Pueblo striking teachers consider latest offer from district

The Pueblo School District 60 teachers union said the latest bargaining offer from administrators is the most promising yet and will be voted on by membership Sunday.

Union leaders received the offer around 3 p.m. Saturday, more than six hours after both sides resumed negotiations at the district office.

If approved, the offer would end the week-long teachers strike in D-60.

Monica Richards, one of the striking teachers, said most union members like the offer.

“We had to compromise,” she said. “It’s not everything we wanted, but it’s enough to mend some bridges and move forward. That’s what’s good for students.”

But another striking teacher, Kendra Wermers, said the offer isn’t much different from an earlier version.

“I’m going to vote against it because it doesn’t show enough respect for teachers,” she said. “If it passes, it may be time to start a recall effort against our union leadership.”

The district’s group of PARA Professionals, who teaches special needs students, overwhelmingly approved the offer Saturday evening.

The negotiations were scheduled to start at 8 a.m. but people weren’t allowed inside the administration building until then. The session, described as open to the public, was thought to offer a rare glimpse of bargaining between teachers and administrators.

But fewer people than expected were allowed in, which displeased some teachers.

“The meeting room holds 100 people but they only let 30 in,” an unidentified teacher said. “And that’s counting news media.”

Teachers who gathered outside also had a difficult time keeping track of what was happening in the session. A speaker set up to provide audio couldn’t be heard clearly at times. Many teachers followed an online feed of the session, or social media posts, for information.

Teachers, who gathered as early as 6 a.m., began the morning optimistic about the possibility of a quick settlement.

But as the morning dragged on with no progress, teachers became more active — first marching around the parking lot, then demonstrating loudly outside the doors where negotiations continued.

When negotiations continued at 1 p.m., a much smaller crowd of teachers returned to continue demonstrating at the doors of the administration building.