On Thursday and Friday, April 26 and 27, public school teachers from 10 of the largest districts in Colorado walked out of their classroom and protested dressed in red at the state capitol in hopes of having lawmakers address the underfunding of schools and teachers. Due to the high number of teachers expected to strike, Colorado school districts canceled class. This includes the three biggest districts: Denver Public Schools (who closed Friday), Jefferson County (Jeffco) and Douglas County (both of which were closed Thursday). In total, the districts that closed collectively serve over 530,000 students.
In a statement signed by 16 Colorado superintendents and written by Jeffco superintendent Jason Glass, he writes, “We strongly believe that our students, our communities and our educators should receive the support and compensation they deserve.” The letter also provided some statistics mentioning that 95 percent of teacher salaries are below the standard of living in rural Colorado.
According to the recent National Education Association report, Colorado teacher’s pay is ranked 31st at $52,736. The state is underfunding schools by more than $800 million each year, reports Denver 7. CO Education Association, estimates about $656 being spent out of the teacher’s pocket for school supplies for students annually.
Teachers point to the Gallagher Amendment and the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) as a reason why there has been a shortage in education funding. The Gallagher Amendment creates a constant ratio between residential and business property taxes. Meanwhile, TABOR makes it illegal for lawmakers to raise taxes without first making Colorado residents vote on it. As mentioned in Denver 7’s brief on the two tax laws, TABOR “limits how much of ‘raise,’ so to speak, that the state gets each year. And, if the state happens to generate too much money, it can’t keep it. Instead, this goes back to taxpayers.” This then makes it difficult for schools to receive a drastic increase in funding.
Another issue that teachers are addressing in the walk out is their retirement program. As reported in NPR, teachers in Colorado will not receive social security, since it is one of the 15 states that do not offer all their teachers that coverage. Instead, teachers are required to receive a pension plan that is “at least as generous.” The issue: pension plans are underfunded and teacher’s do not see a benefit until about a decade of working in education.
The walkouts have been subject to criticism for leaving their job and affecting parents needing to find alternatives child care methods. This resulted in the proposition of SB18-264, a bill prohibiting public school teacher strikes and including fines and/or jail time if teachers do not comply. According to the Colorado General Assembly website, the bill is under consideration.
