Four of the teachers leaving the Douglas County School District this year say frustration with pay and the school board pushed them out the doors.
“It used to be that teachers would be willing to leave their districts to come to Douglas County,” former Chaparral High School English teacher Brian Hire said. “Now we seem to be kind of the joke of the party. Friends in Cherry Creek (school district) say, ‘What’s going on there?’ I can’t imagine any experienced teacher would be willing to go to Douglas County to teach.”
Hire and his wife Jill, a Douglas County High School teacher, are going to teach overseas. While they’re excited about the dramatic change, the move wasn’t prompted by wanderlust.
“We made the decision to leave in November when the bond failed,” Jill Hire said. “There are a bunch of colleagues at Douglas County who would move on if they could, but they’ve got family, a mortgage, 20-some-years’ experience. There’s no place to go.
“There’s a climate of mistrust, a climate of fear. People are afraid for their jobs. It’s just not a healthy work environment.”
She faults the school board for helping to create that environment.
“I feel like they have a political agenda, and they want to disband the union for just the fact that it is a union,” she said.
Cuts in state funding forced teacher layoffs during the last four years, and that’s pushed class sizes to levels teachers and the district agree are unacceptable. During the most recent school year, Jill Hire said, one class was so large she regularly gave up her desk chair to a student, while another consistently sat on the floor.
But Hire does not believe the decision to add more classes and change the schedule at district high schools will decrease class sizes significantly or improve the situation for students. She won’t be here next year to find out if she’s right.
Becky Sickles, a special education teacher at Roxborough Primary and Intermediate School, said she got two offers to teach in other districts. Both offered her better pay.
“I know the school board keeps saying they want to pay their teachers the best,” she said. “But we’ve been hearing that for two years. They say they value and love teachers. But I’m not feeling the love.”
Douglas County High School science teacher Andy Caldwell has been working two jobs to make ends meet, teaching nights at Arapahoe Community College. He’s leaving the district after 13 years to teach at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins. Though the workload’s been excessive, he also wants his daughter to start her education somewhere else.
“A few years ago, I would never have said that,” Caldwell said. “My daughter had a great teacher this year, but I just don’t see that as something that’s sustainable. It’s not a place I want her to grow up in.
“I love Douglas County Schools. It’s hard to watch it come apart.”
Caldwell believes the district began to change a few years ago.
“I hate to point fingers, but the incoming school board kind of set a tone of not supporting teachers. That’s when we started taking wage freezes. Then they cut our health benefits. You could just start to see morale going down.”
The stress of juggling two jobs and tension at the high school took a physical toll, too. For the first time in his life, Caldwell started taking an antidepressant.
“I’m already feeling a little better,” he said, “like a weight’s been lifted. It’s awful to say, but I really have a new fire in my belly.”
KC Neel posted at 6:40 pm on Mon, Jun 18, 2012.
I must agree with CLG. I know Andy Caldwell and he is one of the most dedicated teachers in the district. It is our loss to have him leave the district. But I also know a lot of other teachers who put it all on the line every day to teach our kids. Everyone recognizes that teachers are unhappy. But morale doesn't deteriorate on a massive scale like it has here for no reason. Of course, when you're forced to sign a contract before you even know what's even in it or lose your job is a travesty. Teachers had to sign their contract by June 15 but the negotiatons aren't even complete yet. News reports have stated that the union has conceded on several fronts but that the board remains steadfast and unbendable. Who in their right mind would sign a contract before knowing what's in it? Apparently only homeowners who were told by their bank that they could afford their mortgage and Dougco teachers who didn't have any other option.
Marcia720 posted at 11:37 am on Mon, Jun 18, 2012.
Hmmm, disbanding Unions for the sake of being unions. Yes, collective bargaining is the cardinal sin of all money grubbing institutions. They don't care about their teachers, their lunch staff, their low-end administrators nor their aides. They care about living on Sapphire Point, Castle Pines and vacationing in places teachers can only dream of.
clg posted at 11:02 am on Sun, Jun 17, 2012.
Wake Up, Douglas County!!!!!!! Andy Caldwell is one of the absolute BEST teachers that Douglas County High School ever had!!!! Your BOE wants you to believe that we are not losing good teachers, only teachers who "do not want to be accountable" are leaving...this is a travesty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!