(CNN) More than 37,000 children are out of school after the St. Paul, Minnesota, teachers union went on strike because a dozen mediation sessions had not yielded meaningful movement on educators' demands for better mental health and multilingual services for students. Months of negotiationsThough Faber reported "some movement" during overnight negotiations, it was not sufficient to stave off a strike, he said. "When people cross the picket line, it weakens our bargaining position and can potentially make a strike drag out even longer." With the help of non-striking employees, beginning Thursday, the school system will provide supervised activities to students in kindergarten through fifth grade. It will also provide all students free breakfast and lunch at designated sites, beginning immediately, the district said.

Source: CNN March 10, 2020 17:52 UTC