Press Release

New Contract Yields $30,000 Starting Salary For Teachers

Starting teachers will be paid $30,000 beginning with the 2000-2001 school year - nearly 18 percent more than last year - under the terms of a new contract announced today by The Denver Board of Education.

The starting salary sets a new cornerstone for teacher pay among metro Denver school districts and is by far the highest starting salary in Colorado.

"Improving student achievement will require many changes, but a high priority on the Board's list is the ability of the district to recruit and retain the best teaching talent," said Board of Education President Elaine Berman.

"This contract represents a major step in being able to accomplish that goal, particularly in the competitive market we are in - both within teaching ranks and within the job market as a whole," she added.

All DPS teachers who were paid less than $30,000 last year will earn at least $30,000 under the new salary schedule. For instance, a teacher on step six last year with a bachelor's degree (earning $29,995) will be paid $32,229 under the new schedule.

All teachers who currently earn above $30,000 will be given a 3.1 percent cost-of-living increase.

All teachers may also be eligible for steps (an average of 4 percent) for additional years of service and levels (an average of 7 percent) for completing additional educational credits of post-graduate work. In some years, teachers may earn all three raises (cost-of-living, steps and levels).

The Board and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association also agreed to a 7 percent increase for teachers who achieve National Board Certification, a rigorous process for teachers to verify and prove their skill level.

The contract must be formally ratified by the membership of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and by the Board of Education. Both votes are expected within the next three to four weeks.

The contract was reached over the weekend following hours of around-the-clock negotiations.

"It's unfortunate we needed to use a mediator to get through this final step," said Board member Sharon Macdonald, who served as the Board representative on the district's negotiating team. "But I'm glad we could reach consensus and pleased we can offer the $30,000 starting pay."

One final issue, involving health insurance premiums, wasn't completed until today. The most expensive plan offered by the district (through PacificCare) exceeds the district's $200 monthly cap on the employee health care premiums. But this year only, the Board of Education agreed to cover the total cost of the premium above the cap for those teachers in the plan - a total of about $188,000 for the year. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association exchanged a potential 3.144 percent raise for all teachers for this one-year-only right to exceed the cap.

The total cost of the new package is an estimated $9.5 million.

The Board of Education has already budgeted $3.9 million for raises based on increased years of service (steps) and educational credits (levels). That means an additional $5.6 million in reductions will have to be identified within the 2000-2001 school year budget to pay for the increase.

School starts Tuesday, September 5, for the vast majority of the 70,000 students in Denver Public Schools. (Nine schools started July 31.) The teacher contract is effective beginning September 1, 2000.

Current and Tentatively Approved Salary Schedules