Hours before closing St. Paul’s public schools Tuesday and for the foreseeable future, Superintendent Joe Gothard insisted there was nothing “inevitable” about a teacher strike.

That’s not to say he shouldn’t have seen it coming.

The St. Paul Federation of Educators — proud to be the nation’s first teachers union to strike in 1946 — became the latest to walk off the job Tuesday after failing to bridge a wide gap between competing proposals at a time when needs are great and money short.

In early 2018, just as a wave of teacher strikes began closing schools across the country, St. Paul teachers threatened to strike before settling for a contract that guaranteed little in terms of increased pay and more colleagues.

Facing budget cuts and declining enrollment, the public school district talked the union into a two-year deal that would increase costs by not much more than their $4.1 million spending target — far less than previous teacher contracts cost.

Months later, the U.S. Supreme Court said employees no longer had to pay fair-share union dues, creating pressure for the nation’s powerful teachers unions to prove their worth to dues-paying members.

Early in the next round of contract negotiations, local union president Nick Faber wrote last year that “a large number of (members) are upset that we did not strike” in 2018.

“My sense was there was going to be a strike right from the start this time,” said Jon Schumacher, who left the St. Paul school board in December after a single four-year term. “I think to a certain extent they’re caught in a larger battle.”

TAX INCREASE

What may have saved the city from a teacher strike in 2018 was a district pledge to consider asking residents for a property tax increase that would put the district on solid financial ground — and make room for the union to get more out of future negotiations.

In November 2018, voters came through by overwhelmingly approving a referendum expected to boost general fund revenues by $18.6 million a year, or about 3 percent.

This time around, there was no such trump card in negotiators’ hands.

And since that vote, state and local revenue has fallen short of expectations as the district continues to lose students to charter schools and nearby districts. St. Paul faces a projected $10 million shortfall in next year’s budget.

Even with the referendum revenue, Superintendent Gothard and school board members announced last year they could offer the teachers’ union no more than $9.6 million in new spending on its next contract — enough for salary schedule increases of 1.5 percent and 2 percent, the same as other bargaining units were offered.

The union’s 31 original contract proposals would cost over $50 million, according to district estimates, although neither side has detailed the costs of each one.

The most costly union proposal is an estimated $27 million to staff every school with at least one social worker, counselor, nurse and behavior intervention specialist, plus more psychologists and staff mental health training districtwide.

The union also wants more special education and multilingual staffers, a commitment to restorative practices, and salary schedule hikes of 3.4 percent and 2 percent.

By 3 a.m. Tuesday, the union had proposed phasing in an abbreviated version of its hiring proposal over multiple years; the district said it offered to fund “a significant number” of the positions but it wasn’t enough.

The strike was on.

OTHER STRIKES

Teachers across the country have been flexing their muscles since 2018, walking off the job over low pay, high class sizes and insufficient support staff for students.

This included a two-day sickout in 2019 in Nashville, Tenn., where it’s illegal for teachers to strike, and a six-day statewide walkout in Arizona, where teachers lack the authority to collectively bargain.

Los Angeles teachers in January 2019 went on strike for six days, winning class size reductions, pay increases and more nurses, librarians and counselors.

Last October, Chicago teachers missed 11 days of work, winning pay raises, a longer contract, class size limits and a nurse and social worker in every school.

St. Paul teachers have the benefit of union-friendly state laws, a school board packed with members they endorsed, and a mostly favorable Legislature and teacher-endorsed governor. The average St. Paul teacher makes $75,199 a year, second only to the average in Edina.

Yet, the state and local union leaders say often — and district administrators agree — that there just isn’t enough money for Minnesota’s public schools.

Education Minnesota President Denise Specht for months has been preparing for a statewide teacher walkout in 2021 to pressure lawmakers for more school funding.

STRATEGIC PLAN

Beyond that, the local union complains that the district isn’t spending the money it does have on the right things.

Last summer, the school board set aside $8 million for the first phase of Gothard’s strategic plan, restoring an elective class period for middle schools and adding positions to help high schoolers prepare for careers. Related Articles Distance learning deal with St. Paul teachers calls for ‘regular’ — not necessarily daily — live teaching

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But Gothard was pressured to pare down the number of “learning leads” he would hire to help schools implement the plan.

Teachers now want him to prioritize the hiring hundreds of new union members to address student mental health, citing evidence it’s a growing concern.

“Our students can’t wait any longer,” union leader Faber said earlier this week.