Negotiations continue as we hit day 3 of the teacher strike in Denver

Teachers continue to strike in Denver after the district and the union once again failed to come to an agreement during negotiations.

The issue is over the School District’s incentive-based pay system. The district will give bonuses ranging from $1,500 to $3,000 if teachers work in schools with students from low-income families, schools that are designated as high priority, or hard to staff.

Rob Gould, Lead Negotiator for DCTA said, “They have been doubling down on these bonuses that are reliable and they have supported student needs.”

The DCTA would ultimately like to see a pay system that more closely resembles those in other districts. This would make it easier for teachers to advance in pay based on experience, education and training.

Gould said, “We are looking for a fair and reliable pay system that actually retains teachers in Denver.”

As a teacher and a coach, the strike is something that Veronica Marcelo doesn’t want to see continue, but she knows it’s the right thing to do.

“It’s hard. We are in our soccer preseason and it’s hard to step away from them, but luckily our students are supportive of this, and they texted me the other day like don’t worry coach we got this, we support you guys,” said Marcelo.

The district proposed raising starting teacher pay from just over $43,00 dollars to more than $45,000 but the DCTA says that is still less than the proposal.

A joint statement from DPS and DCTA was released late last night saying, “Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association worked in good faith to find common ground on ProComp. We exchanged proposals that are moving us closer and are hopeful that we will get to an agreement soon.”