{"id":22370,"date":"2025-05-09T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/breach-of-trust-in-school-district-salary-decision\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T11:00:00","slug":"breach-of-trust-in-school-district-salary-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/breach-of-trust-in-school-district-salary-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Breach of trust in school district salary decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=3ba4ce41-a358-5d9b-b360-ebd942a1f4df&#038;function=cover&#038;type=preview&#038;source=false&#038;width=2000\" width=\"1680\" height=\"958\" alt=\"\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I\u2019m writing to voice concern over the Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1\u2019s recent decision to exclude teachers from a cost-of-living adjustment, citing the mill levy as justification. This explanation raises serious questions about the integrity of that funding\u2019s use.<\/p>\n<p>When taxpayers approved the mill levy, it was presented as a means to supplement teacher salaries \u2013 not to replace general funding obligations. If it\u2019s now being used to offset district responsibilities rather than enhance teacher pay, this constitutes a breach of public trust. Voters deserve transparency and follow-through on the promises made.<\/p>\n<p>We know that excellent teachers are the foundation of student achievement. Their expertise directly influences learning outcomes. Equitable compensation is essential to attract and retain high-quality educators. Neglecting to adjust teacher salaries accordingly undermines our commitment to student success.<\/p>\n<p>Coaches, too, play a vital role in student development and deserve equitable treatment in salary decisions. Why are their salaries stagnant on this salary schedule?<\/p>\n<p>I commend board members Mike Lynch and Paul Beckler for voting against this misguided salary schedule. Their actions show a commitment to accountability and student success.<\/p>\n<p>As a community, we must insist that our financial decisions reflect the values we claim to uphold \u2013 and that we honor the commitments made to both educators and voters.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Laura DeWitt<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-189dfe80fdb4b4995c0db342f68134bc\">Cortez<\/em><\/p>\n<p>:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m writing to voice concern over the Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1\u2019s recent decision to exclude teachers from a cost-of-living adjustment, citing the mill levy as justification. This explanation raises serious questions about the integrity of that funding\u2019s use. When taxpayers approved the mill levy, it was presented as a means to supplement teacher salaries [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[125],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-newsletter-opinion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22370"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}