Photo credit: MFT (https://www.safeandstableschools.org)

SAINT PAUL — March 10, 2022 — Following a tentative agreement with St. Paul teachers and Minneapolis teachers going strike, Kids Count on Us, an initiative of ISAIAH released the following statement: 

“Kids Count on Us is grateful that the St Paul teachers and administration have reached a tentative agreement that provides teachers and students with the resources they need and deserve. We stand in solidarity with the teachers, education support staff (ESPs), and service workers in the Minneapolis school district who are continuing to fight for these resources. We support them in their call for mental health supports, smaller class sizes, fair pay for support staff, competitive wages for teachers, and recruitment and retention of educators of color.

“Childcare and education are intricately linked. Early learning is critical for children as they move into their K-12 learning. The resources Minneapolis educators are asking for are the same resources necessary in childcare to make sure children can thrive. As a coalition of childcare providers, teachers, and parents, we are organized around fighting for these investments in our youngest Minnesotans and those who care for them, and believe those investments are necessary from birth through high school.

“Every child in the U.S. has a right to a free, fair, and equal education, and this is exactly what Minneapolis teachers and staff are fighting for. After the last two years in which we have asked our teachers to stretch themselves well beyond capacity, and asked our students to be flexible as their academic and social lives have been completely upended, it is unimaginable that the administration is unwilling to meet these requests. These are the bare minimum that our teachers and students not only deserve, but desperately need.

“The district administration’s response is that there is not enough money. But the reality is that the number of administrative positions has increased while the pay for teachers and support staff has remained stagnate for several years. When adjusting for inflation, teachers are actually earning less than they were 20 years ago, and not just by a few hundred dollars, but by thousands of dollars. 

“We strongly urge the administration to recognize that our educators and students simply cannot continue to “teach” and “learn” in an environment that does not consider their needs. Their demands are not crazy, outlandish, or overreaching. They are in fact, the least we should be doing. We need to invest in our students of all ages and their teachers because their success is the success of all of us.”

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ISAIAH is a statewide organization of over 200 congregations, 50 mosques, 500 childcare centers, and dozens of barber shops in Minnesota. Altogether, these institutions represent over half a million Minnesotans. Our mission is to enable people to work together to organize and advocate for racial, social and economic justice.

Kids Count on Us, an initiative of ISAIAH, is a coalition of over 500 child care providers across Minnesota united for respect and dignity with parents, teachers and providers