Denver Educators with Effective Ratings Win Right to Non-Probationary Status at Schools that Recognize the Teacher Employment, Compensation and Dismissal Act (TECDA):

DENVER – On Friday, March 11 Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent, Dr. Alex Marrero announced that the district will begin tracking years of effective ratings to count toward educators earning non-probationary status. Educators who work at schools that waive the Teacher Employment, Compensation and Dismissal Act (TECDA) are mainly impacted due to their inability to access non-probationary status within their school. This comes after months of collaboration on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. The newly signed MOU would allow educators with effective ratings to access to non-probationary status if they chose to transfer to a traditional school or innovation school that has not waived TECDA rights.

“This agreement sends a clear message that Dr. Marrero and his team are taking steps to ensure that educators feel valued within the district,” said Rob Gould, special education teacher and president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. “Now more than ever, the district must continue to take steps to retain educators who have proven track records of effective teaching because we know it leads to student achievement.”

“Though the agreement is a step in the right direction, we must continue to work toward restoring full TECDA rights across the district, regardless of a schools’ innovation waiver status. We’ve seen tremendous success in schools that honor TECDA and the DCTA agreement while continuing to innovate within the profession.”

“Later this month, the school board will vote on a proposed executive limitation policy that would reinstate TECDA rights along with additional rights provided by the DCTA contract to all educators regardless of schools innovation status waivers. We are hopeful that the board will pass the proposed policy as it communicates that DPS values and supports educators’ working conditions and students’ learning conditions.”

The Denver Classroom Teachers Association has expressed their support for a majority of the executive limitation policy proposal. However, the DCTA representative council has raised concerns around the standard calendar portion of the proposal. This is due to some innovation schools needing calendar flexibility within the innovation plan. Many innovation plans include additional planning and professional development days. DCTA members have communicated they need more time to support students’ needs because workloads have become unsustainable.

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