The race is on to settle teacher contracts, but many Minnesota districts seem slower than usual to do so.
The Christmas holidays brought good news to at least one district, however, as the Edina Public School Board approved a collective bargaining agreement with its teachers on Dec. 22nd.
Edina has always acted somewhat like a gold standard for districts in and around the Twin Cities, so to celebrate their new teacher contract, let’s take a look at their statistics.
For starters, the district has a high graduation rate. In 2022, 91% of Edina students graduated from high school, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.
In reading, science, and math, Edina is also far ahead of the pack with roughly 60-70% of their students achieving proficiency in these subjects. One does have to wonder, however, why the district graduates over 90% of its students when only 60-70% of them are proficient in these key academic subjects.
Finally, let’s look at what it costs to educate each Edina student. Here again, Edina is largely ahead of the pack, spending $22,682 per student in FY 2023. That means that $453,640 is poured into every 20-student classroom.
Glassdoor estimates that the average Edina High School teacher salary is $57,502. One wonders where the other $400,000 goes.
Furthermore, if teachers are doing the brunt of the educating, shouldn’t more of the district’s money be directed toward them rather than administration or fancy programs? After all, if we gave bigger incentives to those directly in the classroom, perhaps 70-80% of students in Edina Public Schools could achieve proficiency in key academic areas.
Perhaps that’s something Edina’s teachers should consider the next time their contract is up for renewal…
—
Image Credit: Edina Public Schools Facebook
