Talk between teachers and the Denver school board about improving schools became a conversation about money Monday.
Teachers presented the board their proposal on how to improve Denver Public Schools, including a call for tougher discipline, smaller classes and the end of promoting students who are not working at their grade levels.
In the end, board members said the proposals would be expensive and that little money is available.
“The bottom line is without additional money, we can’t do what you propose, or what (Superintendent Michael Bennet) proposes,” said board member Michelle Moss.
About 20 teachers and Denver Classroom Teachers Association president Kim Ursetta met with school board members and Bennet to talk about the union’s road map for improving schools.
Teachers unveiled a 10-page document last week called “Promoting School Success” that featured a call to build connections between teachers and parents, end social promotion of students not academically proficient and impose tougher discipline that would send disruptive students to alternative schools.
“More and more, it seems more of our time is doing a job that someone should have done a long time ago,” said Melissa Underwood-Verdeal, an English teacher at Henry Middle School.
“These are big issues with big implications,” said board member Bruce Hoyt, adding that each proposal has a price tag. “We have to think very carefully. What is the funding impact, and what are your priorities?”
The district is reeling financially, Hoyt said, because of declining enrollment, escalating pension costs and operating half-empty buildings.
One teacher suggested a mill levy to help pay for some of the proposals.
Reducing class size would be the most expensive of the teachers’ proposal, said school board President Theresa Peña.
Teachers agreed a few years ago to accept a pay increase instead of smaller class sizes, Peña said.
“If it’s reducing class size, then something else has to go,” Moss said.
The conversation comes as teachers and the district are at a stalemate over the 2007-08 contract.
The district is offering a 3.6 percent cost-of-living increase while the union is seeking a 4.47 percent raise.
A federal mediator last month ended the contract talks, saying the two sides are at an impasse.
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer may be reached at 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
