400 MPS parents and students fill Davis Center to urge district leadership to settle a strong contract

Families pressure district leadership settle a contract with MFE that includes priorities shared by families and educators

Minneapolis Families for Public Schools is a political home for families who believe in public schools and are focused on making MPS the best option for students in Minneapolis. TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide, independent, multiracial people’s organization working to advance democracy and equity through organizing, political action, and campaigns. Offices are located in St. Paul and Duluth.

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400 MPS parents and students fill Davis Center to urge district leadership to settle a strong contract.mp3

Posted Monday, November 10, 2025 11:05 am

On Nov. 7, 2025, as Minneapolis Federation of Educators (MFE) and MPS leadership continued with mediation at the Davis Center, 400 parents, caregivers, and students organized by Minneapolis Families for Public Schools (MFPS) packed the building to urge MPS leadership to avert a strike by settling a strong contract.

Since Oct. 17, MFPS has organized over 1,500 families across the district to contact district leadership and demand action on shared priorities with educators, including

enforceable class size limits at every school,
manageable caseloads for special education and English Language Learners, and
fair pay for all educators, including ESPs and adult educators.

The rally included songs, chanting, and remarks from parents and caregivers who are committed to organizing until district leadership delivers on these priorities.

“Last school year my daughter was one of 36 kids in a 1st grade classroom – far too many!” said Samantha Pipkorn, MFPS member and MPS parent. “It took daily phone calls, emails, and news stories from parents and staff begging the district to do something until another teacher was added to the school in December. [...] It’s a recipe for inequity across our district. That’s why we support the MFE proposal that would bring together administrators, educators, and parents at school sites when there's going to be an overage to decide together how they want to handle it.”

“Our children, and our educators, deserve more than this crisis whack-a-mole,” said Amanda Otero, MPS parent and Co-Executive Director of TakeAction Minnesota. "We deserve stability. A strong, supportive foundation. A four-legged stool: A well-organized union, a well-organized School Board, a well-organized district, and well-organized families.”

MFPS has grown to include over 450 members across 50 schools and counting, from Nellie Stone Johnson and NE Middle School to Folwell and Field.

“Minneapolis Families for Public Schools has become the vehicle for family engagement that we’ve so desperately needed,” said Roberto Aspholm, MFPS member and MPS parent. “As someone who was at the table from the very first meeting, I stand here today as proud as anyone could be in what we’ve built—and I also know that this is only the very beginning!”

“Right now, the next step is to push the district to do what’s right for our kids and our families: Settle the contract now,” said Shannon Gibney, MFPS member and MPS parent. “Make MPS a district where families want to send their kids, because of the outstanding instruction and support kids receive here. [...] It’s within reach, if district leadership steps up and invests in the transformative power of public education.”

“District leadership owes me time back for what I have spent, organizing to solve a problem they created,” said Christian Glanville, MFPS member and MPS parent. “This settlement needs to happen today, so my kids and all of our kids don’t miss a minute of the time with their friends and teachers that they so desperately need.”