New Jersey

Jersey City Reaches Deal With Striking Teachers; School Resumes Monday

What to Know

  • Jersey City Public Schools haven’t had a teachers’ strike in 20 years; that changed Friday after they demanded a new contract
  • Students were dismissed after lunch Friday as thousands of educators went out to strike at dozens of schools
  • A judge ordered the teachers back to work on Monday after the Jersey Board of Education filed an order to stop the strike

Jersey City has reached a tentative deal with striking teachers and educators will return to their classrooms Monday morning, officials announced Sunday night.

Talks continued this weekend after thousands of teachers walked off the job Friday and rallied outside dozens of schools.

The Jersey City Board of Education filed an order to stop the strike, and a judge sided with the city, demanding the teachers return to work Monday.

The decision forced the two sides back to the negotiating table over the weekend, and they reached a tentative agreement after 14 hours of negotiations Sunday, according to officials.

Details of the contract deal have not been released.

This round of contract negotiations started late last year but picked up immensely over the weekend after Friday's strike — the first teachers strike in the city in 20 years.

The 3,100 Jersey City Public Schools teachers say they've worked under an expired contract since September. They demanded lower health care costs and wanted the Board to pay more; the superintendent said Friday that the district already contributed $100 million while balancing the budget.

Some 30,000 schoolchildren attend the school district, which is one of the largest in New Jersey.

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