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Tom Weber
St. Paul, Minn.

Three more districts eke out contract before deadline

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The state's teachers union said Monday that three more school districts approved contract settlements with their teachers in the waning hours before a deadline Friday night.

With last-minute pacts ratified in Morris, Goodridge, and Wadena-Deer Creek, Education Minnesota now says 25 districts missed Friday's deadline. Those districts face a penalty from the state of $25 per pupil.

The union had predicted earlier on Friday that as many as 35 districts could miss the deadline, but a flurry of activity allowed that list to shrink. Other districts that called last-minute board meetings on Friday to ratify deals include Bemidji and North Branch.

The late scramble, however, was still not enough to prevent what is likely to be a record amount of fines levied against districts; Minneapolis alone will be fined about $800,000.

Every district in Minnesota is on the same schedule for teacher contracts, which last for two years. The average cost-of-living pay increase for teachers statewide this year is less than 1 percent in each year of the contract.

Some contracts that don't include cost-of-living increases, which raise the entire pay scale, do still include so-called "step-and-lane" increases. These are raises built into the pay scale for years of experience and additional education.

Education Minnesota says the following districts missed Friday's deadline:

  • * Benton Stearns Education District

  • * BOLD

  • * Brainerd

  • * Carlton

  • * Carver-Scott County Coop

  • * Eastern Carver County (Chaska)

  • * Edina

  • * Floodwood

  • * Frazee

  • * Grand Rapids

  • * Hibbing

  • * Houston

  • * Independent School District 287

  • * Lake of the Woods

  • * Lac qui Parle Valley

  • * Lincoln

  • * Luverne

  • * Minneapolis

  • * Nashwauk/Keewatin

  • * Nicollet

  • * Remer-Northland Community

  • * St. Cloud

  • * South Koochiching-Rainy River

  • * Winona

  • * Yellow Medicine East