Education |

Denver teacher strike to begin Monday after Gov. Jared Polis declines to intervene

The union representing the majority of Denver Public Schools’ educators announced it will initiate the city’s first teacher strike in a quarter century next week after Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday declined to intervene in the two sides’ ongoing compensation dispute.

DPS leaders have vowed to keep all of the district’s 161 schools open through any walkout, but Superintendent Susana Cordova acknowledged Wednesday that a strike would force the cancellation of early childhood education classes for 3- and 4-year-olds.

Still, both Polis and Cordova expressed hope that the state’s largest school district and its teachers union finally will reach agreement on a new compensation plan before next week. The two sides remain about $8 million apart in their proposals.

“We’ve got Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday into Monday,” Cordova said at a news conference. “Let’s spend as much time possible in negotiations. Let’s clear our calendars to do that.”

District officials and representatives of the Denver Classroom Teachers Asociation agreed to continue bargaining following the decision by Polis not to intervene, which could have delayed the teachers’ ability to strike for up to 180 days.

“No teacher wants to strike. We would rather be teaching students in our classrooms,” union President Henry Roman said in a news release. “But when the strike starts, we will be walking for our students.”

DPS leaders — who began recruiting substitutes and preparing lesson plans shortly after the strike vote last month — have told state labor officials that a teacher walkout would cost the district more than $400,000 a day.

“There will be disruptions”

Should no deal be reached, Cordova said the district will notify parents on Sunday about whether their children’s schools will remain open in the event of the first Denver teacher strike since 1994.

The early childhood education classes would need to be canceled, Cordova said, because the district would not be able to meet the rigorous requirements for licensed staff in those classrooms. She said DPS would try to provide opportunities for the “thousands” of children who rely on the district for preschool.

The district previously said that, in the event of a strike, students would be learning from “high-quality lesson plans” for every subject and grade level, and that “students would not be watching movies all day.” DPS already has spent more than $136,000 preparing lesson plans for the first two days of a strike.

#DCTAStrong #RedforEd #Solidarity #schoolsdenverstudentsdeserve pic.twitter.com/Z05iV3j614

— DCTA (@DenverTeachers) February 6, 2019

Cordova warned parents Wednesday that if teachers walk out of their classrooms next week, Denver’s schools will be noticeably different.

“It’s not going to look like typical school,” Cordova said. “We want to be honest about that. School will not look and feel the same way. It’s never normal when you go into a school and your teacher isn’t there. Obviously, there will be disruptions. If we have teachers on a picket line outside, that will be a disruption. I think we will experience the kinds of things we’ve seen around the country when there have been teacher strikes.”

The same day Denver teachers voted to authorize their strike about two weeks ago, teachers in Los Angeles were reaching a deal to end their first walkout in 30 years.

The Los Angeles strike saw a thin staff of administrators and employees teaching a vastly reduced number of students. According to the Los Angeles Times, more than two-thirds of students did not show up to school during the first week of the strike.

The Denver teachers union voted last month by what it said was an overwhelming margin to authorize the strike, but any walkout had been delayed by the district’s request for state intervention.

“Hope and fear all in one”

Aaron Lowenkron, a math teacher at East High School and one of that school’s strike captains, described his reaction to the governor’s announcement as “a weird flurry of emotions.”

“It was happiness, sadness and terror,” Lowenkron said. “It was hope and fear all in one.”

Lowenkron, who is in the middle of his seventh year teaching at DPS, said there are plans in the works for what teachers will be doing come Monday if an agreement hasn’t been reached, but he wasn’t comfortable discussing them.

“I won’t be in the building,” Lowenkron said. “I know that. If there is picketing, I will be participating.”

State will not intervene in DPS-DCTA dispute. Strike scheduled to start Monday Feb. 11. DPS has invited DCTA back to bargain tomorrow and remains committed to reaching resolution. Strike not in our students’ best interest.

— Denver Public Schools (@dps_k12) February 6, 2019

The math teacher said he hopes that when this is all over, teachers and district officials like Cordova — who started her first week on the job at the bargaining table — can make amends and find a way to move forward.

“I was really hopeful with Susana,” Lowenkron said. “She really is by, for and of this community. You don’t spend 30 years as a part of this community without having quite a bit of skin in the game.”

While Lowenkron reiterated that he did not want to strike, he said he feared what would happen if he didn’t.

“I don’t imagine having this opportunity again in my career to change the power dynamics in my district,” he said.

“Very close to a resolution”

Polis and Joe Barela, executive director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, announced their decision at a Wednesday afternoon news conference, with the governor expressing hope that a new compensation deal will emerge before any walkout.

“We hope for the sake of both sides, for the sake of the families who rely on Denver Public Schools, both sides can step up,” Polis said.

Barela said he believes the district and union are close. “We’ll be watching closely as both sides return to the bargaining table,” he said.

BREAKING: State is not intervening. #edcolo #coleg #copolitics pic.twitter.com/H45cih1FdV

— Nic Garcia (@NicGarcia) February 6, 2019

The governor’s office released a letter from Barela to Roman and Cordova, in which he noted that state still has the power to step in at any time if negotiations between the district and the union appear to continue going south.

“We believe that the two parties are very close to a resolution and have largely achieved a mutual understanding of the facts in the areas of dispute,” Barela wrote.

Barela assured citizens that state leaders will continue watching negotiations closely, noting the difficult situation that a strike puts DPS families in. “A strike is an effort of last resort, and one where the ramifications are immense, unpredictable and costly,” he wrote.

“State intervention could not make a difference”

The union said it remains committed to bargaining and reaching a deal with DPS “for a fair, predictable, competitive compensation system.”

“In DPS’ appeal for state intervention, the district attempted to argue a teacher strike would negatively affect the public interest,” the union said in its news release. “However, today’s decision acknowledges the overwhelming outpouring of support and affection the Denver community has for its teachers. The governor understands our position that only DPS can mend its relationship with its teachers and special service providers, and that state intervention could not make a difference in a dispute that has dragged on for five years.”

Cordova said Wednesday that she understands teachers’ frustrations.

“When you look at the manner in our state when we fund our schools, we have less money today than we did pre-recession, and clearly cost-of-living has way surpassed that, so it was really challenging,” Cordova said.

Cordova noted the district promised “significant” cuts to its central administration to help fund teacher compensation.

An analysis by the education website Chalkbeat found that, compared with the statewide average, DPS is top-heavy with administration, having one administrator for every 7.5 instructional members, including teachers, librarians, nurses and others.

“I would love to be in a position where we could put even more money on the table,” Cordova said. “We’re working as hard as we can. I think what needs to change is a willingness on both sides to listen and to get closer.”

At the heart of the disagreement is Denver’s teacher compensation plan, ProComp. Both sides have proposals they claim will improve the pay scale that determines how and what teachers get paid. The union’s proposal kicks in about $28.5 million toward teacher compensation, while the district’s plan adds about $20.8 million.

In addition to the $8 million difference in teacher pay plans, the district and union disagree on how educators should advance along their proposed compensation schedules.

The union’s plan allows for more opportunities for teachers to bump up in pay as they accrue credits toward advancing their education. And the district’s plan prioritizes bonuses for educators in high-poverty schools with hard-to-fill positions.

The teachers union encouraged parents to check with their children’s schools to see whether they will be open during a strike.

“We encourage parents to make a decision on whether or not to send their children to school based on what they believe to be in the best interest and wellbeing of their children,” Roman said.

Denver Post Staff Writer Nic Garcia contributed to this report.