Late last year, the Colorado Springs, Colorado, Board of Education voted to end its collective bargaining agreement with the Colorado Springs Education Association — the union representing the district’s teachers.
Colorado Public Radio reports that the seven-member body voted 6-1 not to renew the master agreement with CSEA.
“With that move, D11 bowed out of the last remaining collective bargaining agreement in Colorado Springs districts. Most other major school districts along the Front Range have bargaining agreements,” CPR wrote. “In Colorado, it’s up to the school board and districts to decide if they want to acknowledge and reach agreements with their local unions if they have one. In the 2023-24 school year, the average starting teacher pay for districts with a bargaining agreement was 19 percent higher than in districts without one and the top pay was 40 percent higher, according to the Colorado Education Association.”
Board members contended the agreement got in the way of hiring teachers and extending learning time during the COVID pandemic. and said they were uncomfortable with the union’s right to issue grievances as well as noting that a union “is a private corporation holding sway over a public institution.”
Board Vice President Jill Haffley told CPR that the goal was to reduce bureaucracy.
“We want to remove burdensome bureaucratic processes when the district needs to make decisions quickly,” Haffley said.
CESA President Kevin Coughlin said “right-wing groups” have been showing up during public comment at board meetings to “denigrate the teacher’s union, calling it a ‘leftist’ organization.”
The Sentinel reached out to CESA for comment but, as of publication, received no response.
Board has no plans to cut salaries
Far from attempting to curtail teachers “rights,” as the CSEA has suggested, the Colorado Springs Board has said they wish to do the opposite.
“Board members … emphasized that they support teachers, increasing their salaries and health benefits, keeping budget cuts away from the classroom, banning cell phones in classrooms, and addressing behavior and attendance issues,” CPR reported
“Your salary schedule will remain intact,” Haffley said at the meeting. “Your benefits will not change. Your retirement is secure. Your leave time is unchanged. You will not be asked to work without pay and your planning time will not be reduced. Our goal is to support you better and create an environment where you thrive.”
Haffley also noted that a significant portion — some 40% — of Colorado Springs teachers are not members of the union, although the collective agreement, which expires June 30, 2025, covers them as well.
CSEA, however, is not ruling out a strike.
“Asked about the possibility of going on strike,” CPR reported. “Coughlin said, ‘nothing is off the table at this moment.'”
