Minn. Teachers Take Strike Into 7th Week

Court Orders School District to Stop Hiring Unlicensed Teachers

A teachers’ strike in a small district in central Minnesota entered its seventh week last week, after talks between the Crosby-Ironton school board and the local teachers’ union broke down for a third time. The impasse triggered anger and frustration among teachers, administrators, community members, and students in the rural community.

The strike is but the first by Minnesota teachers in two years, and one of only three over the past decade. Currently, contracts are unsettled in nearly a dozen districts statewide, according to the local teachers’ union.

Also last week, the parties in the Crosby-Ironton district met in Cass County District Court in response to a union lawsuit over replacement teachers. In that hearing, district officials agreed to hire only licensed workers to replace the striking teachers. The union has also challenged the district’s decision to pay substitute teachers triple their normal rate. That part of the case was...