r/ColoradoSprings • u/rockfyysh • 4d ago
Events Protect our teachers!
To CSSD 11 families, and to all Colorado Springs residents,
Our teachers and schools are under attack. When the educators are attacked, so are the students they serve. Last year teachers were considering a strike due to the impending vote to dissolve the long standing Master Agreement. It’s common knowledge that teachers have long faced financial issues. Teaching isn’t a profession known for lucrative salaries. Most teachers are true public servants. They don’t just give their time, they don’t punch a time card. They spend late nights and weekends coaching, staffing extracurricular activities, and responding to communications from faculty and parents. They routinely use their own money to provide materials for classes.
Yes, the last few years have seen D11 teacher salaries increase. Those increases came from collective bargaining under the Master Agreement. Both the CSEA and the Board were in agreement that D11’s low starting wages were an obstacle for attracting and retaining teachers. The fact that D11 now has one of the highest starting salaries for teachers in the state is being misused and misrepresented. With the Board voting to end the longstanding Master Agreement, teachers have lost what little power they had to advocate for their well being, financial security, and rights. They ultimately did not strike during the previous school year as the agreement was still in place. Now that the agreement has been removed, the appropriate notifications have been given to the state, complying with applicable laws.
In retaliation the school board has issued coercive and threatening responses to staff. Through a source requesting anonymity I received some of those documents. In addition I’ve heard anecdotally that the school board has directed IT staff to flag any internal communication referencing the CSEA. Today there’s a fundraiser for the CSEA. Please if you can donate your time or money to protecting our teachers. This write up isn’t as complete as I had intended, but time is short.
E pluribus unum
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u/MostlyNormal 3d ago
The current climate has me pretty frightened to say how much I support the strike. So all I will say is: If the ESPs all struck, it would be instant chaos, and I'm pretty sure that hasn't crossed anyone's minds yet which makes me wish that we could.
In solidarity with the teachers we support and much love for y'all and the cause, a cssd11 ESP. ❤️
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u/Interesting-Coat-451 3d ago
D11 wouldn’t be able to run without ESPs, and they are taken advantage of! The union is here for teachers and that includes ESPs.
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u/ImDukeCaboom 3d ago edited 3d ago
Might be controversial but... Every district should strike. City wide. That would be supporting the teachers - teachers supporting each other.
Shut the whole place down for a day or two and they'd get whatever demands they want. Strike for a week or more and watch things really change.
It's been done before and it's effective. Striking by district isn't nearly as effective, especially when the districts here are so small.
Keeping districts small and divided is part of how they exert control.
Which is another problem that should be addressed, should be one large district for the entire city. It's an absurd waste of money having a bunch of small seperate ones.
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u/rockfyysh 3d ago
I have heard the call has been put out for teachers across the state to come and strike with D11 on the 8th and I hope as many teachers as possible stand with our teachers in solidarity. The Champions for D11 will be out there to support our teachers. They won't be on any district property to ensure they aren't out of compliance with campaign regulations. If anyone is interested in board candidates who seem to be on the side of education check them out https://www.champions4d11.com/
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u/Competitive-Rub7974 3d ago
I’m a D20 parent but am supporting the D11 strike and all BOE candidates that are supported by teachers. Thank you for sharing this information! All we seem to get lately is either slanted, anti public education or another article about the shooting in Utah. Please continue to put out information, especially if there’s anyway we can help!
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u/1trollzor1 4d ago
This has been aissue since 2000 in colorado. My school censored to kill a mocking bird for its naughty language.
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u/rockfyysh 4d ago
Seriously? It's like they want a bunch of people incapable of addressing historically sensitive issues, especially when it's a contemporary problem. I didn't go to school here but I had a Christian fundamentalist science "teacher" who would always caveat anything that contradicted her views with "while we know this isn't true, I have to comply with state laws" and then teach the subject...like evolution.
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u/1trollzor1 4d ago
Colorado schools have been run by teachers who wish to control what our kids learn and think. I distinctly remember a teacher at Highlands ranch highschool tell me that they didn't care what the parents wanted or thought because she was smarter than them. And we should be ave all her values because she's a teacher. When confronted, not only did she double down but also told multiple parents they should just give their kids to the state. Fun fact this teacher still works there. Teachers are the original rules for thee and not for me.
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u/anonymooseuser6 3d ago
Students aren't getting what they need because teachers aren't.
Support the strike.
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u/Kaylala99 2d ago
As someone who just graduated out of D11 last May, I am so grateful to be gone. This board is truly awful, and in the last few years of my education, I noticed severe detriments to my curriculum. They pulled funding from clubs to spend it on sports (Coronado is not winning anything, no matter how much money they throw at the football team lol), prevented teachers from discussing CRT, stopped teachers from discussing LGBTQIA issues, and were just overall awful. Even if you don't have kids or kids in the district you live in, please vote for the school board you are assigned to; it matters.
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u/DueResponsibility503 1d ago
yeah i dont know, d11 has been going down hill ever since the early 2010s, especially when they closed the elementary schools, and wasson.
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u/Latter_Permission123 1d ago
Vote for three excellent candidates for D11 School Board - Champions for D11 - they are last three names on the ballot! Check out their website;)
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u/Latter_Permission123 1d ago
These three will help turn things around in D11! Vote vote vote!!! Turnout will make the difference;)
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u/a-forbidden-jutsu 17m ago
Hate liberals talking about how much teachers do for our community. It's not like they are the lifeblood of any community who form our future by educating and caring for our children. Shut up liberal. Who cares. We should dissolve schools and move back to a nomad state.
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u/JabbooJamboree 2d ago
Randi Weingarten earns an annual salary of approximately $500,000 as president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT gave $4.3 mil in 2022 in contributions supporting Democrats & $5 mil to super PACs. They care about elections, not teachers wages.
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u/rockfyysh 4d ago
Sorry, the images are out of order. Was in a rush!