In 1946 Aunt Katherine, Grandma Rose Rauscher Bloomfield’s sister, was one of the 1,165 St. Paul, Minnesota, public school teachers that went on strike from November 25^th to December 27^th. This strike was the first organized teachers’ strike in the US.¹ The walkout was illegal, but working conditions had become intolerable.² Aunt Katherine risked her job and her teaching credentials by striking.

“Many school buildings were poorly maintained or inadequate. One elementary school had just one bathroom and sink for 180 students. Many schools lacked toilet paper, soap and towels. Some classrooms were heated by a single coal stove. Snow blew through window cracks in others. Some buildings were condemned by fire or public safety officials.”³

“St. Paul teachers were paid less than any similar sized city except Birmingham, Alabama. Textbooks weren’t supplies, and teachers often paid for books for poor students.

“In 1946 the city had no board of education to oversee school funding or policy. Schools competed with streets, sewers, water and other services for funding from a $30 per capita property tax limit established in 1912. Originally $6 per capita was dedicated to schools, but in 1919 the city charter was amended so that all funds went into the same pool. Any change required approval by 60 percent of St. Paul voters.

“But city officials, backed by well-funded opposition to raising taxes by the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce and the St. Paul Real Estate Board, repeatedly put off demands to put the question to citizens.

“Finally, the teachers, fed up with intransigence by the city council, the St. Paul Charter Commission and the mayor, called a strike to begin Nov. 25, 1946. Only 25 of the union’s 1,165 teachers crossed the picket lines to work. The strike lasted until Dec. 27^th. After numerous delays, the city finally agreed to put a charter amendment to the ballot, and the union suspended the strike. Voters eventually approved the amendment increasing per capita spending to $42, with $18 dedicated to schools.” It wasn’t until 1965 that St. Paul created a school board to manage educational affairs in the city.⁴

1. Cheryl Carlson, Strike for Better Schools. The St. Paul Public Schools Teachers’ Strike of 1946, in: Ramsey County History, Summer 2008. ↩︎
2. Kris Berggren, Historic St. Paul walkout, in: Twin Cities Daily Planet (online), 18 April 2018. ↩︎
3. Kris Berggren, Historic walkout. ↩︎
4. Kris Berggren, Historic walkout. ↩︎