Earlier this month, during a Labor Day event at Colorado Springs City Hall, educators announced plans to strike this fall over the Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education’s vote last year to end the only master agreement with a teachers union in El Paso County, which had been in place for over 50 years.
“D11 teachers are going on strike this fall because our Board of Education is full of anti-union, anti-teacher and anti-student members,” said educator and Colorado Springs Education Association (CSEA) member Sam Farnham during the Workers over Billionaires rally on Sept. 1. “They ended the contract with our union and we need your support to flip the board this election season.”
On Sept. 15, D11 sent an email to employees regarding the potential strike. “CSEA has announced its intent for some of its members not to perform job duties on October 8, 2025,” read the email. “To date, there has been no clear statement of the specific reasons for this walkout. Beyond broad references to unfair labor practices and salary, CSEA has not identified any new or concrete grounds.”
The email noted that D11 employees all have individual contracts, and touted the benefits and compensation provided by the district. “The compensation, benefits, and working conditions announced in the spring remain fully in place for the 2025–26 school year, and continue to be amongst the best in the Pikes Peak region,” read the email. “In 2023 our starting salaries were second to lowest in El Paso county and now are amongst the highest. This year, our teachers and staff closest to students received the highest recurring percentage increase within a 10% total compensation package – the largest in the region.”
D11’s 2025-2026 salary schedule shows minimum annual pay for a teacher as $51,510 for a new teacher with only a bachelor’s degree. Pay increases with years of service and additional education. In comparison, Academy School District 20’s minimum pay for a teacher starts at $52,020, but only increases with additional education, not years of service.
According to apartments.com, the cost of living in Colorado Springs is 2.1% higher than the national average. “To live comfortably in Colorado Springs, CO, as a single adult with no dependents, you should aim for a salary around $60,900 before taxes,” the website notes. “Expect to pay around $29,496/year for housing, $8,508/year for groceries, and $13,236 for goods and services. These costs will vary based on family size and location.”
During his address at the Labor Day event, Farnham emphasized the economic difficulties of working in education. “I love to teach, but it’s frustrating, and it’s not the kids,” he said. “They’re great. What’s frustrating is that the job I went to college for and took out loans to pursue is not enough to pay back those loans, but this isn’t unique to teaching. There is a large number of other professions where this is the case, and that number continues to grow.”
In their email, D11 warned employees about the consequences of participating in CSEA’s strike action. “Teachers participating in absences with the purpose of disrupting daily operations of the District will receive Leave without Pay,” the email read. “All absences of this nature must be reported as code 043 Leave Without Pay. Use of any other leave code must be approved by your supervisor prior to the absence … Employees not reporting for work, not crossing picket lines to report to work or refusing to perform assigned duties will receive leave without pay and/or discipline up to and including termination. “
D11 also discouraged employees from supporting striking teachers. “In addition, it is important to avoid giving the appearance of sympathy and support to striking employees (i.e. providing coffee and doughnuts, allowing use of school phones or facilities, etc.),” read the email. “Appropriate disciplinary action (including termination) may be taken against employees who, by their actions, disrupt the regular operation of the school system.”
In response, CSEA sent out its own email to members. “Tonight, D11 sent yet another email attempting to intimidate us out of a legal strike,” read the CSEA email. “In addition, they crafted an attack on doughnuts and coffee. Why do doughnuts and coffee scare them? It means solidarity, the one thing bullies fear most. We have navigated all the hoops to make sure this strike is reasonably protected by the Protection of Public Workers Act (PROPWA). As we expected, the district is using Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) to divide us. We are not going to let that happen. These communications to staff show the district’s true colors. They are driven by anger, fear, and a desire to destroy public education. We are driven by a desire to provide the best education possible to our community. Over the past year, this school board consistently ignored teachers’ voices, culminating in the severing of our Master Agreement. This goes along with the board’s desire to remove rights from students and staff alike all in the name of political clout. This board and superintendent will continue to weaken workers’ rights and intimidate us until we stand up. This strike was never about compensation. It’s about human dignity. It’s about standing up to bullies. It’s about returning workplace rights to the most important laborers in our community, teachers! This is not a stunt that a field trip can fix. Giving teachers a voice in their profession will allow them to create the best learning environments for D11 students.”
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