Jefferson County teachers who were rated “partially effective” last year should get raises, a fact-finding report recommended.
The report, released today, also concluded teachers who are not rated as effective or above this school year should not be eligible for raises, so long as the district and teachers union agree to an improved evaluation system.
The recommendations, which are non-binding, are the latest in ongoing teacher contract negotiations between the Jefferson County Education Association and Jeffco Public Schools. The board asked for the third party opinion on negotiations after the board’s majority rejected a tentative agreement in June.
That contract provided raises for “partially effective” teachers. That was a nonstarter for board chair Ken Witt.
Negotiations between the two parties began in February. The Jeffco Board of Education now has 30 days to act on the fact-finders’ report. The board is expected to discuss the report in an executive session tonight before their first regular school board meeting of the school year.
Jeffco rated 89 teachers out of more than 5,000 as “partially effective.” The current budget has an $18 million placeholder for salary increases for teachers and other Jeffco employees. However, salaries will remain the same until an agreement is reached.
Jefferson County Education Association President John Ford said that fact-finder’s report will allow the district and the union to work together to refine the evaluation process and make it more accurate, provided the school board chooses to follow the report’s recommendations.
“Teachers and the community have been calling on the Board to accept the fact finder’s recommendations throughout this entire process and now that those recommendations have been released, the District is stepping away from the commitment it made when it went into fact finding of honoring the process,” Ford said in a statement.
This story has been updated with response from the teachers union.