Three more districts eke out contract before deadline
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.
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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