Even dubious threats from management could not sway Denver teachers from voting on Tuesday to authorize a strike. Ongoing negotiations have come to an impasse as Denver officials haven’t been able to meet the Denver Classroom Teachers Association’s demands—seemingly unwilling to part with $8 million dollars, or 1 percent of the school system’s budget. As one teacher told CNN, "Oh, we have to strike. We have no choice."
With terrible salaries and very little in incentives, the Denver public school system has faced an issue facing many school systems: incredibly low retention rates. New and young teachers are great and full of energy, but they get better—as do we all—from experience. That experience directly benefits the students and communities they serve. If they are unwilling or unable to remain teachers for years to come, everybody loses. And according to the teachers union, 31 percent of teachers in the Denver system have been at the school they teach at for less than 3 years. That is unacceptable.
DCTA hopes to alleviate the high turnover with changes to Denver teachers' pay, which the union says prohibits some teachers from paying for housing in the area and forces some to take on second jobs. As an example of the hardships Denver teachers face, the union cited a teacher who taught in Indianapolis and Chicago before moving to Colorado. The teacher makes $10,000 less in Denver than he did in Indianapolis and $15,000 less than he did in Chicago, the union said in its statement.
According to NPR, 93 percent of the teachers voted to strike. Work stoppage could begin as soon as this coming Monday, Jan. 28.