Denver teachers are next to take to the picket line
A bonus system cannot replace a higher base pay
Denver high school social studies teacher Nick Childers, right, chants as teachers picket outside South High School on February 11, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. Denver teachers are striking for the first time in 25 years after the school district and the union representing the educators failed to reach an agreement after 14 months of contract negations over teacher pay. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
In an era of fractured politics, teachers of different ethnicities, with varying levels of seniority, in school districts big and small, in both Democratic and Republican states, seem unified on at least one front: They are not being paid as they should. Over the last two years, insufficient pay was at the core of statewide disputes in Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Colorado and Washington State. The high-profile teachers’ strike of the Los Angeles Unified School District less than a month ago was a clarion call for other big city districts. Now we can add Denver to the growing list of places where teachers are taking their pay demands to the picket line.
After Colorado Governor Jared Polis declined to enter into negotiations between the union and district, the leaders of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association union (DCTA) announced its members would strike on February 11. So on Monday, Denver teachers hit the streets.
While the district and DCTA argue over the amount of the raise, they both agree that teachers need one. Teacher pay continues to lag behind the pay of other college-educated workers, according to a 2016 report published by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. The report found: “In 2015, public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17.0 percent lower than those of comparable workers — compared with just 1.8 percent lower in 1994.” Expect to see more strikes, particularly in cities like Denver, where a tech boom has increased the cost of living for all workers.
What is creating an impasse is the taxpayer-funded Denver Public CONTINUE READING: Denver teachers take to the picket line to protest inadequate pay
