Boulder Valley teachers on Tuesday continued to protest next year’s salary proposal, with 269 teachers at eight schools failing to show up to work — the third day of teacher “sickouts” to hit the district.
A total of 671 teachers have been absent from work at 15 schools in the Boulder Valley School District since Friday, after contract talks broke down between the union and the district last week.
“We just want to give a united statement,” said Patty Jones, an Angevine Middle School art teacher who called in sick with the “blue flu” but showed up after school Tuesday to picket with other teachers.
The district is offering its 2,000 teachers a 1 percent stipend raise for the 2009-10 school year that would not be applied to their base pay.
Boulder teachers want a 3 percent permanent cost-of-living raise next year.
“We have mortgages to pay for, insurance has gone up and we have to take classes that we have to pay for,” said Patsy Trujillo, an Angevine social studies teacher who also took the day off.
The district says that its total compensation package on the table equates to a 6.35 percent increase, including a 1 percent increase for two days of training, and an average 2 percent increase for steps and lanes, which compensate teachers for experience and additional education.
District officials say they cannot give permanent cost-of-living increases because the state is withholding $110 million from school districts until Jan. 29, 2010.
Teachers say the school-funding formula requires that the state give districts a 1 percentage-point increase on top of the annual inflation figure, which this year was 3.9 percent. That gives every district a 4.9 percent increase over the previous year.
“Districts are getting lots of money this year,” said Deborah Fallin, spokeswoman for the Colorado Education Association — adding that the Aurora school district recently agreed to give its teachers a 2.5 percent cost-of-living increase.
“There is a district that found a way to say, ‘We are going to recognize the contribution the teachers are making, and we are going to give them some of the money,’ ” Fallin said.
Boulder Valley union officials say they have not told teachers to use their 12 days of annual leave as a protest tool but requested that teachers work only to contract, which means they should resist doing extra work above what is outlined in the contract.
Teachers say they are planning sickouts without the union’s guidance. High school teachers called in sick Monday and middle-school teachers Tuesday.
“We left detailed lesson plans,” said Jones of Angevine. “We’re not shortchanging the kids. It’s up to the district to find qualified substitutes.”
Boulder school officials say it costs about $108 a day for each substitute it must hire.
Outside of Angevine in Lafayette, parents on Tuesday waited in idling cars to pick up their children.
Sixth-grader Amber Lacy, 12, said five of her seven teachers failed to show up to school Tuesday.
During her last class of the day, world geography, no teacher was present, so the students pushed carts classroom to classroom to pick up recycling.
“I agree that teachers need to get paid more, but that’s not right,” said Amber’s mother, Gayle Lacy. “I don’t think they should have left the kids hanging high and dry.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
