and the district’s teachers union have reached a tentative deal on a new contract that, if approved, will give educators modest raises over the next three years.
DPS and the announced the agreement Tuesday after four months of negotiations and having declared an impasse last month, which brought a mediator into the talks.
The union must still vote to ratify the agreement before it is implemented.
Under the deal, educators will receive $1,000 cost-of-living increases to the union’s salary schedule each year for the next three years. This will increase starting salaries for teachers to $57,666 and the top salary to $124,233 next year, according to the union.
Teachers will also receive a separate $1,000 bonus this year.
Educators are paid based on their experience and education, and most receive an annual raise as they move up the district’s salary schedule.
“This agreement was made possible because our members showed up every single week and fought tirelessly to win a contract that respects, pays, and values the amazing work they do to support students every single day,” DCTA President Rob Gould said in a statement.
The agreement between DPS and the DCTA comes as school districts are giving teachers smaller raises this year because of budget constraints.
Districts are facing financial pressure from multiple avenues, including the end of COVID relief aid, declining enrollment, the state’s projected budget shortfall and the Trump administration’s threats to pull federal funding.
The union and district also spent much of the past year locked in a contract dispute over how large of a raise educators should have received for the 2024-25 academic year.
The union expected educators to receive an 8.34% raise, but DPS gave teachers a 5.2% salary increase, saying at the time that the district didn’t receive enough money from the state’s reduction of the budget stabilization factor — which redirected K-12 funding for years — for the full pay raise to kick in.
The union filed a grievance against DPS over the dispute, and an arbitrator ultimately agreed with the district that DPS did not violate the DCTA’s current contract by giving teachers a smaller raise.
In their new deal, DPS and the DCTA also agreed that if the district asks Denver voters this year or next to approve a ballot measure to increase local K-12 funding — and it’s approved — then the money can be used to increase educator pay, according to the news release.
“We are proud to have reached what we feel is a fair and forward-looking agreement that honors the critical work our teachers do every day,” DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero said in a statement.“This tentative contract supports our educators, strengthens our schools, and ultimately benefits the students and families we serve.”
DPS also agreed to improve elementary-school class sizes, aiming for 30 or fewer students, starting in 2026, according to the news release.
The current contract is set to expire on Aug. 31. If the union and the DPS Board of Education ratify the new agreement, it will take effect in September and expire in 2028.
