Some Denver substitute teachers are protesting a tentative contract agreement that would substantially cut their daily wages to help pay for teachers’ health benefits and 1 percent cost-of-living salary increases.
Dozens of substitutes—but still a tiny proportion of the district’s 1,300 active subs—voted last week to refuse to work on Sept. 13 and Sept. 17. Some also picketed.
The proposed 67 percent cut would reduce substitutes’ daily pay from $121.45 to $81.54. It is part of a one-year agreement reached after months of tense negotiations between the 72,000-student district and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. The union’s 3,200 members were voting last week on whether to approve the proposal.