Some points to consider about the Colorado teacher rally:
1) Teachers were required to take a day of personal leave to participate. For many teachers at the end of a school year, that means that it is an unpaid day of leave.
#RedForEd #ImAColoradoTeacher
1) Teachers were required to take a day of personal leave to participate. For many teachers at the end of a school year, that means that it is an unpaid day of leave.
#RedForEd #ImAColoradoTeacher
2) This was not an easy choice for us. I am nervous about students eating before a weekend. I do worry about breaking the routines of children in trauma. But I worry more about the repetitive inequities students face every day, esp. kids of color.
3) When you read about the increased funding for education from the Colorado government, you have to keep in mind the Colorado "budget stabilization factor." In short, 7.5 BILLION dollars has been withheld by the government from education spending in the past 10 years.
4) The marijuana money can only fund construction of schools and, even then, the red tape is absurd. It does not and can not be distributed into salary and other resources.
5) Teachers do not receive Social Security benefits, and we are required to pay into PERA, a retirement fund that has 32-50 billion dollars in UNFUNDED liability. We require teachers to pay now, and we may not pay them later.
6) When adjusted for inflation, teachers in Denver Public Schools make 12% LESS than they made 10 years ago.
7) I can't believe I even have to clarify this, but it literally always comes up. I do not get paid over the summer. My 9 month salary is distributed over 12 months, and I work the hours of a 12 month job in 9 months.
8)Top salaries of districts are rare to achieve because of the insanely high amount of turnover, particularly in urban areas. It is nearly impossible to sustain an urban teacher's life. *Two-thirds* of urban teachers are GONE by year 5.
9) There are areas of Colorado that literally cannot afford to keep their schools open a fifth day of the week. That's just not okay.
10) There are rural areas of Colorado where teachers make less than 30,000 - with a college degree.
11) Colorado is the 12th richest state in the entire country. We are 50th, DEAD LAST, in pay competitiveness. We are 46th in student spending.
12) Teachers are acting now because this is when legislators are in session.
This isn't me “whining” about my "summers off." Just because we "knew what we were getting into" doesn't make it okay, and it certainly doesn't make it stable. The upcoming national teacher shortage is a crisis, plain and simple. The system is collapsing down on kids. #redfored
This is about a longstanding pattern of disrespect for our students, their families, our educators, and their communities. Our kids deserve better. Our teachers are worth more. #redfored #COteacherwalkout #teacherwalkout #OurKidsDeserveBetter
I also want to just note that my heart is full of gratitude for Denver constituents. You have repetitively made it clear that the people of Denver value students. Knowing so many have our backs is humbling. This is not the trend statewide, tho. The state gov. has work to do.
