This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters Faced with a $65 million budget shortfall, the Denver school district plans to ask teachers to forgo some of the pay raises guaranteed by a hard-won union contract. On Tuesday, Denver Public Schools sent […]
Denver teachers strike
“I can’t afford to live here”: Colorado teachers plea for wage help, but solutions still prove divisive
Doug Freeman moved back to Colorado last year and began teaching fourth grade at Edith Teter Elementary School in Fairplay, but he’s already eyeing a move out of state. Colorado is his home — he grew up in Littleton — and he doesn’t want to leave. But he might not have much of a choice. […]
With a 15.7% average pay increase post-strike, more Denver teachers returned to work
Far more Denver teachers returned to the classroom this fall than in previous years, a retention boost that district officials attribute to pay increases won after a teacher strike last year. But because veteran teachers tend to make more money than new hires, the higher retention means the district is paying more in teacher salaries than it […]
Nicolais: Have unions gotten their mojo back in Colorado?
Following the lead of Denver Public School teachers in February, union employees at King Soopers voted to strike last week after negotiations with the grocer collapsed. The back-to-back, high-profile votes — and the subsequent teacher strike — beg the question of whether, after years in decline, Colorado unions have begun to get their mojo back. […]
Activists want to “flip” the Denver Public Schools board after the teachers’ strike. But the meaning is complicated
By Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado The Denver teacher strike was, at its core, a fight for higher pay. But it was also a backlash against controversial school district policies, ballooning bureaucracy, and a sense that the powers-that-be weren’t listening to teachers. Amid all of that, a battle cry that originated with black education activists in […]