Over 1,000 teachers, families and community members went on strike across District 11 schools on Oct. 8 in anticipation of the upcoming Nov. 4 school board elections.
The strike was organized in the wake of the D11 school board’s decision not to renew its 56-year collective bargaining contract with the teachers’ union, the Colorado Springs Education Association (CSEA). The contract negotiated teachers’ compensation, working conditions and representation to voice their concerns and opinions.
Many teachers expressed concerns with the new Employee Handbook, the document which replaced the previous union contract, and does not offer the same legally binding protections. Teachers are concerned that the document is live, meaning its content is not downloadable as it can change at any time to meet the needs of the district.
“Our assurance was [that] nothing was going to be taken away and that has been reflected in that employee handbook,” said Parth Melpakam, District 11 Board President, according to the Colorado Sun. “Our promise is, with or without a master agreement, we are going to take care of our teachers.”
According to the Colorado Sun, board members claim to invite feedback from teachers, and have taken action to avoid scaling back teacher positions despite falling enrollment; they approved a 10% raise for teachers this year, cut $6 million from the central office budget to fund classrooms, and banned cell phone use due to reports of distraction during lessons.
“We can’t be held hostage by a teachers’ union telling a school district what it is the union wants the district to do, especially when there’s no public accountability for that,” Jill Haffley, Vice President of the District 11 school board, told the Colorado Sun.
The bargaining contract was not the only reason teachers were on the picket line.
New implementations have been made to the curriculum and its pace, including removing certain content regarding history and sexuality, according to teachers.
Danielle Kreyche, a sixth-grade math teacher at Jenkins Middle School, said she feels the expectations are higher. Other teachers at the rally echoed this concern.
For instance, teachers are being asked to give more quizzes and tests for students, even if they feel the pace is too fast and students are not ready to take an assessment to move on to new content.
“Teachers are being asked to do a lot more with the same or less time,” said Kreyche. “It’s not responsive to the needs of my students, which makes it hard, because I don’t always feel like they’re where they need to be to take that assessment.”
Daniel Riecks, an 8th-grade English teacher at Russell Middle School, told The Catalyst that a new curriculum about the realities of slavery in the United States was instituted with little structure and preparation for emotional conversation, especially since the majority of his students are part of minority groups.
“In this curriculum, it was never addressed that you’re supposed to clearly say slavery is wrong, and just let kids figure it out,” said Riecks.
Partway through the new material, the curriculum was pulled. Part of this curriculum included a section where students read Frederick Douglass, according to Riecks. This was done just a few days before the district-wide Chalktober event, where students were meant to draw pictures representing liberty and equality and connect them to course materials.
The district has also seen recent changes within the health curriculum, with pages from a section titled “Concerns About Sexuality” ripped from the textbooks as they are not in accordance with “approved curriculum and current standards,” according to Rocky Mountain PBS.
District 11 has instituted new and controversial policies this year regarding LGBTQ students, including a new flag policy that bans all flags not falling in the category of ‘U.S. and Colorado state flags, military flags and district-approved banners’ from being displayed in classrooms, according to KRDO. This ban includes pride flags.
“Flags that are going to be permitted are going to be the ones that align with our country’s heritage,” said Melpakam to KRDO. “This was to promote a neutral, unbiased learning environment for our students. This was not to target any specific groups or to make them feel excluded from the classroom.”
In March, the board voted for a policy that would require parental consent for student preferred name change requests, which some teachers and community members perceived as an attack on transgender and gender-nonconforming students. The district said that the decision was made in accordance with state and federal privacy laws, after previously stating the aim was to be transparent and unbiased with parents, according to FOX21.
“In this culture and in this political climate, we should be allies to our transgender children and those who are also non-binary,” said Julie Ott, current D11 Board member, to FOX21. “That is, if we want our students to be in welcoming and inclusive schools, and that has always been one of my goals and why I’m here. This policy does not promote welcoming, inclusive, safe, or affirming schools.”
In March, the D11 school board voted on a controversial athletic policy, mandating that students participate in sports correlating to the gender they were assigned at birth, with the goals of maintaining the integrity of girls’ sports, student privacy, and safety, according to KRDO.
“Supposed neutral learning environments are seen as a goal for glossing over the need for diversity, equity and inclusion, or learning the truth about those sometimes dark moments in our nation’s history,” said Ott in reference to national trends in education that “may feel a little too close to home.”
“Policy has been weaponized against LGBTQ and immigrant students. And sorry, ignorance is chosen over learning,” said Ott. She went on to emphasize the importance of continued voter participation as a pillar of democracy, urging the crowd to vote and to encourage their friends and family to do the same.
According to a Sept. 15 email from District 11 to a teacher reviewed by The Catalyst, teachers who participated in the strike would receive leave without pay for the day of the strike.
Non-teacher employees were warned that “employees not reporting for work, not crossing picket lines to report to work or refusing to perform assigned duties will receive leave without pay and/or discipline up to and including termination.” Staff members were also warned not to give “the appearance of sympathy and support” to striking employees, citing examples of providing coffee and donuts or using school facilities.
Several teachers reported being asked by an administrator if they were planning to attend the strike, and if they responded that they were going or were unsure, their class would be given substitute plans for leave without pay.
“(The district is) just scared, and so they’re trying to get us to be quiet and sit down and do our jobs kind of thing,” said Patricia Keith, who teaches multilingual learners at Rogers Elementary School. “And I’m not gonna do that. I’m gonna do what’s best for my kids.”