By Elizabeth Mohr and Josh Verges

St. Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL — Violence prompts teachers’ demand

St. Paul teachers took a preliminary step toward a strike Tuesday night as frustrations over student behavior began boiling over.

Earlier in the day, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi charged a 16-year-old Central High School student with felony for an alleged assault on a teacher and called for a task force to address growing violence in the schools.

Denise Rodriguez, president of the St. Paul Federation of Teachers, said in a statement Tuesday night that the union is trying through contract negotiations to “make our schools safe for students and staff and to end the racial predictability of disciplinary outcomes.”

They want more social workers, counselors, nurses and school psychologists, greater parent engagement and smaller class sizes in order to build relationships between teachers and their students and families.

But St. Paul Public Schools administrators so far have opposed the union’s proposal for “school climate improvement teams” in individual schools.

So on Tuesday, Rodriguez said, the union filed a petition for state mediation, which is an initial step toward a strike vote.

“Teachers don’t want to walk away from their classrooms or their students but if our school climates are not safe and equitable environments for learning, that is a step our members may need to take. We can wait no longer,” she said.

Earlier, Choi and schools Superintendent Valeria Silva held a joint news conference to address violence in the schools, sparked by Friday’s assault on a Central High teacher and assistant principal.

It was the 27th time a school staffer has been assaulted in Ramsey County this year. Such incidents “have been increasing at a really alarming rate,” Choi said. He said he and Silva are working to launch a task force to address the growing problem, which he called a public health crisis in need of intervention.

“Schools cannot do this alone,” Choi said. “I think oftentimes we as a community make the mistake to say these problems belong in our schools and need to be solved with our school leaders and teachers. But the reality of it is, I really believe, they really need our help and they can’t do it alone. They need the help of the parents, and that starts at home with them. But it also includes the community.”