This image was removed due to legal reasons. After more than a year of negotiations between the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and Denver Public Schools, teachers in the Colorado capital officially voted to strike on Tuesday night. According to the Denver Post, 93 percent of the union voted in favor of the work stoppage. Advertisement The vote didn’t come out of nowhere: Colorado teachers joined with their colleagues in Arizona when they staged walkouts in April after six months of failed negotiations; 27 school districts in Colorado were forced to close for that protest. Over the next eight months, DCTA and DPS attempted to negotiate a contract before their current one expired last Friday. The two sides were in a bargaining session late into the night which ended when it became clear that they were roughly $8 million apart. The majority of the disagreements centered on the school system’s refusal to provide a solid commitment to raising the teachers’ salaries, especially those who obtain their Master’s degrees . While both sides told the Post they’re more than willing to negotiate during the strike, it’s unclear how long the strike could go given district Superintendent Susana Cordova’s call on Tuesday to hire furloughed federal workers as scabs. Later in the night, per the Post, Cordova announced the district would double its daily salary for substitute teachers. The strike will be the first walkout by teachers in Colorado’s largest school district in 25 years. The strike of 1994 resulted in a 2.15 percent pay bump for the teachers , al though the district managed to add 10 days to the work schedule. This year’s strike was confirmed the same day the United Teachers of Los Angeles announced their a new contract after a weeklong strike of their own. Here’s hoping Denver’s teachers follow their L.A. comrades ’ lead and remind the city and the state that public education and paying workers fair wages is, actually, a good thing.<doc-sep>DENVER (CBS4) – Parents sending their children to Denver Public Schools are eager to see the result of the teachers union vote Tuesday which could approve a strike for the first time in 25 years. “I think what they’re requesting is absolutely reasonable,” said Donna Benton, a parent with two students in DPS. “I think it makes up for a lot of what they haven’t gotten over the years.” Her daughter attends North High School while her son is enrolled at Skinner Middle School. Benton has been a parent in the district for a decade and moved her family to the city to give them a more diverse experience. “Denver is an expensive place to live, we want the best teachers, we want to be able to attract the best teachers,” she said. Negotiations failed on Friday. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association began voting on Saturday to either ratify the deal from the district or approve a strike, and teachers were given another day to vote, on Tuesday, because of the holiday weekend. A strike could begin as early as Monday, Jan. 28. “They need to come to the table before that happens,” Benton said of the district. “It’s unreasonable to think that we’re all going to send our kids and there’s not going to be teachers there.” Gov. Jared Polis’ office told CBS4 he has talked to both sides already and hopes to avoid a strike. If the union approves going in that direction, Polis can intervene to help reach a deal and delay a strike. Benton says she expects the district to make sure it has the staff in place to keep schools operating if teachers are on the picket line. “They need to make sure my children are being educated with or without a strike,” she said. The district has released some of the steps it will take to respond to a strike. Staff said Tuesday they still hope to reach a deal but will have regular services including transportation and meal programs in place. To keep the schools operating, DPS plans to pull from a pool of 1,200 substitute teachers, 300 of which retired teachers. Rates will be $212 a day for substitutes and $250 a day for retired teachers, double the usual amount. The district also will see if furloughed federal employees can work during a possible strike. For Benton, she still has the same expectations for her students. “They still need to be responsible, respectful young adults and go to school,” she said. The district asks all parents to make sure their contact information is updated before a strike and to use the Parent Portal on the DPS website.<doc-sep>Denver teachers have voted to strike in the name of fair wages, marking the first time educators in Colorado’s largest school district have agreed to walk out of their classrooms in 25 years. The results of voting by the teachers union — the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, which represents about two-thirds of Denver Public Schools’ 5,600 educators — were announced Tuesday night following the culmination of balloting that began on Saturday. “Tonight, Denver teachers overwhelmingly agreed to strike,” Rob Gould, the union’s lead negotiator, said at a press conference. “Ninety three percent voted to strike. They’re striking for better pay. They’re striking for our profession. And they’re striking for Denver students.” RELATED: Denver Public Schools requests state intervention that could delay teachers strike up to 180 days Contentious negotiations over a new contract governing Denver teachers’ pay scale played out in marathon bargaining sessions over the last two weeks, and stretched back over 14 months. In the end, the district and union were about $8 million apart. The earliest teachers can leave their classrooms is Monday, meaning educators who intend to hit the streets are still expected to finish out the school week. DPS officials repeatedly have said they will keep schools open, and staffed, during any strike. “I was hoping and praying it wouldn’t come to this,” said Nik Arnoldi, a visual arts teacher at Escalante-Biggs Academy, after casting his vote in favor of the strike on Tuesday. “I’m worried for my kids, and I hope they’re in good hands, but we need to do this for them.” DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova, reached by phone after the strike announcement, told The Denver Post she was still hopeful the two sides can find common ground and avert a strike before teachers can begin walking out Monday. Staving off a strike, she said, is in everybody’s best interest. “I wish it had been a different outcome,” Cordova said. “I remain committed to working with our teachers. Any time there are negotiations, it’s important we continue to see common ground.” District and union leaders are planning to meet with Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday to discuss next steps. Cordova has said the district will ask Polis to intervene. When asked if she thought a strike could be prevented before next week, Cordova said she would have a better sense after meeting with the governor. Statewide teacher activism The strike vote comes in the wake of massive teacher walkouts last April in which school districts across Colorado — including Denver, Aurora and Cherry Creek — closed their doors while educators rallied at the state Capitol for increased funding to Colorado’s public schools. At least 600,000 students statewide had the day off as districts canceled class while teachers protested. The vote by Denver’s teachers also comes as their counterparts in Los Angeles agreed to end their first strike in 30 years, after reaching a deal Tuesday for teacher raises and reduced class sizes. The Los Angeles strike saw a thin staff of administrators and employees teaching the vastly reduced number of students in class. 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. In Denver, the school district and union have said that in the event of a successful strike vote, both groups would be willing to resume negotiations in an effort to find a resolution before any walkout on Monday. Otherwise, DPS leaders have promised that schools will remain open in the event of a strike, staffed by substitute teachers and other licensed professionals who normally work outside of classrooms. The district has said that, in the event of a strike, students would remain safe and learn “high-quality lesson plans” for every grade level and content area. Students with special needs would be prioritized, according to Cordova, as the district ensured vulnerable students would receive coverage “aligned to the requirements in those classrooms.” On Tuesday night, Cordova said that should the strike go forward, DPS will pay regular substitutes double the daily rate, or $212 a day, and “super subs” — retired teachers — $250 a day. She said district officials also will be attending job fairs aimed at furloughed federal workers in hopes of finding teaching candidates. Abrupt end to bargaining The strike vote is the result of 14 months of teacher compensation negotiations between the union and the Denver school district. The final bargaining session came to an abrupt end late Friday night when the union rejected the district’s last proposal, noting that teachers were “done” with offers that didn’t meet their needs and were ready to take to the streets. Aside from the monetary difference, the union’s plan prioritized offering more opportunities for teachers to move up the pay scale based on credits they earned toward continuing education efforts like advanced degrees and professional development programs offered through the district. The district’s plan had fewer opportunities to move along the pay scale, but officials argued their proposal started at a higher base salary and put more money toward bonuses for educators who worked at high-poverty schools. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association represents about 64 percent of educators in the district. Two-thirds of the union’s members had to vote in favor of a strike for the walkout vote to be successful.<doc-sep>
Hundreds of teachers in Denver, Colo., home to the largest school district in the state, have decided to go on strike on Monday for the first time in 25 years. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association, which is comprised of about two-thirds of the 5,600 public educators employed by Denver Public Schools, announced on Tuesday night that its educators voted overwhelmingly to strike for fair wages, The Denver Post reported. “Tonight, Denver teachers overwhelmingly agreed to strike,” Rob Gould, the lead negotiator of the union, is quoted by the Post as saying at a news conference this week. ADVERTISEMENT “Ninety three percent voted to strike. They’re striking for better pay. They’re striking for our profession. And they’re striking for Denver students,” he continued. The move reportedly comes after weeks of bargaining sessions over a new contract over Denver teachers’ compensation resulted in a $8 million pay gap between the school district and its teachers union. “I was hoping and praying it wouldn’t come to this,” Nik Arnoldi, a visual arts teacher at Escalante-Biggs Academy who also voted in favor of the strike, told the newspaper. “I’m worried for my kids, and I hope they’re in good hands, but we need to do this for them.” The district’s superintendent, Susana Cordova, told the Post she wished it “had been a different outcome” shortly after the strike announcement but added that she remains “committed to working with our teachers.” “Any time there are negotiations, it’s important we continue to see common ground,” she added. District officials and union leaders are reportedly scheduled to meet with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis Jared Schutz PolisColorado to launch M lottery drawings as vaccine initiative Colorado bans doxxing of health workers, officials Colorado to miss emissions-cutting goal: analysis MORE (D) on Wednesday over the matter. Both the district and the union have reportedly said they would be willing to resume negotiations over wages in hopes of finding a solution before the planned strike on Monday. The report comes a week after thousands of Los Angeles public school teachers went on strike for the first time in 30 years. Los Angeles teachers later reached a tentative deal to end a strike after it stretched into its second week on Tuesday.