Strike's Over; Schools Are Open: Union, DPS Reach A Deal

DENVER, CO – A dawn agreement sealed a tentative deal to end the Denver teacher strike early on the strike's fourth day.

Negotiators from the Denver teachers union and the administration worked late into the early morning Thursday to craft a deal to end a strike that has lasted for three days. Negotiations carried on until the wee hours in the Denver Public Library building.

The Denver Classroom Teachers Association officially recommended that the strike be called off on its fourth day.

The terms of the tentative agreement would raise base pay, restructure the district's merit-pay incentive bonus structure and give teachers a way to be rewarded for seniority and continuing their education and training.

First-year teachers in Denver Public Schools for the 2019-20 school year earn $42,789. The new proposal would includes an average 11 percent base pay raise next year for teachers. The new agreement would add $23.1 million into teacher pay, starting salaries at $45,800 and give veteran teachers a 7 to 11 percent increase. In two years, the district will phase in a cost-of-living pay increase.

According to Chalkbeat:

The deal covers 5,353 teachers, nurses, counselors, and other educators in the district. It will have ripple effects throughout the district, as part of the money to pay for the raises will come from cutting administrative costs, including 150 central office positions. Those same administrative cuts will also pay for raises to paraprofessionals, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and others not covered by the teacher contract, the superintendent has said.

The district's 10-year-old ProComp merit-pay system gets a revamp, with bonus incentives dropping from $3,000 to $2,000 for teachers who take positions in high-poverty schools or hard-to-fill jobs. Teachers who receive these bonuses have said they amount to "$30 a week" and are not effective incentives for the extra challenges of teaching at the district's most difficult schools. The district said it would look at more supportive uses for $33 million in taxpayer ProComp-earmarked funds.

The district and union agreed to the manner by which teachers can boost their pay with careers moving up salary "steps," for additional years of service, and moving across salary "lanes" with earning additional degrees or training. The district’s proposed salary schedule contains 20 “steps” and seven “lanes.” The new system provides a pay structure for teacher pay to top out at $100,000 for teachers with 20 years' experience and a Ph.D.

Preschools remained closed Thursday morning, but teachers were expected to return to classes across the district.

Meanwhile, politicians – mostly Democrats running for the presidential race in 2020 – from across the U.S. weighed in on Twitter.

Related: Denver Teacher Strike, Day 3: 'Pathway To A Deal'

Image via Chalkbeat

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