St. Paul teachers' union OKs tentative contract

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — The St. Paul Federation of Teachers has reached a tentative agreement with the district on a new contract for the union's 3,000 teachers.

Union president Mary Cathryn Ricker says the agreement was reached at midnight, ending a lengthy negotiation process that began in May.

Negotiators had earlier struggled to reach an agreement on a union proposal for a cap on class sizes and a district proposal to add ten minutes to the school day.

Ricker declined to discuss details of the contract until union members are notified. But she says she's excited to be nearing the end of the process.

"That's always the really exciting part for me, when you come to a tentative agreement," she said.

Now Ricker's looking forward to implementing "these great ideas that you just spent the better part of four or six months discussing."

Ricker says she expects members will vote on the proposed contract within the next two weeks.