Teachers Demonstrate During Last Week of Bargaining With Denver Public Schools

Kurt Scheumann typically shows up to work at 6:30 a.m., an hour before the school day starts, so that he can lesson-plan and prep for the upcoming day.

But this week, the English teacher at South High School and other educators across the Denver Public Schools district will show up exactly when the first bell rings and leave as soon as school is over. Participating teachers will also not meet with students, parents or extracurricular groups during their lunch periods as part of what they're calling a demonstration during the final week of bargaining between the school district and the teachers' union. Scheumann says that approximately 75 of the 105 members of the South High teaching staff are participating.

The district and teachers are sparring over ProComp, a pay-for-performance contract that has been one of the compensation methods for teachers since 2005. If the two sides are unable to agree to a new ProComp contract, teachers could decide to strike for the first time since 1994.

Although their main teaching contracts, which are separate from ProComp, require only eight hours of work per day, teachers often come into school early to prepare and leave late to provide extra help for students or advise extracurricular groups. They also often use their lunch periods to work.

Read more: https://www.westword.com/news/teachers-demonstrate-during-last-week-of-bargaining-with-denver-public-schools-11109275