The week of Oct. 14, Park County teacher strikes left Colorado students with a week off from school.

Currently, the teachers are fighting to resolve an ongoing issue facing many educators: better pay. Teachers are asking for a $6,000 salary increase, but the school district claims they cannot afford it. Their average salaries are estimated to be around $33,000, and teachers are seeking higher pay to help combat teacher retention.

Teacher retention is a field of education research that looks into why teachers leave schools or leave the profession before retirement and how school characteristics and teacher demographics are big influencers in this. According to the Learning Policy Institute, more than 100,000 classrooms across the country have under-qualified teachers because of the high number of teacher shortages in school districts. The main reason for teacher shortages? Teacher salaries.

“They’re saying that we don’t have money, and we’re saying that they do,” said Doug Freeman, a teacher and member of the bargaining team, to FoxDenver. “I’m sad, but most of all, I’m feeling undervalued.”

The South Park Education Association (SPEA) are representing the teachers of Park County and have come up with a professional agreement to negotiate with the district. This professional agreement asks for the right for teachers to negotiate salaries, compensation for teacher mentors and recognition of SPEA as the teachers’ bargaining tool.

SPEA is still reviewing the agreement on behalf of Park County teachers and preparing it for further comments.

It is important to consider the teachers’ role in this negotiation. Lack of teacher representation has been an ongoing issue across the country as many are underpaid and can barely afford to take care of themselves and their family. According to the Center for American Progress, “As of the 2015-16 school year, 18 percent of U.S. teachers worked second jobs outside the school system.” How can there be a successful educational system when its key players are being inaccurately represented?

Teachers are the key to the achievements and success of students. Without good qualified teachers, students suffer, and their learning is negatively affected. They are more likely to struggle in school.

The teacher strikes also negatively impact students because they are missing school. But this issue is not the teacher’s fault. The school district refuses to listen to them and continues to under-pay them. Park Country is the only district in the state with a professional agreement that denies teachers the right to negotiate salaries, and this explains the low wages for teachers in the district.

But where is most of the district budgeting money going? According to the Denver Post, “From 1992 to 2015 Colorado has seen …the number of non-teachers hired has gone up a whopping 94 percent. These include district and school administrators, teachers’ aids, counselors, social workers, reading and math coaches, janitors, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, curriculum specialists, etc.”

Despite the increase, student achievement outcomes did not improve greatly. Graduation rates only increased slightly from 74% to 76%. Not only did the increase in hired personnel have barely any effect on student achievement, it negatively impacted teachers and caused their salaries to remain low.

As teachers remain oppressed and underpaid, the future of education remains at risk. Teachers are the main influencers in creating futures and without them, we cannot have a high-functioning society.