DENVER — After months of negotiations, including a marathon 18-hour session that ended Tuesday morning, Denver Public Schools (DPS) and the union that represents more than 4,000 educators reached a tentative agreement on a new contract.
The agreement came with the help of mediators, after the school district declared an impasse in negotiations in May.
If approved, the contract will provide Denver teachers with a $1,000 annual cost-of-living increase, a one-time $1,000 bonus for the current year, and additional percentage raises based on experience and education.
One of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association's (DCTA) goals was to raise the starting salary for teachers. New DPS teachers will now earn $57,666, still below what several neighboring districts pay new teachers. The top salary for experienced DPS educators with their doctorate in the 2025-2026 school year will be $124,233.
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Check out the graph below to view starting salaries for teachers around the Denver metro in 2025
The two sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding that if DPS seeks a mill levy override from voters in 2025 or 2026, then teacher pay will be discussed as a potential use for that money.
Jennifer Holtzmann, a special education teacher who attended the bargaining sessions, said while pay is still a concern for all Colorado teachers, she was encouraged by other provisions in the agreement surrounding class sizes and workloads. The agreement also includes language that will allow teachers to use time off for mental health.
“Just the acknowledgment that teachers experience burnout and might just need to take a day or half day, even,” Holtzmann said.
DPS agreed to work towards reducing elementary school class sizes, setting a cap of no more than 30 students in K-5 classrooms starting in 2026, down from the current cap of 35.
DCTA President Rob Gould said the union will post specific details on the contract “wins” in the coming days so that teachers are ready to vote on it when they return to work in August. He said the salary increases will cost the district approximately $24 million in the first year and $18 million in years two and three.
DPS issued a news release on the tentative agreement, with a statement from DPS Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero.
“We are proud to have reached what we feel is a fair and forward-looking agreement that honors the critical work our teachers do every day,” Marrero said.
If the agreement is ratified by both the DCTA and the DPS Board of Education, it will go into effect beginning September 1, 2025, and remain in place through August 31, 2028.
