The other side of the bargaining table: A look at considerations from school boards during teacher contract negotiations

CATHY WURZER: Today at Minnesota's biggest school district, teachers are voting to approve their contract after contentious negotiations. And at Minnesota's second largest school district, St. Paul, teachers are casting their vote on whether they want to authorize a strike.

Education Minnesota, which is made up of 472 unions statewide, says nearly 40% of the state's districts have yet to reach teacher contracts, which officials say this is the slowest pace of contract negotiations and settlements in 20 years.

Teachers across the state have held rallies. But we wanted to hear from the other side of the negotiating table. So joining us right now is Kirk Schneidawind, the Executive Director of the Minnesota School Board Association. Kirk, welcome back to the program.

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: Good afternoon. And thanks for having me, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: So for folks not familiar with the process because it is a little confusing possibly, what role do school boards play in contract negotiations?

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: Right. There's nothing confusing about public school finance, is there? But I will just say that, yeah, I mean, Minnesota is a collective bargaining state. And it does require the exclusive rep, allows them to organize.

And then they also have the school board who oversees the school district and manages and sets the budget, are required every two years with their teachers union to collectively bargain a package that relates to their salary and benefits. So that is where we are today looking at the next two years.

CATHY WURZER: So the contract cycle that we have, that we're currently in, do you agree with Education Minnesota? Are things going around? Are things bumping along here? Are they going slowly, more slow than normal?

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: Yeah, I think-- I mean, I think what we are seeing, we are seeing things move a little bit slower than we have in the past. I don't think you can read anything more into that than the fact that they perhaps are taking a little bit more time.

I think there were a lot of legislative pieces that were passed last year that impact our bargaining. And as a result, I think there was some time needed to fully understand what happened in the '23 legislative session.

And so I think one of the other pieces that we see is that we see a few more folks going into the mediation phase, which is just a step to say, we need somebody a third party to step in and help us shed some light on where our commonalities and where are some of the pieces that maybe can get pushed to the side.

But yeah, I think we are. But I would also say that I think that opportunity isn't an alarming. I think it's just the fact that it's taken a little bit longer perhaps to get to yes or get to a solution.

CATHY WURZER: Scott Croonquist-- I know you know who he is-- of the Minnesota Metro School Districts-- Association of Metro School Districts says that districts are likely to settle for less than their employees deserve. But it's going to be more than districts can afford. Why are so many districts struggling to make ends meet, especially after state lawmakers passed what was called a historic increase in education funding last year?

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: Right. I think that's one of the-- as I talked about earlier, it's like districts school finance is and can be very complicated. And I think when you talk about in very broad terms, I think that you look at the session-- the budget setting session last year. And it was-- for public schools was well done.

But I would also say that within that, there were-- MSBA came into the session and asking for five and five on the gen ed formula. We really believe that--

CATHY WURZER: And for folks who don't understand-- for folks who don't understand the gen ed formula, this is state money per pupil. A set amount of state money per pupil.

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: That's exactly right. And so--

CATHY WURZER: Go ahead.

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: --we believe that our boards and superintendents administration with that money then are able to meet the needs of their district, their community, their staff, the programs, local initiatives.

And as a result, we get four and two. And then we got some money on the sped cross subsidy that freed up some gen ed money. But there were a number of other categoricals that really tell our districts where we need to spend it.

And so we would rather hedge on the side of more flexibility and allowing our school districts to use that money, whether it's through for paying their staff or programs or other needs that they have at the local level.

So I think what we're-- Well, they talked about the $2.2 billion. I think really what we're talking about is what is available to us. And with the categoricals, there may not be as much available for compensation and benefits as initially thought or initially described.

CATHY WURZER: Now, many districts, the COVID money is running out that was received from the federal government. Many districts are seeing declining enrollment. How do those two factors factor in to what's going on here?

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: Right. And I think one of the things that-- you're right. The COVID money was really a short term kind of a bridge loan for our school districts who were going through a really, really tough time while also providing an education for our kids on a daily basis, whether it was remotely or in person.

And one of the things that we know really is that our districts use those for short-term solutions. One-time money or short-term money should not be used for ongoing costs. By and large, our districts have done that. But we also know that short-term money may not be there or will soon end for our school districts coming up in '24 and '25.

I think the other part that we talked about is declining enrollment. You pointed that out. And I think that's one of the things that we see too. And there isn't a superintendent in this state who doesn't have a white board that has a projection of their pupils forecasting that because pupils are-- the Minnesota formula is based on pupils. And so the more pupils that enter your school district doors, the more money that comes along with that.

And so by the same token is if you have students who open enroll somewhere else. That money then goes with that student. And so what we have seen since the pandemic is we have seen a slow comeback. And so some pupils have either chosen to go to private school, homeschool, open enroll somewhere else.

And so our districts are really managing-- trying to manage or try to stay in front of their enrollment issues because swing of 50 to 100 students can mean a big-- have a big budget impact or impact on the budget for our school districts.

CATHY WURZER: I have about less than a minute here, so I need a brief answer. What would it take, do you think, to give teachers what they're asking for?

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: Well, I think it's-- I will be clear. I mean, our school boards-- I think there's a commonality among our school districts, in our school board members, and our staff, and all of our people about having our kids graduate from college life-ready, college-ready, all of those pieces. So there's a commonality there.

But I do think that our boards really look at-- when they're going through this process, look at it in a longer-term budget impact more than just a two-year window. They're looking outward as well.

So I think one of the things that we know, each local district's conditions are unique. And what we advise our school boards to do is you've got to be able to live with the settlement that you offer. And so that as a budget setting responsibility needs to be understood by the board.

And so there's great value in what our teachers do on a day-to-day basis and all of those folks who make our school districts run. And so we're hopeful that both sides can certainly get to the point where they can agree on a package that both can agree with.

CATHY WURZER: All right. Wish you all well. Thank you, Kirk.

KIRK SCHNEIDAWIND: All right. Thank you, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Kirk Schneidawind is the Executive Director of the Minnesota School Board Association.