ST. PAUL — Union leaders in Minnesota’s largest school district will decide whether to ask members to take a strike authorization vote.

Negotiators for the 2,800-member union at the Anoka-Hennepin School District have failed to reach an agreement after meeting 16 times over the past 10 months.

School Superintendent Denny Carlson said the district couldn’t afford the union’s pay and benefits proposal.

Union president Julie Blaha said after years of no raises and other concessions teachers deserve a pay increase. Union leaders will decide Monday on the vote.

According to the state teachers union, Education Minnesota, 40 percent of teacher union contracts across the state remain unsettled. Of those that have agreed to new, two-year deals, annual pay increases average 2 percent.