Just in time for the Democratic convention, Denver schools and the teachers’ union have come up with a tentative agreement on ProComp, the city’s performance-pay plan for teachers.
The contract would give all teachers 3 percent pay raises and allow teachers who don’t want to be part of ProComp to drop out by October this year. But some veteran teachers could also see their pay raises vanish, which has left them feeling pretty dissed, according to this Denver Post story.
One teacher said the change would cut yearly raises for veteran teachers to $350 a year from a possible $1,300 a year now.
The school district got what it wanted: an increase in starting teacher salaries to $42,000 to make Denver more competitive with surrounding districts, and increased bonuses for teachers who agree to teach in hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-fill subjects.
It’s not exactly clear which of the union’s demands were met, and there’s nothing yet on the local’s Web site, but President Kim Ursetta said teachers were “overall pleased.”
Meanwhile, follow coverage of the Democratic convention by Michele McNeil and David Hoff here. Delegates are set to endorse performance pay at the convention.