Aurora Public Schools poised to approve salary increase, teachers union agreement
DENVER (KDVR) — The Aurora Education Association and Aurora Public Schools have reached an agreement to provide what the district called 'what will likely be the largest salary increase to staff when compared to other school districts' in the metro.
The education association ratified the agreement last week. It's scheduled to go before the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education on June 17, where it is expected to pass, according to a district spokesperson.
Education Department investigating Jeffco schools for Title IX concerns on 2023 school trip
'Aurora Public Schools is proud to announce a successful teacher compensation agreement with the Aurora Education Association, providing our educators with an approximate 5% salary increase,' said APS Superintendent Michael Giles Jr. in the district's announcement of the agreement. 'This agreement reinforces our commitment to valuing our staff and keeps APS among the most competitive districts in the Denver metro area. I am grateful for the collaborative efforts of our negotiations team and the AEA in reaching this important milestone for our employees.'
The district said the agreement will provide a general salary increase of 2.7% for all staff, and eligible educators will receive salary increases with movement on experience steps and educational lanes, which the district said would mean an average increase of 5.01%.
The educator's association said that the agreement was overwhelmingly approved by its membership.
'Pursuant to a vote of approval of the tentative agreement by the APS Board of Education, the hardworking educators of APS look forward to earning one of the largest salary increases in the Metro Denver area this year,' said Beth Himes, AEA bargaining chair. 'APS educators are also excited about National Board Certification recognition for expanded educator categories as well as the creation of a new doctorate lane to be more competitive with neighboring districts in attracting and retaining educators and providers with accomplished education and specialized degrees.'
The district said that classified and administrative/professional technical staff will receive 'commensurate salary increases for the 2025-26 contract year as well.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump admin asks Supreme Court to lift injunction blocking dismantling of Education Department
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that is keeping it from restructuring the Department of Education. "That injunction effectively appoints the district court to a Cabinet role and bars the Executive Branch from terminating anyone, even though respondents conceded that some other [reductions in force] would plainly be proper," the SCOTUS filing reads. On Wednesday, a federal appeals court declined to lift a judge's order blocking President Donald Trump from carrying out his executive order that would shut down the department, according to Reuters. In the executive order, which was issued in March, Trump asserted that "closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them." Federal Appeals Court Throws Roadblock At Trump's Education Reform Agenda U.S. District Judge Myong Joun initially blocked the Trump administration's attempt to dismantle the DOE in May. The ruling stopped a mass firing at the DOE that was announced in March and ordered the reinstatement of those who have been fired. The DOE quickly rejected Joun's ruling, with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the DOE's Office of Communications and Outreach Madi Biedermann saying, "President Trump and the Senate-confirmed Secretary of Education clearly have the authority to make decisions about agency reorganization efforts, not an unelected Judge with a political axe to grind. This ruling is not in the best interest of American students or families. We will immediately challenge this on an emergency basis." Read On The Fox News App Trump made it clear that he would seek to restructure and even dismantle the DOE during his second term in office. In fact, when he nominated Education Secretary Linda McMahon, he said her goal should be to "put herself out of a job." The president cited poor performance as one of his reasons for seeking to shut down the DOE. Department Of Education Designates June As 'Title Ix Month' Amid Transgender Athlete Debate The Nation's Report Card, which assesses how American students are performing in various subjects, showed seven out of 10 fourth graders are not proficient readers, which is a worse score than the last report card in 2022. The report card noted that reading scores showed "no significant change" since 1992. The administration has faced both political and legal pushback on its quest to get rid of the department. In February, several Democrats attempted to enter the Department of Education building in D.C., but were blocked by an employee. During the incident in February, Democrats repeatedly slammed the Trump administration and accused it of lacking transparency. Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom contributed to this article source: Trump admin asks Supreme Court to lift injunction blocking dismantling of Education Department
Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Letters to the Editor: False information being spread in case of transgender athlete
I am writing in response to the Naperville Sun article, 'Meeting packed with supporters/opponents of trans student athletes,' published Wednesday, June 4. I support transgender people and our top-ranked Naperville public schools. I thank Naperville schools for their continued support of all children. Hours of comments at the two recent Naperville District 203 School Board meetings would have been unnecessary if not for Awake Illinois, an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group, exposing the face and details about a transgender child. The majority of attendees supported transgender rights. Anti-transgender speakers made numerous false claims, including: 1. Some said the child involved is a boy. False. Transgender girls are not boys. The repeated phrase of 'boys in girls' sports' is a slur, not a fact. 2. No child in Naperville District 203 has 'pretended to be a girl' to win at sports. 3. No transgender females have changed or showered in locker rooms with cisgender girls. Gender accommodations are discussed among the student, their family and the school. 4. No federal law supersedes state law in this sports competition case. 5. There is no such thing as Title IX Month nor has it replaced Pride Month. An executive order creating Title IX Month has no legal standing. Title IX protects all students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Awake used an isolated case to discriminate, marginalize, intimidate and erase transgender people and to call for defunding public schools. Naperville District 203 Policy 7:10 explicitly states that equal education and extra-curricular opportunities shall be available for all students regardless of gender identity. Policy 7:20 states that harassment of students is prohibited based on gender identity. The relentless bullying of transgender people by the current Trump administration and hate groups like Awake Illinois contributes to the distress of trans children, their families and allies. Awake and MAGA extremists try to foment fear of transgender people and destroy public schools, whose mission is to educate all students, give all students equal opportunities, and make all students feel valued and welcomed. Transgender athletes in sports warrant study by the scientific community. Decisions must not be dictated by Christian nationalists or others who hate transgender people, deny their existence or aim to erode their rights. Lies about trans kids must not be used to try to defund public schools. Being transgender is not an ideology, but one of many natural ways to be. Transgender people want to live their lives just like everyone else.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Divided APS board vacates coaching, governance contract. New provider to be selected in fall.
Jun. 5—After pushback from some board members, Albuquerque Public Schools won't renew its contract with the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), which cost the district around $50,000 over nearly three years. CGCS is a Washington, D.C.-based organization that partners with urban districts to improve students' academic performance and assist school boards' governance strategies. The district will instead put out a request for proposals allowing vendors to apply to provide coaching services and student outcomes-focused governance as APS attempts to turn around academic performance as the largest district in a state that often ranks last in the nation for education. The district's contract with CGCS will expire June 30 and applications to fill the vacancy are due by Aug. 1. The board will likely vote on a new vendor at its Sept. 17 meeting. CGCS didn't answer questions or respond to interview requests sent over several weeks but stated Wednesday that it had "no involvement in the school board's decision not to renew its contract." APS' Board of Education met Wednesday and was initially expected to vote on renewing the contract. However, it was announced May 30 in a memo from APS Board President Danielle Gonzales that the district would seek a different provider for coaching services. "This effort to establish community engagement goals was to be transparent, to be clear, and also to hold ourselves accountable to meeting these specific goals," Gonzales said Wednesday, opening the discussion. "I want to acknowledge that no board had ever done this before, and this was not happening before." She also referred to several meetings in which the board unanimously approved topics related to the contract and student governance strategies, dating back to June 2024. However, one of the contract's critics, board member Josefina Domínguez, outlined longstanding issues she has had with CGSC in an email sent from her personal address to her APS address. The email — which she told the Journal was a draft — was obtained through an Inspection of Public Records Act request. Domínguez states that CGCS, "deliberately inserted themselves into the APS Board's business" and that board leadership interpreted "coaching to suit their needs." "Key decisions within the APS Board are made with the knowledge of only four members, leaving the other three members in the dark," she wrote. "This lack of collaborative governance is evident in our board meetings." The split to which she refers concerns the three board members endorsed by the Albuquerque Teachers Federation union and the four backed by business community entities, such as the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and the local chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate organization. That divide was on display Wednesday as the three union-backed board members present — Domínguez, Heather Benavidez and Ronalda Tome-Warito — discussed the issues they had with CGCS. Domínguez and Tome-Warito stated that CGCS didn't offer enough to help students who are minorities, specifically Native students, and Benavidez took issue with the divisiveness caused by coaching. "I would like a coach that is not going to pit board members against each other; that's going to foster cohesion," Benavidez said. "I think that needs to start with the board, the board members. We cannot be productive as a board if we don't get along." The discussion over the contract dominated the meeting, which took place among the five board members present. Crystal Tapia-Romero, who has now missed the past three meetings, was not in attendance, nor was Janelle Astorga, who is on maternity leave. The trio of union-backed members successfully pushed for discussions on a few items, including revising the timeline for student-focused outcomes, reflecting on the contract with CGCS and establishing criteria for a new vendor to be presented to the board at its July meeting, but in doing so, earned the ire of the board's vice president, Courtney Jackson. "I haven't slept for two stinking days because of the headspace and the time and the energy," Jackson said. "I am trying so hard to focus on effective governance, and this has spun so far out of control because of narratives, because of misunderstandings, because of hurt feelings." She also called CGCS one of "the leading organizations in the nation" and added that the organization has a "proven" record of turning around student academic performance. "I represent 90,000 roughly constituents. You know what they want me to be focusing on?" Jackson said. "They want to make sure that our kids can read. They want to make sure that our kids can do math. That's what they want me to do."
