© Left Voice
For the past two weeks, teachers and professional educational assistants [Educational Support Professionals, ou ESP – profession équivalent sous plusieurs aspects aux ATSEM et aux AESH en France. Ce sont des personnels, au statut très précaire, qui sont présents dans la classe avec les enseignants pour aider les élèves. Ndt.] of the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota are in strike for a revaluation of wages teachers, but especially professional education assistants, who are very poorly paid despite the central role they play in supporting students. They are also asking for the improvement of teaching conditions, by reducing the number of pupils per class, but also for the hiring of social workers, guidance counselors and school psychologists to meet the needs of their pupils, which have increased by the context of the pandemic, which has deepened academic and social difficulties.
This strike is part of a period of unprecedented social and union mobilization in the United States, from the uprisings following the death of George Floyd, which occurred in the same city, to the major strikes in the fall of 2021. Thus, the conflict which pitting education staff once morest the management of their district goes further than the trade union fight: the mobilized staff fight for the well-being of their pupils. We are thus relaying the testimonies of 2 educational staff who participate in the movement.
(These testimonies were published on March 16 on the information site Left Voice)
Victory is possible in Minneapolis
“It is freezing cold and more than 4,000 Minneapolis educators are on the picket line for a second week. Smaller classes, better coverage of medical costs, more psychological support for students, a competitive salary for teachers and an increase in the salary of education support professionals (ESPS) are at the heart of our demands.
Still, morale is high. We know our cause is just. Our demands are not only what educators and students deserve, they are also 100% actionable. The powers that be say there is not enough money, when our state recently announced a surplus of $9.3 billion.
Saint Paul Education Professionals (city next to Minneapolis) were ready to go on strike at the same time, but at the last minute they made an impressive deal with the district. This deal lets us know that victory is possible in Minneapolis. Indeed, solidarity between districts and union sections of educators is a way forward for the labor movement. The possibilities for even greater demands in future struggles are possible now more than ever. »
A fight for precarious workers
“Minnesota has one of the worst student-to-educator ratios in the country. The national student/educator ratio is 430:1 while Minnesota’s is over 600:1. Our Educational Support Professionals are essential to the operation of our schools, yet they are only paid $24,000 a year. A large percentage of our ESPS are educators of color. We are asking $35,000 a year to start.
We also call for layoff protections for educators of color and increased support for new racialized educators. Covid-19 is also a factor, as we ask for concrete measures for a mitigation of the spread of the virus and support for educators and students sick with COVID. »
Savings that first impact racialized students
“In the absence of leadership at the top, it is incumbent upon us to draw attention to the impacts of underfunding on our schools. In 2018, the Federation of St. Paul Educators partnered with researchers to write a report titled “Dwindling Funding to Public Schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul.” The research found that, from 2003 to 2018, actual funding per student decreased by $3,049 in Minneapolis public schools and $1,610 in St. Paul public schools. The public schools of these two cities welcome more than half of black students in Minnesota as well as a plurality of Latin American and Asian students, while they welcome less than 1% of white students. Funding for all other districts in Minnesota, which serve 99% of the state’s white students, has decreased by only $770 per student. »
“This disinvestment in our students has resulted in them losing access to programs that students in affluent, predominantly white districts take for granted: music, art, technology education, and college guidance. It has resulted in starvation wages and stagnant benefits that drive new educators to quit or seek work in other sectors. Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Police Department’s budget has swelled to include thousands of dollars in premiums paid by our students’ parents, while Saint Paul attempts to overturn rent control measures passed by referendum. In both cities, schools have been a low priority for elected officials, except when a communications operation is needed. »
“While our schools suffer budget cuts, the state of Minnesota’s wealthy nonprofit sector is raising money and pouring it into grants and funding for private schools that offer even higher compensation. bad and no elected voice for the parents. Administrators and school board members have never succeeded in challenging corporate tax rates and joining with educators in demanding fair funding for state spending. The complacency of our elected and appointed leaders has brought us to the point where educators must take back power for the community by striking. »
Educational assistants, on the front line of the pandemic and now despised
“If the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us anything, it’s how essential public schools and their staff are to the functioning of capitalism and society as a whole. Without the underpaid work and love of our dedicated Educational Assistants and licensed staff, no other work is possible.
At the start of this school year, as we demanded workplace safety and health protections from the virus, the praise received by education assistants in 2020 turned to scorn. Consequently, educational assistants are leaving the profession and the shortage has led to hundreds of open and unfilled positions in both cities.
Schools have been forced to resume standardized testing [tests permettant d’évaluer les progrès sociaux, émotionnels et scolaires des élèves de tout le pays] as if nothing had changed. Administrators talked regarding test scores instead of student welfare. School board members rejected demands from parents whose schools were threatened with closure and consolidation, calling them “the loudest voices in the room”. The lessons of the pandemic have been buried under the weight of current affairs. »
Teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions
“The current strike by the Minneapolis Teachers and Educational Assistants Union and the 2020 strike in Saint Paul in the same sector center on fundamental truths: that the status quo was not good enough, that students are not goods to be traded and that the working conditions of teachers are the conditions of learning for students. Dignified salaries and schools offering psychological support to students and small class sizes are the bare minimum we need to build a better world for our students and help our communities to prosper. »
“While our demands certainly fall within the scope of negotiation for the collective good, we believe that we as teachers must demand even greater and more sweeping demands that meet the needs of our communities in an age of empire. in decline and climate catastrophe. »
Dignified housing for our students!
“In Minneapolis and St. Paul, working class families and racialized families are increasingly moving out of town due to the rising cost of living due to gentrification. The fight once morest gentrification, like rent control, should be a priority for education personnel. If our students do not have stable housing, it is unrealistic to expect them to come to class with the mental readiness to learn. »
Let’s be in solidarity with the ecological struggles carried out by our students
“Starting in 2019, students around the world launched the Fridays for Future striking for climate action. Students from Minneapolis and Saint Paul joined the thousands of young people across the United States active in this fight. As teachers, we should join them in demanding climate action, a transformative Green New Deal, and an ecosocialist economy. Schools must become climate centers where community members learn to nurture soils, grow food, protect water, and organize community power. We need to prepare for future environmental disasters by learning the skills to weather the piling up crises. Finally, we need to create learning that allows community members of all ages to dream, create and thrive. In short, we must prepare our communities and our young people for the world that will be and that can be. »
Money for education, not for repression!
“The time has come to build the schools that the students of our cities deserve and for the district authorities to respect the communities in which they live outside our walls. The followingmath of the George Floyd uprising has laid bare the rot and inadequacy of Minneapolis, which has invested in policing over prevention, in cops over our schools. These years have seen our members and our neighbors realize the power of our solidarity. With this solidarity and challenge, we can build thriving community schools that will uplift future generations. »
Jessica Garraway worked as a substitute teacher for six years. For more than 10 years, she has been an activist and writer on topics such as wealth inequality, racism, LGBT struggles, feminism, labor and environmental issues. She was actively involved in the fight to prevent the construction of what would have been the first oil sands mine in the United States, the Keystone, Dakota Access and Line 3 pipelines. She was also involved in the fight once morest police brutality and to the reorganization of public security in the wake of the George Floyd uprising. Member of the extreme left organization DSA (Democrat Socialist of America) and trade unionist, she tries to build a strong trade union movement that can tackle climate crises. Follow Jessica on Twitter @Deeplyjessica.
Jeff Garcia is a special education teacher and labor activist in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Born and raised in New York, Jeff comes from a Puerto Rican family and attended McAlester College. He started teaching in 2019 and was an active voice in the 2020 St. Paul Federation of Educators Strike. He hopes to represent new educators, people of color and the community to build a strong movement for all children in St.Paul.
