Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Collective Bargaining

PERA Payments on the Chopping Block as Polis Seeks Short-Term Budget Relief
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

PERA Payments on the Chopping Block as Polis Seeks Short-Term Budget Relief

By: Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun The move would save the state money in the short term to address Colorado’s budget crisis, but it could cost the pension as much as $180 million in the long run. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has proposed cutting the state’s contributions to the public pension by as much as $38 million next year to help cover the cost of employee raises owed under the state’s collective bargaining agreement. The move would buy the state government some financial breathing room for next year, when it faces an $850 million deficit. But it would also come at a steep long-term cost that could come back to bite public workers and taxpayers alike. The legislature’s Joint Budget Committee will consider the proposal between now and March, when it’s scheduled to ado...
More Colorado Teachers Opt Out of Union Dues and Politics
The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

More Colorado Teachers Opt Out of Union Dues and Politics

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Gazette When a school district’s union speaks, it’s often billed as the voice of the teachers. Not so fast. Out of Colorado’s 179 school districts, fewer than 40 are formally “unionized” through collective-bargaining, or “master” agreements, in which unions negotiate pay, benefits and other matters on behalf of all teachers. Some districts agree to memorandums of understanding similar to collective bargaining. The majority of districts aren’t unionized at all. Sure, many districts have union affiliates, but they function more like clubs. And many teachers join because they’re led to believe they need the liability policies unions provide. It’s worth noting that comparable policies offered by the Professional Association of Colora...
Beyond the rhetoric: Schools, unions, and the battle for objective truth in education
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Beyond the rhetoric: Schools, unions, and the battle for objective truth in education

By Laureen Boll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In Part One, Laureen Boll examined how literacy challenges, COVID-era policies, and parental authority define Colorado’s education debate. In this second installment, she shifts focus to the role of schools, the influence of teachers’ unions, and the clash over objective truth — issues she argues will shape the outcome of this November’s school board elections. The Role of Schools DCSD recently voted in favor of requiring parental consent, or “opt-in,” for students to participate in the upcoming Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, also known as HKCS. HKCS is an anonymous survey that is offered to all school districts in the state every-other-year, and much of the information that’s collected from middle and high school students is...
Summer school session: Lawmakers flunk budget basics—less tax revenue and more deficits to come
denvergazette.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Summer school session: Lawmakers flunk budget basics—less tax revenue and more deficits to come

By Gazette editorial board | Commentary, Denver Gazette Like slacker students who flunked a course and had to make it up in summer school, Colorado state lawmakers who were summoned back to the Capitol last month — to patch a gaping hole in the current state budget — knew they had gathered under a stigma. Convened by Gov. Jared Polis, they sullenly filed into the building with their heads down. It was nothing to be proud of. And when they had wrapped up the session days later, there was little to celebrate. They knew they were doing makeup work, atoning for their behavior during the regular session — and the session before that, and the one before that. And while they tried to blame Colorado’s fiscal straits on some of the other kids in class — the president and the Republican Con...
New 3-year deal between teachers union and DPS sparks debate on costs and accountability
Fox31, Approved, Local

New 3-year deal between teachers union and DPS sparks debate on costs and accountability

By Abraham Jewett | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Classroom Teachers Association announced Thursday that it has voted to ratify a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with Denver Public Schools. The vote to ratify comes around two months after the DCTA reached a tentative agreement with DPS in June, following several months of negotiations. The DCTA said more than 81% of its members voted in favor of the new collective bargaining agreement, which will be valid through 2028. “As a democratic, member-led organization, every vote cast reflects our shared commitment to creating better working and learning conditions for Denver’s educators and students,” said Michelle Horwitz, bilingual speech-language pathologist and co-chair of the DCTA Bargaining Team, in ...
University of Colorado Faces Labor Complaint from Medical Residents
Local, Approved, The Colorado Sun

University of Colorado Faces Labor Complaint from Medical Residents

By John Ingold | The Colorado Sun The University of Colorado Housestaff Association, which represents medical and surgical residents and fellows, has filed a complaint with state labor officials. The organization that represents doctors-in-training at the University of Colorado has filed a complaint with state labor officials alleging that the school retaliated against it over its quest for collective bargaining rights. The organization, the CU Housestaff Association, says the university broke off long-running discussions on a document that would have codified the Housestaff Association’s relationship with the university after the association announced its unionization goal. It says the university also excluded it from meetings, blocked it from organizing activities and ended t...

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