Dear Educators,
As you return from a well-deserved winter break, I want to ensure you have the latest information on our negotiations that resumed today with Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) to simplify and improve the compensation system for our teachers and Specialized Service Providers (SSPs). I know how important it is for us to find a solution that is fair for our educators, and I am dedicating my time and attention over the next two weeks to listen to our teachers and work with DCTA to find common ground and reach an agreement.
Our Progress So Far
- DPS and DCTA have aligned on a vision for a simple and transparent compensation system that includes a published salary schedule, fewer bonuses and a higher investment in base pay. We agree that the salary schedule will provide higher pay for teachers who earn a masters or doctorate.
- We reached a tentative agreement on the hard-to-staff/fill incentive, which ensures educators working in our most challenging roles to staff will earn a $2,500 a year incentive.
What We Accomplished Today
- After today's proposal, we have now committed to increase teacher compensation by $62 million over the course of three years. Broken down, that includes: funding that we have received and anticipate receiving from the state ($45 million that we had previously agreed to pay for raises through the 2019-20 school year and $4 million that we anticipate receiving from the buy-down of the negative factor in this year’s governor’s budget), $6 million in funds that have accumulated in the ProComp trust and $7 million in cuts to central administration supports.
- We proposed increasing the starting salary from $42,789 to $45,500, which would be the second-highest in the state after Boulder. Click here to see our new proposed salary schedule.
- All teachers and SSPs will receive a base pay increase when the new salary system is implemented next school year.
- To provide more opportunities to grow your base pay without having to invest in another advanced degree, we proposed changes to how you can receive a lane change:
- DPS teachers can now receive a lane change for serving 10 years in DPS classrooms, which supports our focus on teacher retention and honors our teachers who stay teaching in DPS classrooms.
- Educators can also receive a lane change if they got the credits and qualifications to teach concurrent enrollment classes. We hope this will address the challenge in recruiting and rewarding teachers who are eligible to teach concurrent enrollment courses.
- DPS and DCTA reached a verbal agreement on what will be called the Distinguished Schools incentive, which will award teachers and SSPs in up to 10 schools a $1,000 incentive annually. We will no longer have a bonus connected to the School Performance Framework -- instead, the Distinguished Schools incentive will focus on schools that are doing great and innovative work around supporting the “whole child.”
Next Steps
- There are four all-day sessions between now and our deadline to reach an agreement on Jan. 18. Click here to see the full meeting schedule.
I encourage all of our teachers and SSPs to stay tuned to Teacher Weekly and
greatteachers.dpsk12.org for updates on what DPS and DCTA are proposing -- and if you have questions, concerns or ideas, please let us know at
greatteachers@dpsk12.org.
Warm Regards,
Susana
