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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 12 February 2019

Denver teachers go on strike

in latest U.S. educator walkout

DENVER (AP) — Striking selors. The head of the Na- That's $300 a year less than
teachers picketed outside tional Education Associa- the union's proposal, which
of schools and marched tion, the country's largest would add $50 million a
through Denver's streets teachers union, told several year to teacher base pay,
Monday as car horns thousand cheering Denver according to union officials.
blared in support of the teachers and supporters At a news conference, dis-
latest U.S. walkout amid Monday they will prevail. trict Superintendent Susana
a swell of educator activ- "You are unique here in Cordova said negotiations
ism in at least a half-dozen Denver because you are will resume on Tuesday, an Hung Huynh, left, a teacher at Castro Elementary, joins his col-
states over the last year. just saying, 'Can I just know announcement confirmed leagues during a strike rally on the west steps of the state Capi-
Just over half of the 4,725 what I'm being paid?'" Lily by the union.q tol, Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, in Denver.
teachers called in ab- Eskelsen Garcia declared Associated Press
sent for Denver's first strike at a rally outside the state
in 25 years. Some stu- Capitol.
dents crossed picket lines The dispute is over the
to get to class as schools school district's incentive-
remained open with ad- based pay system. The
ministrators and substitute city's school district gives
teachers. bonuses ranging from
In one school, students $1,500 to $3,000 a year to
danced and chanted teachers who work with
in the hallways as they students from low-income
walked out to demonstrate families, in schools that are
to support their teach- designated high priority or
ers. Other students joined in positions that are con-
hundreds of teachers and sidered hard to staff, such
union members in a march as special education or
past City Hall. speech language pathol-
Science teacher Abraham ogy.
Cespedes said Denver ed- The union is pushing to
ucators were empowered lower or eliminate some of
by recent teacher activ- those bonuses to free up
ism elsewhere around the more money for overall
country. "By us doing this teacher pay.
we finally became united," The district sees the dis-
he said. puted bonuses as key to
The strike affecting about boosting the academic
71,000 students in Denver performance of poor and
comes about a year af- minority students. Teach-
ter West Virginia teach- ers say the reliance on
ers launched the national bonuses leads to high turn-
"Red4Ed" movement with over, which they say hurts
a nine-day strike in which students, and that spend-
they won 5 percent pay ing money on smaller class
raises. sizes and adding support
There have since been staff, like counselors, is the
walkouts in Washington best way to help disadvan-
state, Arizona, Kentucky taged students.
and Oklahoma. Most re- Some teachers became
cently, Los Angeles teach- ineligible for bonuses after
ers staged a six-day strike their schools lost their offi-
last month. That walkout cial low-income status be-
ended when teachers re- cause parts of the city are
ceived a 6-percent raise undergoing gentrification.
and promises of smaller The district has proposed
class sizes and the addition raising starting pay from
of more nurses and coun- $43,255 to $45,500 a year.