A three-year contract was approved by Denver’s teachers, union officials announced tonight after counting the 1,877 ballots cast by union members.
More than 77 percent of teachers who voted approved the deal that was OK’d by Denver’s school board last week, putting an end to a months-long labor strife that brought national attention and was fraught with threats of a strike.
“This was the most grueling negotiation session I have ever been through,” said Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. “Now we have a lot of hard work to make sure administrators and teachers understand the agreement.”
Exactly 1,454 teachers approved the contract, which allows for changes to the nationally recognized Professional Compensation System for Teachers or ProComp.
All teachers will get a 3 percent raise this year, and over the next two years they will get cost-of-living raises plus 0.25 percent.
ProComp teachers will get, on average, raises of 15 percent, the largest in state history, district officials said. The increases will improve average teachers’ beginning salaries to $42,000, district officials said.
