Jeffco invests in meeting students’ needs and keeping experienced educators
Jefferson County, CO – Educators in Jefferson County have finally reached an agreement with Jeffco School District after a contentious bargaining season. The tentative agreement was reached during mediation with the district, and is pending final ratification by JCEA members and the Board of Education.
“We come to the bargaining table every year to negotiate for our students, parents, community, and educators – because when we protect our workloads, everyone benefits,” said Brooke Williams, art teacher and JCEA President. “Our new salary schedule is a crucial step in the right direction and finally reflects that educators are highly trained professionals, and every hard earned training and credit hour benefits our students.”
Some of the highlights of the agreement include:
- A new salary schedule that begins at $50,000 and ends at just over $100,000.
- Movement toward equity in planning time between elementary and secondary educators
- Improvements to the contract that protect the workload of the staff that work with our most vulnerable students.
Although educators are relieved that their contract, including compensation, has been settled before the first day of school, they are disheartened that it took declaring impasse for the district to finally do what’s right for students. After 12 bargaining sessions, the JCEA bargaining team was forced to declare impasse, after the district’s bargaining team made little progress over the previous 12 bargaining sessions and made movement on educator plan time and compensation.
“As evidenced by the fact that we are ending today’s negotiations after 8 hours in mediation, this was a long, challenging process, although it included lots of discussion about how our contract language and compensation impacts our classrooms and students,” said Michelle Moehlis, Spanish teacher, and negotiations chair. “The new salary schedule rewards educators who are loyal to Jeffco, and have stayed throughout district turmoil and pay freezes. We hope the district administration comes to future negotiations sessions ready to respect everyone’s time in order to reach an agreement well in advance of the first day of school.”
The final ratification vote is anticipated to take place August 10-16.
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The Jefferson County Education Association is the union for over 5,000 educators in Jeffco Schools, working together to ensure all students in Jeffco have safe, equitable, and thriving public schools. JCEA works collectively with our entire community to advocate for fully funded schools to ensure education is a profession that allows educators to work and live in the communities they serve. Follow JCEA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.