Union, DPS agree to talk again today
Both sides meet for four hours of negotiation Friday as a Monday teachers strike looms. Moderator says talks are “going to end in an agreement ... but can we get this done before Monday?”
The Denver Classroom Teachers Association and Denver Public Schools will return to the bargaining table Saturday afternoon in an attempt to reach a last- minute agreement over teacher compensation to avert a strike on Monday. The decision to meet at 1 p. m. Saturday came after four hours of exhausting negotiations Friday evening. In a school district building packed with frustrated teachers, DCTA bargaining members and district representatives, a moderator assigned to make sure negotiations are productive summed up the tension in the room: “This process is going to end in an agreement. The challenge is the timing of that agreement. We can do it now before a strike takes place on Monday … so the question, the problem, the conundrum for people at this table is can we get this done before Monday?”
the two sides don’t come to agreement this weekend, teachers are prepared to walk out of the state’s largest school district for the first time in 25 years.
DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova said being at the bargaining table to avert a strike was the most important thing everyone could be doing.
“We’re not that far apart,” Cordova said, in relation to both sides’ pay proposals. “There’s a lot more that brings us together than that separates us.”
Both sides have philosophical and financial disagreements over the Denver school district’s educator compensation system, ProComp.
The district and the teachers union remain about $8 million apart in their proposals.
Much of the disagreement stems from the district’s prioritization of incentives for certain teachers that union officials feel come at the detriment of all educators’ salaries. District officials are adamant the bonuses help attract quality teachers to the struggling schools that need them most.
The discussion Friday night centered on professional development units, which is the Denver district’s program to advance teacher’s education through free college-like courses on a variety of topics.
The union wants teachers pay to increase when educators complete a PDU. The district said they were willing to consider this but had concerns about creating a system to do so in a financially sustainable way. District officials wanted guardrails in place that would limit the amount of money a teacher could make off earning their professional development units.
Aly Nutter, a language arts teacher at Merrill Middle School, said the professional development units she’s earned make her a better teacher without the cost of going for a more advanced degree.
“We just want a fair base pay,” Nutter said. “We want to be compensated for the work we do.”
After discussion, the district came back with a new proposal that would allow teachers to be paid for PDUs but added several guidelines that changed how the professional development units work.
The district said PDUs needed to be 60 hours worth of work outside the paid school day and that the courses would need to be district-approved with the help of a committee of district officials and teachers.
“I can tell you right now, we’re not ready to sign this,” said Rob Gould, lead DCTA negotiator, before the union took a break to discuss the new plan.
As Denver school leaders and representatives of the teachers union resumed contract talks Friday evening, Mayor Michael Hancock announced that city recreation centers and public libraries will be open to families who keep their children home in the event of a teacher strike next week.
Should teachers follow through with plans to strike Monday, all 30 of Denver’s recreation centers will be open at 8 a.m., and their after-school programs will be fully staffed, according to a city news release.
All Denver children aged 5 to 18 have free access to city rec centers with their MY Denver Card.
Additionally, all 26 of Denver Public Library’s branch locations will open at 10 a.m., and additional “passive and active programming” will be available at each location, according to the news release. All library locations will have prepackaged snacks for the children, the city said.
And, the city announced, Denver’s Free Healthy Meals program, offered through the recreation centers, will extend its hours and increase capacity.
Gould told The Denver Post on Friday that if that evening’s negotiating proved fruitful, the union would continue discussions.
“We’re at this point where if the district can’t meet our needs in the next 24 to 48 hours, we’ve been trying for 15 months, and they’ve had plenty of opportunities,” Gould said. “We have to prepare our teachers to strike, so we need to plan a meeting for that on Sunday. Sitting at a table for another day isn’t going to change the district’s behavior, but, of course, if we’re close to a deal, we’ll do that.”