Columbia Heights Teachers

We had about 100 members at our rally outside of the high school, and we got honks and interest from drivers as well as people coming to the High School for the basketball game!  Thank you to everyone who showed up, spoke, and chanted!  We were also joined by about 10 members from Fridley’s union, as well as organizers from Education Minnesota. Denise Specht (president of Education Minnesota) spoke about how they have our backs every step of the way in this negotiations process, and how we are fighting for the schools our students deserve! At the end, we were even joined by Sandra Feist, a state representative for our district who also serves on the Education Finance committee.  We then chanted and marched our way to the district office for the school board meeting! 

We successfully packed the house at the School Board meeting!  Teachers spoke about class sizes, teacher burnout, and the lack of “worlds of opportunities” for EL learners.  Thanks to Mark Renner (VV), Jaquelene Bayless (CHHS), Brad Boleman (CA), Darin Luehrs (CHHS), Kristin Sinicariello (CHHS), and Heidi Ostrander (VV) for being brave and sharing their stories!  We also had two students speak on our behalf – Ella from CA and Jack from CHHS. Their testimonies made it clear that we are fighting for both teachers AND students! 

Thanks also to everyone who made signs or a few weeks ago at the brewery!  There were SO MANY GREAT SIGNS, and we loved seeing all the support. See the gallery below! There are also some excerpts from Denise Specht.