Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Hold Rally in Denver

Denver Strike Settled : Oakland May Be Next

DENVER (CBS4) – An agreement between the Denver teachers’ union and Denver Public Schools has been reached, bringing a resolution to a three-day strike that caused a major disruption to the district’s operations this week. It was the first time in 25 years that public school teachers in the city had gone on strike.
It is a tentative agreement. 

Last month, the Los Angeles teachers led a historic strike. 35,000 teachers and support staff walked off the job, taking on their investment banker superintendent, Austin Beutner, and the racist billionaire privatizers who are at war with public education. Through mass rallies, and a near complete shutdown of the school system, the LA teachers, parents, and students won smaller class sizes, more student support, a nurse in every school, and an immigrant defense fund for families within the school district, among much more.

As we enter what appears to be a time of renewed labor militancy, the teacher strike wave shows no end in sight. Striking Denver teachers just won their demands, and Oakland teachers are preparing to strike as I write. DSAers are with striking teachers all the way — read on to learn how you can help!

Maria Svart
DSA National Director

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Last week a 95% supermajority of Oakland public school teachers voted to authorize a strike. The vote turnout was a record-breaking 84%. With the future of public education on the line.

When the teachers strike wave hits the Bay Area, democratic socialists will be there to stand with Oakland teachers!

Just like Los Angeles teachers earlier this month, teachers in the Oakland Education Association are fighting a school district bought and paid for by billionaire school privatizers. Funded by the likes of the Walton family, these billionaire-backed politicians are carrying out a nationwide plan to privatize schools, segregate education, and break teachers unions. The end goal? To slash taxes for the hyper wealthy who don’t want to pay for the schools our students deserve.

Oakland teachers are demanding smaller class sizes, more student support, a living wage to keep teachers in the city, and an end to school closures. Their fight is our fight!

Teachers’ Strikes and the Future of U.S. Labor

Rachel M. Cohen. The Intercept.

Speaker after speaker at the Future of American Labor conferencespoke confidently and animatedly about the progress unions have made in the United States, organizing strikes and winning some protections for contract workers — gains they expect to continue even in the wake of Janus.

Much of the conference focused on the national teacher insurgency, which continues this week as Denver Public Schools teachers go on their first strike since 1994. Last month, teachers in Los Angeles went on strike for six days, and thousands of Virginia public school teachers also stormed the state capitol in January for a one-day demonstration of power. Oakland teachers may be next to strike.

Denver teachers and community members picket outside Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, Colo., on Feb. 11, 2019.

Photo: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

The strike in Denver, which started on Monday, is seeing comparatively low levels of participation. It comes after drawn-out negotiations between teachers and the district, and it has been mired in some controversy, including about giving financial incentives to educators who work in the district’s highest-poverty schools. The union calls these “failed incentives” and prefers to raise the base pay for all teachers in the district instead. This school district, which has already offered to raise base pay for all teachers from $43,255 to $45,500, wants to keep the incentives in place to attract and retain teachers in those more challenging schools and demonstrate a commitment to equity. The teachers want the starting pay to be $45,800.

In an interview, Becky Pringle, vice president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest public-sector union, said she agreed that schools in high-poverty districts should get more support, but that it shouldn’t happen at the expense of other schools. 

“Those schools absolutely should get more investment,” Pringle said. “But here’s what we’ve been forced to choose: The [district] say[s], Here’s the pie and those teachers [in high-poverty schools] should get the incentives. No, no, no. You need to redefine the pie, and that’s the false choice. Since the recession, we’ve been dealing with a smaller pie, but we’re not going to accept that narrative, that premise. A progressive agenda doesn’t start from their premise.”

Denver Teachers On Strike !

DPS is one of Denver's largest employers, boasting 207 schools and about 90,000 students. Administrators plan to have schools open for at least the first few days of the strike. They prepared lesson plans and secured substitutes, but if the strike lingers on, administrators might run out of substitutes and fill-ins.

East High School students told the Coloradoan that substitutes gave them packets to fill out today, adding that "many" students walked out of the school during the strike. 

Though reporters weren't allowed inside schools Monday, videos shared widely by East High School students showed students crowding the hallways, singing, shouting and dancing while school was in session. 

1:10 a.m. — A total of 2,169 teachers called out sick on Monday as of 11 a.m., according to DPS spokesman Will Jones. That would be about half of the 4,329 teachers in the district, according to its website. The district is supposed to provide more information about the staffing levels at an 11:30 a.m. news conference, which Denver7 plans to stream live.

There are approximately 5,000 pre-school children not in early childhood care Monday because the district did not have the staffing to keep those classes open.

House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, D-Denver, told the Associated Press that he believes the sides are “super close” to a deal and said that districts have to do a better job of putting their dollars toward classrooms and not administration.

10:50 a.m. — We are hearing from a few students across the district, many of whom are supporting the teachers, as well as some politicians from Colorado and across the country.

"I think the people who are genuinely educated as to what's going on definitely causes a lot of support and respect toward these teachers and the amount of effort that they put in," said East High School student Cali Sherer.

Congressman Jason Crow, D-Aurora, tweeted his support to the teachers despite not representing Denver: "Proud to stand in solidarity with Colorado teachers. Our teachers do so much for our kids and community. They deserve to be paid a fair wage and afford to live where they work. Let's give our kids & teachers the schools they deserve.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also tweeted his support for Denver teachers.

“I stand with the Denver teachers. Public education is fundamental to any functioning democratic society, and teaching is one of its most valuable and indispensable professions. We need to treat educators with respect and dignity. #DenverTeacherStrike,” he wrote.

10:44 a.m. — Video from students at East High School shows kids leaving their classes and filling the hallway this morning as teachers across the district went on strike.

Denver Schools Threaten Immigrant Teachers

DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS THREATEN TO REPORT STRIKING IMMIGRANT TEACHERS: The Denver public schools' human resources department sent an email to school administrators last week that threatened to report to immigration officials teachers receiving H or J visas who chose to participate in a potential upcoming strike, according to a copy of the letter obtained by CBS Denver . More than 5,600 teachers organized by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association were slated to walk out this morning for the first time in 25 years, but that's now likely delayed into next week due to intervention with the state's labor department, according to The Denver Post.

Denver Public Schools said Friday that the email was an error resulting from "a misinterpretation of the information that we received from our immigration firm," adding "the communication was in no way intended to cause fear for our educators on visas." But Denver public school teachers said "the damage has already been done" in a late Friday post to In These Times. Read it here.