School District. Here are the highlights:

Pay increase: Teachers would get a 2 percent pay raise this year, retroactive to July 1, followed by a 1 percent raise next year. A one-time $750 bonus would be awarded next year.

Major change: Principals would be able to interview and select teaching staffs rather than the 30-plus-year-old seniority process that allows more senior teachers priority in school assignments.

Some parents and district officials say the current system hurts schools with high teacher turnover. Some teachers believe "interview and select" would promote favoritism instead of earned privileges.

How it would work: At each school, the principal, an administrator and at least two teachers will form a hiring committee for interviewing. The group will interview at least 10 teachers - the five most senior and five others who are seen as qualified. The committee will seek consensus on new hires, but if not, the principal will have the final say.

What's next: Teachers will vote today through 7 p.m. Monday on the deal. If they approve, the school board is likely to have a special meeting Tuesday to OK the deal.

District's take: "Both the teachers' union team and the district's negotiation team worked long hours to reach an agreement that reflects the great respect and admiration we have for the work that our teachers do every day, and that binds us in a new partnership as we move forward with an ambitious academic reform agenda," Superintendent Bill Green said Thursday.

"In the end, I strongly believe the agreement is one that both the district and the teachers' union can live with," Green continued. "Neither side got everything it wanted. Both sides made concessions and, in the end, produced an agreement that allows us to move forward together."

Union's take: "There is a pretty significant change on the table," Robert Panning-Miller, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, said Thursday. "At this point, it's up to the membership to decide what we want."

Learn more online: A Q&A with teachers is at www.startribune.com/local.