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Denver teachers would get a $1,000 annual cost-of-living raise for the next three years under a tentative contract agreement reached Tuesday by the teachers union and Denver Public Schools, according to press releases from both sides.
The agreement would also require the district to work toward capping elementary class sizes at 30 students starting in the 2026-27 school year. And it recommends that the Denver school board put a measure on the ballot to increase funding for DPS.
The tentative agreement comes after DPS declared an impasse in negotiations last month. The impasse meant that the two sides continued bargaining with help from a mediator.
The next step is for the tentative agreement to be ratified by members of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and the Denver school board. If that happens, the three-year agreement will be in effect from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, 2028.
Lower class sizes and higher teacher pay were two of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association’s biggest priorities going into negotiations. Class size caps were last changed in 1994, when the union went on strike and the district agreed to a cap of 35 students.
While Denver’s student enrollment is expected to decline, an influx of migrant students has caused some classroom sizes to swell. District data from the 2023-24 school year showed 9% of elementary classrooms had more than 30 students.
Going into negotiations, the union was hoping for a lower class size cap. Instead, it got a compromise that says DPS must set targets and better track the data.
“While DCTA was hoping for stronger limits on class size, we believe the tentative agreement reached today offers a better path forward, particularly for grades Kindergarten through 5th,” union President Rob Gould said in a statement. “We’re also looking forward to continuing our work and advocacy through a class size committee.”
The tentative agreement also guarantees pay raises, though they won’t be as big as the union hoped.
In addition to the $1,000 cost-of-living raise, the average DPS teacher would get a 2.97% increase in their pay next school year from “steps” based on teachers’ years of experience, and “lanes” that are based on teachers’ own education, according to DPS.
Starting teacher pay in Denver would go up to $57,666 next year from $55,257 this past school year, a 4.4% increase. Pay for teachers at the top of the pay scale — those with a doctorate and 20 years of experience — would increase to $124,233 from $120,169, a 3.4% increase.
All DPS teachers would also get a 2.55% pay raise next school year as a result of a law passed this spring that lowers the district’s contribution to the state pension fund. The district says that savings will be passed along to teachers union members.
Teachers would also get a $1,000 onetime bonus next year but not in 2026-27 or 2027-28.
A memorandum of understanding that is part of the tentative agreement says the two sides agree that the Denver school board should put an initiative to increase funding for DPS on the November 2025 or November 2026 ballot.
The memorandum says the union and the district “will engage in discussions on the potential use of the increased funding.” The union’s press release says it could be used to boost pay.
School board President Carrie Olson said it would be inappropriate to answer questions about the tentative agreement until after it is ratified. The board won’t meet again until August.
“This is a topic we will discuss, if the DCTA membership ratifies the agreement, when we return in August,” Olson said in a statement.
Sept. 5 is the deadline to put a measure on the November ballot, according to a spokesperson for the Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Office.
Denver voters last passed a ballot measure to increase teacher pay in 2020.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
