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The hike in Minnesota’s minimum wage – to $9.50 an hour by 2016 – signed into law Monday by Governor Mark Dayton will benefit Minnesota children, educators said.
“This has always been an education issue for us,” said Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota, which represents 70,000 teachers, education support professionals, faculty and others in school districts and campuses across the state.
“Now that 40 percent of Minnesota children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, Minnesota educators see the toll that poverty-level wages take on the children of working families every day.
“Too many parents spend all their time and energy holding down two or three minimum-wage jobs just to make ends meet,” Specht said. “We believe raising the minimum wage will give those parents enough breathing room to assist in their children’s formal education. We also know that parents have always been their children’s first and most important teacher.”
Mike Poke, a custodian in the Wayzata schools and a member of Service Employees International Union Local 284, said an increase for low-wage workers will improve life for them and their families.
“For the children I see in our schools every day who have parents struggling to make ends meet, raising the minimum wage in Minnesota is an important step,” Poke said. “We see too many parents who work hard but are unable to afford basic necessities for their children. This increase will help put more money in the pockets of Minnesota families, which benefits the children and will help support our schools. When working families are paid fairly and have money to spend, it helps our whole economy.”
Education Minnesota and the Service Employees International Union are members of the Raise the Wage Coalition, a group of faith, labor and community organizations that mobilized public support for a higher minimum wage.