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Denver public schoolteachers are voting on whether to go on strike. The strike could begin as early as Jan. 28, unless the state intervenes.

As a Denver Public Schools board member, my goal and hope is to avoid a strike and keep teachers in the classroom – and yet, I am conflicted.  

Waters are muddied by a wide variety of relevant political and policy issues, but the bottom line is that Colorado is not funding its schools sufficiently to pay our teachers a wage that keeps up with the cost of living – not anymore – not in Denver and not elsewhere in Colorado.

The Denver Classroom Teachers Association and DPS signed a five-year Master Agreement in 2017, which already guarantees our teachers a raise each year of the contract. We are currently renegotiating ProComp, a performance-based teacher compensation package, to determine how roughly $33 million of dedicated mill levy funds will be distributed as additional teacher compensation. 

As part of that renegotiation, DPS is committing yet an additional $26.5 million to teacher pay. If accepted by DCTA, DPS teachers would receive an average raise of 10 percent and a new transparent salary table. The proposal would also boost the salary of a first-year teacher to an all-time high of $45,500. With one incentive for working in a high-poverty school or a hard-to-fill position (for which 72 percent of our educators qualify), DPS will offer the highest starting salary in the metro area.

However, I believe teachers are voting on more than just what DPS is offering. With their votes, they are asking: “When will Colorado start adequately funding education?”  Even with a pay increase, many teachers across the state will still be unable to live in the communities they serve. 

Colorado, the fourth-wealthiest state in the union with its #1-ranked economy, is now an embarrassing $2,800 below the national average in per-pupil funding (that’s $70,000 below average every year for each DPS classroom of 25 students). 

This is Colorado’s new education paradox: We are one of the wealthiest states with one of the most poorly funded school systems. 

Colorado’s per-pupil funding has just recently clawed its way back to pre-2009 funding levels as a result of the TABOR “ratchet effect.”  A teacher can’t rent an apartment for what it cost in 2009, but the state expects us to fund our schools and pay our teachers with the same 2009 dollars. 

There will always be legitimate calls for more administrative efficiencies and to “keep more money in the classroom,” but that call misses the elephant in the room: There is not enough money in Colorado’s state budget to effectively educate our students.

With the recent defeat of Amendment 73 and the ludicrous “budget stabilization factor” (appropriately referred to as the “BS Factor”) growing each year, more districts are forced to cling to more desperate measures, like the four-day school week (over 100 Colorado school districts now only teach school four days per week). 

This is not a problem of widespread administrative squandering; it is the result of a diverse group of dedicated, hard-working people trying to fight for our children’s future with both hands tied behind their backs.

Enough political excuses, enough shrugging our shoulders about TABOR, enough forcing principals to choose between essential staff members, and enough GoFundMe pages for basic school supplies. 

Gov. Jared Polis is beginning to show true leadership on this issue. We appreciate his commitment to fund all-day kindergarten, which allows DPS to free up money and spend $6 million more on teacher compensation. It’s a start.

My hope is that we can stand shoulder to shoulder with our governor and our teachers to do even more, to address TABOR, to address Gallagher, and to create the opportunities for adequate public school funding.

Lisa Flores represents District 5 on Denver Public Schools’ Board of Education and serves as board treasurer.