Negotiations between Denver Public Schools (DPS) and Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) are as heated as ever, with the performance pay plan known as ProComp still at stake:Denver Public Schools officials want an overhaul they say will better attract and retain talented teachers. The union says the current plan is fair to all teachers but that the DPS proposal would favor beginning teachers over veterans. Three days of mediation are set to begin Aug. 20, and the union has told teachers to prepare for a strike if no agreement is reached. In essence, the district's proposal is too radical for the union, which thrives on its perceived role as a defender of teacher security and must appease many of the more veteran teachers … [Read more...]
Denver Teachers Union Moves One Step Closer to Possible DNC Strike
Another landmark yesterday in the fallout between Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, reports the Post's Jeremy Meyer:Representatives of Denver's teachers union and school administrators — embroiled in a contract dispute — met with a professional arbiter Wednesday to discuss next month's mediation. The two sides are at odds over compensation and time issues, particularly in regard to proposed changes to ProComp — the voter-approved performance pay system for teachers. The story continues:With mediation the week before the Democratic National Convention in Denver, there is concern of picketing during the event to bring national attention to the contract dispute. The DCTA newsletter has declared … [Read more...]
News Like This Could Make the DNC Much More Interesting for Me
From the Denver Post's PoliticsWest:A heated labor disagreement over Denver's teacher contract appears to be heading into late August and could reach a boiling point during the Democratic National Convention, reports Jeremy P. Meyer. Teachers and the administration are at odds over changes to the district's compensation system. It's one of the issues that led union officials to warn teachers in their May newsletter to prepare for a strike. Mediation with a professional arbiter has been set for Aug. 20-22, ending the Friday before the Democrats arrive for the convention. This has the potential to be ugly. I will be keeping a close eye not only on the broader political ramifications but on what this potential clash could portend for … [Read more...]
Rogue Denver Teacher Bloggers: Is It The Beginning of Something New?
Nowhere in Colorado is rank-and-file teacher dissent with the union so apparent as in the heart of Denver - for a multitude of reasons that cannot begin to be explored in this brief post. But an increasingly strained contract debate with the school board (Barack Obama alluded to it in his speech yesterday) - after the board offered a substantial raise as part of a progressive compensation system. Now a new splinter teachers group with an online presence has emerged in Denver (H/T Alan Gottlieb). It would be great to see these teachers continue posting on the blog they started. Interestingly, the local union president hasn't posted anything to her blog since this splinter group has emerged. The National Education Association, to which … [Read more...]
Teachers Union Getting Ready to Ask Permission to Run Its Own School
Following the Bruce Randolph and Manual HS episode in Denver, the teachers union now says it has a proposal coming to run its own school:Denver's teachers union plans to submit a proposal this spring to create its own school, hoping to launch a teacher-led demonstration site for how to improve student achievement. "Teachers are supportive of reform," Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, said Tuesday. "We have ideas how to improve student achievement and we want an opportunity to put our ideas forward." More power to them. Given an ideal public education system guided by parental/consumer choice where the money followed the child based on need and local schools had autonomy over employment, curriculum, … [Read more...]
Denver Teachers Union Backs Down on Autonomy Issue
I've been especially hard on the Denver teachers union (DCTA) lately, but when they do something (mostly) right it would be petty and disingenuous of me not to give credit where due. The Rocky Mountain News reports today that DCTA has decided to acquiesce to the requests of Bruce Randolph and Manual High School for autonomy from school district red-tape and negotiated work rules: … [Read more...]
The School Autonomy Roadblock outside Bruce Randolph
My first op-ed for the Boulder-based Colorado Daily appears in today's edition. The topic is the school autonomy movement growing out of events at Bruce Randolph School. I've pasted the entire op-ed below, for fear that the link provided soon will be broken: … [Read more...]
Teachers Union Shows Colors against School Reform, Own Members
More appearing on the Net today regarding the Denver teachers union clamping down on a struggling school's quest for freedom - David Harsanyi's opinion piece for the Denver Post sees it as a "lesson in union power": Educational reform, union leaders often tell us, is the purview of teachers and administrators, not politicians. Teachers are the ones, the union says, who understand the special needs of students, parents and the unique neighborhoods they operate within. That's why listening to union president Kim Ursetta defending the DCTA's decision was an excruciating experience for all. Her answers were illogical and her position untenable. Let's keep in mind that a majority of Bruce Randolph teachers signed off on the school's … [Read more...]
Teacher Union Prepared to Thwart Autonomy Reform, Its Own Members?
Today is the day of truth (again) for the union that represents Denver public school teachers. As the editors of the Rocky Mountain News highlight today, observers want to know whether they will vote Yes and grant the request for freedom from district bureaucracy and union work rules, or vote No and stand squarely in the way of educational progress for a high-poverty school: We're heartened by this spontaneous uprising. It has been led as much by unionized teachers as by school management; two-thirds of Bruce Randolph's DCTA members backed autonomy, and at Manual the vote was unanimous. The DPS board unanimously approved Bruce Randolph's request last month, so the district is open to giving some schools more control. But the union brass … [Read more...]
A Crack Opens in the Education Reform Floodgates
With the Denver Public Schools board's unanimous approval last night of the Bruce Randolph School's request for autonomy from district red tape and union work rules, we may see a crack opening in the floodgates of education reform. Word is that a dozen other DPS schools are ready to follow in Randolph's footsteps. But everyone is awaiting the union's official response:The autonomy agreement must still be approved by the 22-member governing board of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, expected to vote Jan. 8. DCTA President Kim Ursetta did not mention the proposal in brief remarks to the board. She has repeatedly said the union has some questions about the plan and is working with Bruce Randolph staff to get answers."Working with … [Read more...]