Colorado Springs educators vote to strike in response to District 11 labor practices, contract dissolution
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Members of the Colorado Springs Education Association (CSEA) have voted to authorize a one-day strike this fall, citing Colorado Springs School District 11’s termination of a decades-old contract.
CSEA – the teachers union for D11 – said on Thursday, May 8, educators voted 91% vote in favor of the strike. In a statement, CSEA said the strike is in response to the district's "continued efforts to undermine public education and silence educators' voices in the district."
The vote comes nearly five months after the D11 Board of Education severed a 56-year master agreement between the district and the teachers union – a decision that was met with criticism and concern by some of the district's teachers.
“The master agreement wasn’t just a contract — it was a symbol of mutual respect and a shared commitment to public education," CSEA President Kevin Coughlin said. "By unilaterally severing that agreement, the Board is choosing to walk away from that partnership — and from its responsibility to the students, families, and educators who make up this community. We didn’t come to this decision lightly, but we refuse to stand by while our voices are silenced and our schools are dismantled.”
The union also expressed concern about what it described as a growing effort to expand charter schools in the district, warning that it could pull resources from neighborhood schools and widen existing inequities.
"District 11 students deserve fully funded, inclusive public schools where experienced educators feel respected and supported — not a system where their voices are ignored and public dollars are siphoned off to private interests," Coughlin said. "We are taking this action not just for ourselves, but for every family in our community who believes in the promise of public education."
But in a statement released Friday night, a D11 spokesperson pushed back on the union’s narrative, emphasizing the district's ongoing investment in its teachers and criticizing the strike plan.
“With students being our number one focus, we strongly oppose the union’s proposed plan to disrupt the learning environment of our students through a strike this fall,” Board of Education President Parth Melpakam said.
In the statement, the district pointed to recent financial investments in its educators, such as over $100 million in new compensation from 2022-23 to the proposed 2025-26 budget, as well as a double-digit raise for its educators, which it claims greatly outpaces surrounding districts that are only offering 1-2% raises.
The district also noted that 85% of its total budget is allocated to salaries and benefits, and 260% of all new state funding goes directly toward employee compensation.
“Our focus has been clear: to make D11 a place where teachers are supported, valued, and set up for success. We know our teachers continue to show up every day with professionalism and care—and we’ll keep showing up for them,” the district’s statement read in part.
You can read the full statement from D11 here.
While no date for the strike has been set yet, CSEA said details will be announced in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the union is asking D11 to "return to the bargaining table in good faith," and to restore the master agreement.
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