4,500 educators with the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers have been on strike since March 8, demanding smaller class sizes, better pay and benefits, more mental health resources for students, and increased workforce diversity. After working through the COVID-19 pandemic and years of austerity policies, teachers and education support professionals (ESP) have reached their breaking point. “I have multiple jobs, and I still live paycheck to paycheck because my wages are insufficient,” Ma-Riah Roberson-Moody, a lead negotiator for the ESP chapter of the city's teacher union, recently told NBC News. “I can make more money right now going to work at Target than I do working for Minneapolis Public Schools, and that is difficult.” TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez discusses the strike and what educators have been going through in recent years with Karin, an education support professional who has worked in the Minneapolis district for 6 years.

Read the transcript of this interview: https://therealnews.com/chronically-understaffed-underpaid-educators-in-minneapolis-strike-against-austerity

Pre-Production/Studio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

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‘Chronically understaffed,’ underpaid educators in Minneapolis strike against austerity