In 2005, Denver Public Schools administrators linked hands with the teachers union and asked voters to approve an extra $25 million a year for higher salaries and an innovative teacher-pay program.
Voters raised taxes to implement the ProComp plan. It was a vote of confidence in both the administration and teachers.
So, when administrators and the union convene in August to hash out a routine one-year contract, voters deserve to see that same spirit of cooperation.
Recently the union declared an impasse, saying the two sides are $13 million apart on a new benefits package for 4,000 teachers. The district has offered a 2.92 percent increase in total compensation. The union wants a hike in health insurance benefits and a 4.5 percent cost-of-living increase.
Last November, voters said they value Denver teachers and want their pay to be competitive. We suspect many Denverites will be surprised by the impasse.
It’s clear the administration and teachers want the same thing as voters: competitive salaries for those who literally hold our futures in their hands. But the two sides need to come to a common understanding about limits in the district budget.
Years of neglecting its pension program, rising salaries and a dwindling student population have DPS facing a $16.4 million shortfall next school year, and forecasts indicate red ink through 2010. Thousands of Denver kids go to school somewhere else. That’s millions of dollars walking away from traditional public schools. For teachers and management alike, the overriding priority must be creating successful schools that bring students back while giving those already enrolled a leg up on the future.
“Two years from now, if we don’t get kids back and do something about our fixed costs, they [teachers] won’t get anything because we won’t have it,” DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet said.
“It’s a quality issue,” said Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. “We don’t want [Denver] to be a training ground” for young teachers who then flee to higher-paying jobs.
But Denver’s pay is fairly competitive with surrounding districts, and when ProComp is added to the mix, it actually makes DPS a very inviting district.
Bennet has long said DPS’s budget needs to more accurately reflect its priorities. Teacher compensation is high among those priorities, as well it should be.
But the superintendent and the union need to understand that voters can’t be expected to sit still for antagonistic negotiations that threaten a start to the school year. Bennett should forge a cooperative relationship that recognizes the teachers’ huge contributions. The union needs to embrace a cooperative process, recognizing that the ProComp program has put DPS in the forefront of public school compensation.
Last fall’s $25 million vote of confidence creates an obligation and an opportunity for both sides to avoid the confrontational tenor of their relationship. Let’s begin an era of cooperation, not brinksmanship.
