“We are SPPS” is the slogan that Saint Paul Public Schools has used to describe the solidarity between its 34,000-plus students and its 5,000-plus educators and staff.
For 20 years, I have called SPPS, particularly Harding High School, home. For 20 years, I have taught mathematics in the same classroom where I have welcomed thousands of diverse learners. During my two decades as a teacher and as a coach, I have devoted my life to serving the students of East St. Paul. Throughout my career, I have embodied my district’s mantra, believing that “We are SPPS.”
Over the past six years or so, it seems that our once unifying rally has moved towards a quieter and disingenuous “we are spps.” It’s frustrating because we are employees of a district whose common goal includes developing our scholars to be the next global leaders. However, there really isn’t any solidarity or trust between the district and many of its employees. A large number of educators and staff in St. Paul do not feel valued by the leaders in our district, and this has been the case for some time.
The feeling of not being valued as educators and staff is a glaring reality across many school districts in our state. Although there has been some progress with contract negotiations, about one-third of the districts across the state are working with an expired or unsettled contract. Nearly 50 districts — including St. Paul — are receiving mediation help from the state. This is the slowest settlement pace on record in the last 20 years.
As a member of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators — SPFE — of the last three bargaining cycles, two have been settled one day prior to going on strike, and one resulted in a week-long strike just before the COVID pandemic. Through each negotiation cycle, the contentiousness between the district and union has intensified over the most reasonable of requests to support our students, educators and staff, leaving teachers and staff in our district to share a much different rallying slogan: “We are unappreciated.”
In August, our SPPS district leaders negotiated and settled on a pretty lucrative contract. The highest paid employees received a 6% wage increase. This also includes generous health care contributions, a cell phone allowance and a car allowance for some.
With a $1 billion district budget and unprecedented funding increases from the state, it is apparent that investing in the educators and staff who show up daily for our students is not a priority. Though an initial 1% offer has increased to a measly 2% wage increase, it is not enough to keep our valuable employees and not enough to bring in the staffing our students need, especially when the average wage increase for recently settled school districts has been a little over 5%. Additionally, with the increase in health care premiums projected at 9%, teachers and staff would essentially be taking a pay cut. Six percent versus 2% screams “We are undervalued.”
The teaching profession has become increasingly tough over recent years. Teachers and staff alike are still helping students overcome reverberations from the pandemic, including learning loss and trauma. In certain areas, teachers are being vilified politically for what they teach. There is also a small contingent that believes that teaching is an easy gig, citing our work year. Our profession used to be much more highly regarded.
Amid all of the noise, educators and staff work tirelessly to build community and student agency within our classrooms. We strive to welcome our students’ families to be a part of our school communities. We engage in continuous professional growth through many of the professional development opportunities provided by our district and union. As educators, we believe in our students; we believe in our colleagues; and we believe in our schools.
For 20 years, I have shown up for my students and colleagues. For 20 years, I have shown up for Harding High School and Saint Paul Public Schools. It would be nice if Saint Paul Public Schools showed up for us. Until then, “We are SPFE.”
That is why I am voting “yes” Feb. 15 to authorize a strike.
Michael Houston was named 2023 Minnesota Teacher of the Year by Education Minnesota.
