Dear Colleagues,
Last night, DPS and DCTA continued our negotiations on how to simplify and improve our compensation system for teachers and specialized service providers (SSPs). DPS shared a proposal with DCTA that invests millions more in base pay and would move all current employees onto a transparent and competitive salary schedule. Here are some of your questions answered:
Is DPS investing more in teacher compensation?
Absolutely! Last year, we signed an agreement to invest $45.3 million in teacher compensation to guarantee raises for three straight years.
Last night, we committed to increase that commitment by $11 million new dollars.
How will DPS finance this $11 million of new money?
DPS will finance $4 million of the investment through Governor Hickenlooper’s proposed 2019 budget increase in K-12 funding through a reduction in the “budget stabilization factor” or “negative factor.” The remaining $7 million will be funded by budget cuts and efficiencies.
How does DPS propose using this new money?
The $11 million will be spent to
increase base pay for teachers and to pay for the transition of teachers to the new salary schedule. This means that all current teachers and SSPs who are currently making a salary below the final salary table that DCTA and DPS agree on will receive compensation increases that ensures their pay matches the new salary table.
How does this proposal improve predictability and transparency?
DPS agrees with teachers’ requests for greater predictability and transparency in their salary. For this reason, we have shared with DCTA some examples of what the salary table could look like and have asked for their input in where exactly we invest the additional money. See one example
here, but please note that numbers will likely change as we continue to negotiate.
How is DPS working to invest more in base pay and less in variable bonuses?
In the last month, DPS has proposed moving
$3.5 million from bonuses into base pay. This is in addition to the $11 million investment of new money.
How does this proposal value teachers’ ongoing education?
Our latest proposal has five lanes for educators to increase their base salary by earning any of the following:
- Advanced license
- Masters degree
- National board certification
- Four years of Distinguished evaluation ratings (not consecutive)
- PhD degree
How does this proposal prioritize retention?
Our proposal has fewer lanes because we would prefer to invest in “steps,” which honor teacher retention. Additionally, we don’t want teachers to have to invest in additional degrees in order to have a fair salary. Since the implementation of ProComp, employees have been able to increase their salary through getting an advanced degree and we are not proposing any changes to that practice.
