A group of conservative parent activists slammed the Minneapolis teachers union for its ongoing strike, saying the labor dispute proves teachers unions take little interest in the well-being of students.
The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers authorized a strike Tuesday to demand the Minneapolis school district provide higher wages for teachers and school support staff, smaller class sizes, and mental health resources. The city contends that meeting the union’s demands would put the district over $160 million over budget.
The union claimed Wednesday the city doesn’t have a “budget crisis” but rather “a values and priorities crisis” by failing to meet the union’s demands. Negotiations between the city and the union are expected to continue through the weekend.
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“Unfortunately, the reality is we’re resource-limited,” said Minneapolis Superintendent Ed Graff in a Wednesday news conference. “The finances we have are not enough to provide the support we need to provide.”
Laura Zorc, a parent activist and executive director of Building Education for Students Together, told the Washington Examiner that “every year, teachers unions want more money,” and “every year, districts say they do not have it to give.”
“As this never-ending cycle repeats within public school systems, the decline in the quality of education being delivered stays consistent,” Zorc said.
The concerns of declining educational quality, especially after two years of documented learning loss due to pandemic-related school closures were not lost on Erika Sanzi, director of outreach for the parent activist organization Parents Defending Education.
“With student proficiency in math and reading in steep decline, it is unconscionable that teachers have walked out,” Sanzi told the Washington Examiner. “If ever we needed more proof that children are an afterthought for teachers unions, this [strike] is it. It was evident to many before COVID, but now it is impossible for anyone to deny.”
Zorc told the Washington Examiner the strike and its consequences highlight the need for states to adopt school-choice policies to “stop the insanity and allow the money to follow the students.”
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“If we have learned anything from the pandemic, it is that the system is broken, teachers unions only care about their contracts, and the status quo will continue as long as they have control of the tax dollars that should be directed by the parents,” Zorc said.
