ProComp History
The Professional Compensation System for Teachers is a key milestone in a process that began in 1999. It was then that the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and the Denver Public Schools reached impasse during collective bargaining over a proposal to tie compensation to student academic growth.
The DPS and DCTA compromised and created the Pay for Performance Pilot, which studied the relationship between teaching, assessing growth in student learning and teacher compensation. A Design Team of two teachers and two administrators was charged with planning, implementing and evaluating the pilot.
The compromise also called for a study which was conducted by the Community Training and Assistance Center of Boston. As a result of the initial findings of that study, DPS and DCTA decided that a new teacher compensation agreement could not be based on student objectives alone.
In 2001, the district and the association formed the Joint Task Force on Teacher Compensation. The task force's charge was to design a new comprehensive pay system for teachers based, in part, on the insights and learnings from the Design Team managing the pilot as well as the CTAC research study.
The Task Force was charged with developing an equitable and affordable salary system for teachers based, in part, on the academic achievement of students. It was composed of teachers, principals, central office administrators and community members selected by Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.
Their recommendations were shared with teachers and administrators in the form of draft recommendations in the Spring of 2003. Final recommendations were incorporated into an overall plan that was submitted to the Board of Education and members of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association in early 2004. The final plan which was named the Professional Compensation Plan for Teachers, or ProComp, was approved by the DPS Board in February and DCTA members accepted the plan in March 2004.
The ProComp Salary System went into effect in January 2006 after Denver voters approved a $25 million mill levy to fund the compensation plan.
At the end of the second opt in window on March 31, 2006, nearly 1,200 educators had joined ProComp.
Here are links to additional information that will enhance your knowledge of ProComp history:
Financial Details (November 2003)
Conceptual Brochure (April 2003)
Video (April 2003)