Minnesota
National Council on Teacher Quality Report Card: Minnesota Teacher Policy
Legend
 | Best practices. |
 | State meets goal. |
 | State nearly meets goal. |
 | State partially meets goal. |
 | State meets a small part of goal. |
 | State does not meet goal. |
| Full Report – National Council on Teacher Quality | |
Meeting NCLB Teacher Quality Objectives: D
| Goal A Equitable Distribution of Teachers |
| Goal B Elementary Teacher Preparation |
| Goal C Secondary Teacher Preparation |
| Goal D Veteran Teachers Path to HQT |
| Goal E Standardizing Credentials |
| Goal A Defining Professional Knowledge |
| Goal B Meaningful Licenses |
| Goal C Interstate Portability |
| Goal D Teacher Prep in Reading Instruction |
| Goal E Distinguishing Promising Teachers |
Teacher Evaluation and Compensation: D
| Goal A Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness |
| Goal B Using Value-Added |
| Goal C Teacher Evaluation |
| Goal D Compensation Reform |
| Goal E Tenure |
State Approval of Teacher Preparation Programs: D
| Goal A Entry Into Preparation Programs |
| Goal B Program Accountability |
| Goal C Program Approval and Accreditation |
| Goal D Controlling Coursework Creep |
Alternate Routes to Certification: F
| Goal A Genuine Alternatives |
| Goal B Limiting Alternate Routes to Teachers with Strong Credentials |
| Goal C Program Accountability |
| Goal D Interstate Portability |
Preparation of Special Education Teachers: F
| Goal A Special Education Teacher Preparation |
| Goal B Elementary Special Education Teachers |
| Goal C Secondary Special Education Teachers |
| Goal D Special Education Teacher and HQT |
Political contribution statistics from 2004 political cycle.
Union Political Contribution Totals
| Amount | Union |
| $ 29,125 | Education Minnesota |
| $ 2,400 | Minneapolis Police Relief Assoc |
| $ 2,400 | Minneapolis Retired Police Assoc |
In Minnesota, after 3 years, public school teachers receive what's commonly called "tenure," a special employment protection that teachers unions defend. As the below federal statistics indicate, tenured teachers (as opposed to less-senior "probationary" teachers) are practically impossible to fire.
| 2.95% tenured/post-probationary teacher firing rate |
0.77% |
9.8% |
Data obtained from the Department of Education's 2007-2008 Schools and Staffing Survey.
Statewide Unions
Education Minnesota
Total Revenue: $ 24,614,998
Total Expenses: $ 24,144,487
Total Assets: $ 26,527,228
Data obtained from the Internal Revenue Service's Master Data File 2005-2006.
Other Unions
| Name | City | Total Rev. | Tax Period |
| Education Minnesota | St Paul | $ 24,614,998 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers Minneapolis 59 | Minneapolis | $ 3,053,685 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | St Paul | $ 2,759,813 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Apple Valley | $ 1,267,018 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Maple Grove | $ 957,893 | 2003 |
| Robbinsdale Federation Of Teachers 872 Aft | Crystal | $ 788,330 | 2004 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Duluth | $ 555,543 | 2004 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Appievmu | $ 467,273 | 2003 |
| American Federation Of Teachers | Lakeville | $ 414,276 | 2003 |
| Mounds View Education Association | Shoreview | $ 405,106 | 2003 |
Teacher Contracts
| Name | District | Occupation | |
| Rochester Education Association | Rochester | Teachers |  |
| Dakota County United Educators Local 2006 | Rosemount-apple Valley-eagan | Teachers | |
| Principals’ Association of Rosemount | Rosemount-apple Valley-eagan | Principals | |
| RAVE Clerical Association | Rosemount-apple Valley-eagan | Clerical | |
| Minnesota Teamsters Public and Law Enforcement Employees Local 320 | Rosemount-apple Valley-eagan | Food Services | |
For this massive new project, the Center for Union Facts filed freedom of information requests with dozens of America’s major school districts.
From the stacks of paperwork that ensued, we have calculated a variety of statistics that document how teachers unions – and the laws and policies they defend – keep bad teachers in classrooms. Read on to discover just what all that dues money pays for in many cities around the country.
Minneapolis Federation of Teachers: Protecting Bad Teachers
How We Discovered These Facts
This information comes from the Minneapolis Public Schools response to a public information request filed by the Center for Union Facts, which asked for teachers who were terminated, as well as those who resigned or retired in lieu of termination.Click here to read our full letter to Minneapolis Public Schools.
The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) is the exclusive bargaining agent for teachers from Minneapolis Public Schools. According to school district records, however, policies defended by MFT and its parent unions (Education Minnesota, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association, America's largest teachers union) mean that practically no teachers are ever fired by the school system after they work for three years and thus acquire tenure (called "continuing contracts" in Minnesota).
At Minneapolis Public Schools there are approximately 3,517 teachers, with about 3,189 possessing tenure. Original research by the Center for Union Facts into district records indicates that, between the 2002-03 and the 2006-07 school years, no more than seven tenured teachers were fired. Put another way, Minneapolis Public Schools fires less than 0.05 percent of its tenured teachers annually.
The typical union response to such abysmally low statistics is that teachers are commonly "counseled out" of their jobs if they're not fit to teach. But a look at district records suggests that it's not very common at all. Center for Union Facts research indicates that, between the 2002-03 and the 2006-07 school years, only 73 teachers resigned or retired in lieu of termination. That "counseled out" termination rate is a mere 0.4 percent of teachers a year.
It's easy to believe that the vast majority of public schoolteachers in Minneapolis are doing a good job, but it's a near-impossibility that fully 99.5 percent of its teachers deserve to be in front of kids; any group of people that size is bound to have at least a few more bad apples than the ones noted above. The best explanation, in our opinion, is that by protecting an outmoded employment system in the legislature and by turning tenured teacher termination cases into equivalents of a criminal trial, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and its affiliates have made it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers.
Source: Minneapolis Public Schools
Data current as of January 10, 2008
© 2010 Center for Union Facts