Denver Teachers Agree to End Strike; Vote Is Overwhelming

Teachers in the city’s public schools voted overwhelmingly Saturday night to approve a new contract, ending their five-day strike over salaries.

Teachers cheered and held hands as union officials announced that 94% of the 2,708 voters approved the two-year contract.

The deal gives teachers a 2.15% salary increase for the first year but lengthens their work year by 10 days to 190 days. After the first year, salaries will be renegotiated.

The contract also gives teachers a union representative on decision-making teams at all district schools.

Teachers had sought an $8-million, two-year package for pay hikes based on seniority. The new contract, which is retroactive to Sept. 1, works out to roughly $5.1 million.

After the vote, the Denver Public Schools Board and Denver Classroom Teachers Assn., the union representing teachers, both agreed to withdraw grievances and lawsuits.

The teacher walkout was the city’s first since 1969. The new contract was tentatively agreed to early Saturday after an all-night bargaining session.

About 2,200 teachers went on strike Monday. School officials had tried to keep the city’s 107 schools open, using 1,200 substitute teachers and 1,500 teachers who crossed picket lines. More than one-third of the school district’s 63,000 students were absent Friday.