Deadline Friday for Mpls. teachers' contract vote

Minneapolis teachers have until Friday to vote on a new, two year-contract.

Negotiators for the district and the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers struck a deal earlier this month, setting the stage for the vote. If the contract is ratified by teachers, the school board will vote on the agreement April 8.

Union president Lynn Nordgren says an audit of the assessment tests Minneapolis students take is included in the contract.

"We want to make sure that the tests are appropriate, that they're aligned, and they're streamlined and they're what teachers need to in order to see what they have to do with their teaching," Nordgren said.

The tentative agreement also gives gives teachers and school officials some flexibility in both struggling and high performing schools, labeled as Community Partnership Schools.

"The kinds of tests we give or the kinds of activities we do could vary in the Community Partnership Schools, so we think that's going to bring some relief could bring some relief in the workload but also some re-engagement in the learning process for everybody," Nordgren said.

The contract also caps class sizes in struggling schools, and gives teachers a 2 percent raise in each of the contract's two years.