PUEBLO, Colo. — Pueblo School District 60 (D60) reached a two-year tentative agreement with the teacher's union on pay increases Wednesday. Teachers and staff could see a 12 percent raise starting next fall.
"We don't have to make a hard decision to leave education to survive," said one D60 Goodnight School teacher Melissa Stecklein.
Base pay for new teachers could start at $45,000, a $5,000 increase.
The union will vote on the tentative agreement in the next week. Then it would go back to the district for a final decision.
Even with a master's degree, Stecklein said she thought about leaving the industry because of low pay.
"Sometimes it's a yearly decision that I have to look at that unfortunately," said Stecklein.
In 2021, D60 and the Pueblo Education Association (PEA) agreed to give teachers and staff a 10% raise over two years.
The PEA president, Mike Maes, said a 12% raise would be the biggest salary increase since he started at D60 in 2001.
"I'm happy, I'm pleased, I think we did great work and I hope the educators will be pleased as well," said Maes.
Maes the pay raises aim to bring in new teachers and keep current ones.
"The district understands that, 'yes we need to be more competitive,' so we weren't very far off in where we were and hoping for our salary," said Maes.
D60 teachers and staff will also get an extra $80 a month toward health insurance.
"That would go a long way as far as showing us that we are respected and valued," said Steklein.
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