A pilot proposal to extend the instructional day at some middle schools in Denver is a good idea that could boost kids who’ve fallen behind, would offer advancement opportunities for those on grade level and provide enrichment classes for all.
Not many people will tell you they oppose more classroom time. So why has the Denver teacher’s union filed a grievance about it?
The union issued a news release about the grievance, focusing on the process of creating proposals. The lengthy statement said the district engaged in a top-down approach marred by one-size-fits-all directives from central administration.
Strangely, district officials describe a process that was ground-up, with teachers, administrators and parents collaborating and looking at best practices to come up with proposals for using the extra hour each day.
How could there be such differing perspectives on the same situation?
It has been our experience that when someone has a problem with an idea at Denver Public Schools, the stated objections frequently center on process.
Think about the Far Northeast turnaround plan, which drew scathing rebukes from a relative handful of objectors who said there wasn’t enough community involvement.
Given the number of meetings involved in formulating the plan to improve schools in that area and broad range of people who created it, we never believed that to be the case. We thought it was more about concerns of teachers who didn’t want to be forced to reapply for jobs in reformulated schools.
It seems to us a similar phenomenon may be at work with the extension of the middle school day. We wonder if the real issue is pay. The DPS contract specifies a set rate — $22 an hour — for the work involved in the extended school day. That is, in some cases, less than what teachers get paid on an hourly basis.
Tom Boasberg, DPS superintendent, said the district is willing to talk about that rate when contract negotiations reopen next year.
In a Denver Post story, the union’s executive director, Carolyn Crowder, said teachers want to make sure they are paid at their regular hourly rate. We don’t think that position is unreasonable if the pilot program for a dozen schools becomes a permanent, districtwide effort. That will likely be dependent upon the district getting a mill levy increase, which would have to be approved by voters.
What we do have an issue with is fighting over “process” if the real concern is money.
We hope the district works out matters with the union so Denver’s students get a shot at improving their math skills, taking an art history class or prep work for Advanced Placement classes in high school. It would be a shame if such worthy pursuits were thrown off track by proxy fights that are merely a smokescreen.
