In some ways, it came down to fewer minutes in meetings and a $180,000 olive branch.
Denver teachers and district officials announced details Thursday of a tentative contract agreement that gives teachers between $250 and $4,000 more a year and a bigger say in how to teach.
The accord was reached late Wednesday after four days of mediation talks between the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and Denver Public Schools.
It must still must be approved by 51 percent of the roughly 3,000 union teachers. About 4,000 teachers work in DPS.
The three-year tentative contract will move eligible teachers up the scale and give back to teachers who were working in DPS in 2002-03 the step increase that was frozen that year.
The package also boosts retirement plan contributions.
“I’m very hopeful Denver teachers will approve this contract,’ union president Becky Wissink said. “It comes with a recommendation from the negotiating team.’
Wissink said teachers will get another 30 minutes of planning time a week.
Currently, principals can have 60 minutes a week of meeting time with teachers. The tentative deal reduces this to 30.
Also, committees will be formed at the school and administrative levels to talk about giving teachers more say – not in what to teach, but how to teach, Wissink said.
District leaders said at a news briefing Thursday that they were happy about this.
“At the district level, people will have input about culture, about staff development,’ assistant superintendent John Leslie said. “That is important to us as well.’
But teachers said they were wary of the agreement until they find out more about its details. They’ll vote on the deal within two weeks, Wissink said.
“I’m not real happy,’ said Liz Fant, who teaches Advanced Placement calculus and algebra at West High School. “I feel like if we say yes to this, we’ll say yes to, ‘Keep shuffling around your money and don’t make teachers a priority.”
Fant said she was concerned about the $250 to $4,000 range of annual raises that teachers will receive depending on experience and what step they’re on in the pay scale.
“I feel like that pits us against one another,’ she said.
East High School government teacher Peter Goldin said he wanted to look at the details before deciding what to do.
“Just because my association endorses it doesn’t mean I’m going to vote for it,’ he said.
Union officials said late-night bargaining included a last- minute $180,000 the district promised to shift out of its administrative budget.
Though the amount is relatively minuscule in a total $11.7 million increase in compensation for teachers, Wissink called it “symbolic.’
Staff writer Allison Sherry can be reached at 303-820-1377 or asherry@denverpost.com
