Leaders of Denver Public Schools will need to make painful decisions this summer about closing schools even as they try to improve the academic quality of a district that thousands of children are leaving, taking millions in funding with them.
The district certainly doesn’t need to worry about a teacher strike too. But for the second consecutive year, the union has declared an impasse in negotiations. The two sides will sit down with a mediator Friday, and we believe they can and should work out an agreement.
We see room for compromise, even if neither the district nor the teachers will achieve all their financial objectives. After all, it hasn’t even been two years since Denver voters agreed to raise their taxes $25 million each year for teacher salaries. There is hardly a public appetite for more.
DPS leaders have proposed an average 6.2 percent increase for teachers in 2007-08. That package includes a 3.6 percent cost of living adjustment, known as a COLA, based on the consumer price index. When increases given to teachers for longevity, education levels and involvement in the ProComp teacher-pay program are factored in, the average raise grows to 6.2 percent. For many of the roughly 1,800 teachers in ProComp, the raise could be much higher.
Teachers union representatives, however, have countered that the offer doesn’t cover the rising costs of health insurance. They calculate that the COLA would amount to a 1.44 percent increase after those insurance costs are factored in.
The union also argues that the rest of the package – step increases for longevity, for example – are irrelevant because they’re included in any teacher contract. It’s laughable logic. If they’re irrelevant, why not just do away with them?
Union leaders have figures showing neighboring school districts offer higher cost-of- living raises than Denver, and they think DPS should cut more from administration to put more resources into classrooms. But those neighboring districts don’t have a program like ProComp.
“We understand financially that we can’t lead the area, but we want to be competitive,” said Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, which represents about 4,000 educators.
Denver voters want the district to be competitive as well, which is why they approved ProComp in 2005, which dedicates an extra $25 million each year to salaries. The union was instrumental in creating ProComp and should actively push its membership toward the program.
Superintendent Michael Bennet said DPS isn’t try to lowball teachers as a negotiating ploy. “People need to see the budget realities we’re facing and come to grips with it,” he told The Post.
Union leaders want teachers to have more “time to teach” and more say about innovations and reform. There seems little room for maneuver on money; perhaps the issues of workday conditions and professional responsibilities will provide opportunity for an effective compromise.
The burdens and mandates on today’s teachers seem to increase by the year. But, given the realities of DPS’s tight budget, we hope the administration and the union can quickly reach some compromise to ensure that neither the district nor the teachers are distracted from classroom challenges.
