Anoka-Hennepin Teachers Approve New Contract
Teachers in the Anoka-Hennepin School District approved a new contract this week. The vote follows months of negotiations between the district and Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota (AHEM), the teachers’ union.
According to AHEM, the agreement will increase pay by 5 percent in the first year of the two-year deal and bump up starting salaries to $50,000.
The district will also up health insurance contributions by 5 percent in year one.
“We are grateful to our members for showing up and saying that we needed investments in our schools, students and educators,” said AHEM President Val Holthus in a statement to CCX News. “Our work is not done. As is always the case in negotiations, we didn’t get everything we wanted, but we got a lot, and this contract includes important building blocks to reach the schools Anoka-Hennepin communities deserve.”
Teachers have been working without a contract since July. A 24-hour mediation session Jan. 19-20 between negotiators of both sides produced the tentative deal that educators voted on.
The deal is retroactive to July 1, 2023 and runs through 2025.
Other highlights of the contract include:
- Salary increases of 3 percent in 2024-25
- Health insurance district contribution increases of 5 percent for single and 10 percent for family in 2024-25
- Increased pay for early childhood and family education, or ECFE, teachers by moving them to the K-12 teacher salary schedule
- A $750 bonus for all educators this year
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According to AHEM, the contract includes more language changes than any other contract in recent history, as well as higher salary percentage increases that AHEM educators haven’t seen in years.
Holthus said new money from the Minnesota Legislature was reflected in the wage increases.
The Anoka-Hennepin School Board will now vote on the agreement. That’s expected to happen Feb. 26.
