DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Over the last decade, Douglas County teachers have been some of, if not the lowest paid in the Denver metro.
This has been primarily due to the fact that DCSD educators have not had a collective bargaining agreement.
In 2013, the school board decided to let our collective bargaining expire," explained Lucy Squire, President of the Douglas County Federation (DCF). "They changed as a result of that. Also, going from the step and lane pay scale that teachers generally work under, they changed that to performance-based pay."
In addition to her role at DCF, Squire is also a 3rd Grade Teacher at Copper Mesa Elementary in Highlands Ranch. A role she has served in for more than two decades.
"I've been at the school for the entirety of my career because I just love it so much," Squire told Denver7's Douglas County Reporter Tyler Melito. "When I was a brand new baby teacher looking for a job, applying to all of the metro area districts, they were all you could not go wrong if you ended up in any one of them. They were so comparable with salary compensation."
Squire fell in love with Douglas County, but things did start to take a turn around 2008 when there was a change in superintendent and the school board.
But squire notes how while DCSD teachers and staff still operate without a CBA, they have a good relationship with the district.
"In the last 10 years, we've really made some improvements getting boards, school boards elected who really understand what teachers do, the expectations of the job, the importance of being compensated in a way that makes sense, so that it's not so competitive, but it really is based on how teachers everywhere are compensated," Squire shared.
She says they want a seat at the table.
"We can't keep saying we put kids first if we keep putting teachers and staff last," Squire said.
During Tuesday's Board of Education meeting in Douglas County, the board unanimously voted to adopt a resolution that would put a $54 million Mill Levy Override (MLO) on the November ballot.
Part of the MLO funding if it passes would go toward raising teacher salaries.
Teachers and administrators from across the district expressed their support for the MLO, citing what it could do based on past results.
"At DCS Montessori, we were able to increase our base salary to the last MLO by about $12,000, increased all of our staff by about 9% and it made us competitive," said DCS Montessori Head of School Jeromy Johnson.
In Denver7's previous reporting, some DougCo residents shared with Melito while they support teachers, they don't support an MLO citing how it would increase taxes during a time where prices are already high, and as enrollment declines in the district.
Squire says she recognizes the concerns, but ultimately the money goes back to the students.
"We need our community members to also understand that the money in education, like there's budgetary issues, and we need we need to continue to pour into education because it's the most important thing," Squire said. "For the entirety of what education has been, that is how education has been funded. People have paid people paid to pass mill levies to put me through school, right? So we have to keep paying it forward, and we need to take care of our future generations."
But how does the Superintendent Erin Kane feel about collective bargaining. Melito asked her about the matter during their one-on-one conversation on August 7.
"Our teachers know that my administration and their boards of education, present and past, have really fought for their compensation," Kane told Melito. "In the last four years, our teachers have received over 33% in increases. We're starting to shift to a place where we have teachers waiting to come to Douglas County School District from other districts, even though they'll be taking a pay cut, because we've made Douglas County School District such an incredible place to work."
On August 17, the DCSD School Board held an executive session meeting which a spokesperson told Melito was for:
The purpose of conferring with legal counsel for the Board of Education to receive legal advice regarding the Board’s legal rights and obligations in connection with requests to recognize bargaining agents.
