Tensions rise between DPS, union amid months-long contract dispute 

Tensions between Denver Public Schools and its teachers union escalated in recent weeks after the district unexpectedly gave hundreds of veteran educators one-time bonuses, leading the head of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association to accuse district leaders of “union busting.”

The 2% bonuses, awarded to more than 700 educators on Aug. 22, came as DPS and the union have been locked in a contract dispute for the past four months after district leaders said they wouldn’t fully fund an 8.34% raise for teachers for the 2024-25 academic year.

DCTA President Rob Gould in an interview accused district leaders of trying to “sow discontent” with the bonuses, noting that bargaining for a new contract is expected to start next semester. The bonuses were not negotiated between DPS and the union, which was also not informed about the payments before they arrived with members’ paychecks, he said.

“This is a typical union-busting technique that management uses,” Gould said. “They are trying to undermine us.”

DPS spokesman Scott Pribble confirmed that the district did not inform employees about the bonuses, which he said were a common practice with the district’s other union groups.

“There was no malicious intent and DPS is disappointed with the claim that this was done to cause strife within the DCTA membership,” he said in the statement.

The bonuses were awarded to 715 educators at the highest “step” on the district’s pay scale. Teachers receive “steps and lanes” compensation, which is based on their experience and education levels, respectively. Those employees are at the top “step” and are not eligible for a pay raise based on their experience, so DPS gave them a one-time bonus worth 2.1% of their annual salary, according to both the district and union.

DPS did not provide the total cost of the employee bonuses. They came as the union and DPS have yet to resolve a contract dispute that began in May, when more than 100 educators and union members protested in front of district headquarters downtown.

The two sides are in disagreement over how big of a raise employees were supposed to receive this year. The union has argued employees were slated to get an 8.34% raise, but the district has said it will only give teachers a 5.2% pay increase.

DPS leaders have said they didn’t receive enough money from the state’s elimination of what is known as the budget stabilization factor — which withheld funds from schools for years — to trigger the full raise detailed in the union’s 2022 contract. The 8.34% raise would have included a 5.2% cost-of-living increase.

District officials said in May that teachers would get an overall 5.2% raise, which includes a rise in “steps and lane” pay but a smaller 2.06% cost-of-living raise. The district also said teachers would receive a $1,000 bonus as required in the union’s contract.

“There’s a point of contention and a little bit of confusion,” Superintendent Alex Marrero said during a school board meeting last month about what would have been required for teachers to get the full raise.

The district needed to receive $16.9 million from the reduction of the budget stabilization factor to trigger the maximum raise, but only received $11.4 million, he said.