Update: Nov. 3, 2023, at 2:15 p.m.

We hosted our first public bargaining session with education support professionals (ESPs) this past Wednesday, Nov. 1. It started with introducing both bargaining teams. ESPs shared their statement of values which included a description of the many ways that ESPs support students in the classroom, on buses, in the lunchroom, etc. 

The MPS team provided a counterproposal of the norms, which included adopting all 13 of the ESP team’s proposed norms with two suggested amendments. 

• Rather than holding each side responsible for recording and streaming video, MPS, in collaboration with MFT, will coordinate recording and streaming with session recordings publicly accessible on Eduvision. 
• MPS proposed an amendment to the norm about data requests including adding that confirmation of receipt of a data request will be issued within five working days. 
• The ESP team made an amendment to who should be included on communications adding their business agent to the list. 

The ESP team presented three proposals for new language in their contracts: 

• The first (5.4.9) proposes the board of education share employee information about new hires within a seven day period. 
• The second (5.4.10) proposes the board of education provide ongoing bargaining unit trends to particular representatives of the ESP chapter. 
• The third (5.4.11) proposes the board of education share exclusive representative information related to grievances and investigations filed by current and former ESP chapter members. 

The MPS team asked clarifying questions about the presented proposals and closed by setting the agenda for the next session.

The next session will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 6 from 6 - 8 p.m. at Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT), 67 8th Ave. NE, Minneapolis, and livestreamed on Eduvision. The session agenda will include an MPS response to the aforementioned proposals, followed by additional proposals from ESPs.