Minneapolis teachers reach tentative deal to end weeks-long strike

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) -Minneapolis teachers reached a tentative deal on Friday to end a strike over pay, class sizes and other issues that has kept some 30,000 students out of classes for more than two weeks.

The agreement, which must still be ratified by the teachers union's full membership, paves the way for students to return to school on Monday, school officials said.

The city's 4,500 teachers and support staff walked out on March 8 after failing to reach a new contract with the district, the first teachers' strike in Minneapolis in more than five decades.

Full details of the terms were not immediately released. In a statement, the union said the new deal includes "major gains" for education support professionals' pay, protections for teachers of color, caps on class size and more mental health support for students.

The district said it may add minutes to the school day or extend the end of the school year to make up for lost instructional time.

"I know for many of our students, the past two weeks have been difficult and long," Kim Ellison, the school board chair, said at a news conference on Friday. "You've missed your teachers, you've missed your school, you've missed your friends."

A teachers' strike in Sacramento, California, was set to enter a third day on Friday, after talks failed to yield a contract last week.

(Reporting by Joseph AxEditing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)