Those who have closely observed teachers unions in recent years will know that, where possible, union leaders are beginning to strike like it’s a competitive sport.
Since late last year, the Colorado Springs Education Association (CSEA) has been showing everyone exactly how not to handle a labor dispute.
In December 2024, the Colorado Springs School District 11 (D11) school board voted not to renew its union contract with the teachers union after the current agreement expires at the end of the present school year. Citing its commitment to improving student outcomes and proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars, the board’s decision aligned D11 with every other school district in the Colorado Springs/El Paso County area.
Like its neighboring districts, D11 will now utilize a teacher handbook to guide its employment relations with educators, rather than a binding collective bargaining agreement negotiated with representatives of CSEA, an affiliate of the Colorado Education Association (CEA) and the National Education Association (NEA).
Since school districts in Colorado aren’t required to engage in collective bargaining, D11’s decision is entirely the board’s prerogative and, legally speaking, there really should be no more to the story.
However, government unions like CSEA are not known to go down quietly, especially when their money and power is at risk.
CSEA leaders did nothing about the board’s vote for months. Then suddenly, they announced in May that the union will be planning a “one-day strike” in the fall of 2025, at the start of the next school year.
Freedom Foundation also received information directly from teachers in the district, relaying that CSEA then handed out ballots printed out on half-sheets of paper, and gave members four days to pick up their ballots, vote and return them to a ‘secure’ voting box that was a cardboard box anyone could have tampered with.
Like most internal union matters, the results of CSEA’s strike vote aren’t publicly available, meaning the only source of information comes from the claims of union leaders themselves.
For their part, CSEA leaders have claimed that 91 percent of its members support the strike—though they also claim the strike is to protest the D11 school board breaking labor law, while failing to explain precisely which law the board has supposedly broken.
The reason? There isn’t one. CSEA’s latest actions are likely nothing more than a thinly veiled coercion tactic to stir up controversy and reclaim the power that union leaders are at risk of losing.
It’s not the first time CSEA has caused a scene attempting to place union interests above D11’s students and their families.
Here’s the kicker: On average in Colorado, one in five teachers change districts every year, which means 20 percent of those who supposedly voted for the strike won’t even be around to deal with the consequences.
But the teachers who do stay will be the ones footing the bill — in stress, pay and broken trust with their students and schools.
CSEA’s strike spectacle isn’t about working conditions. It’s not about pay. It’s about union leaders panicking over losing their long-held access to power. In fact, though D11 officials have expressed their desire to voluntarily continue working with and receiving feedback from CSEA on the district’s newly developed teacher handbook, CSEA leaders have made it abundantly clear that they’re not interested in such collaborative problem-solving at all. In reality, the only thing they want is the legally binding power to speak for all D11 teachers.
When the D11 school board decided to cut ties with CSEA last year, the union responded with falsehoods and shallow demonstrations. CSEA’s planned “one-day strike” is now just the latest act in the show.
CSEA leaders may claim to protect student and educator interests, yet their actions show they care only about keeping their hand on the wheel. And they’ll take whatever measures are necessary to do so.
