About Us

The Benefits of Collective Bargaining

Check out our presentation to the board! Watch the recording of the meeting or look at our presentation slideshow. Public comment starts about 30 minutes in, and our presentation starts at 2:45:00. This was our first time being on the school board agenda in over a decade, but it certainly will not be the last. We’ll continue showing up, standing together, and pushing forward until our CBA and our collective voice are fully restored.

What is DCF and Why Should You Join?

Under Colorado state law, local school boards have full control over whether or not they recognize the right of the teacher/staff union to bargain a contract. Over 13 years ago, DCF was a strong local union with a binding contract until DCSD became a target for union busting and a newly elected reformer school board refused to bargain. For the past thirteen years, Douglas County teachers and staff have been working without a contract, and it shows. Salaries have slipped and our students continue to lose talented professionals to surrounding districts with high pay and contract protections.

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AFT Colorado History

AFT Colorado was organized as the Colorado Federation of Teachers, and was chartered October 26, 1946. In the early years there was no collective bargaining for Colorado teachers, but the CFT was effective in gaining improved working conditions for teachers and better learning conditions for students. Along with the Denver Federation of Teachers, CFT proposed statewide tenure laws, teacher certification standards, school district reorganization, and improved school financing.

The Paraprofessional and School-Related Personnel (PSRP) division of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, represents more than 350,000 school support staff in K-12 districts, colleges and universities. Our jobs include office employees, custodians, maintenance workers, bus drivers, instructional paraprofessionals, food service workers, school nurses and health aides, technicians, groundskeepers, secretaries, bookkeepers, mechanics, special education assistants and hundreds of other job titles.

Throughout this century, the AFT has been a major force for preserving and strengthening America's democratic commitment to public education and public service. Desegregating public schools, passing the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act, establishing collective bargaining for teachers and other public employees, and addressing the needs of disadvantaged children are just a few of the causes the AFT has championed. MORE

History of the AFT

Learn the history of the AFT, including the union's founding in Chicago in 1916, its affiliation with the AFL-CIO, its battles for workers and human rights and its continued work to uphold the proud traditions on which the union was created.

AFT Mission Statement

The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do.

About the AFT

Learn more about the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which was founded in 1916 to represent the economic, social and professional interests of classroom teachers and is an affiliated international union of the AFL-CIO.