(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Colorado Springs School District 11 (D11) educators’ strike is currently underway on Wednesday morning, Oct. 8.

The strike comes as the Colorado Springs Education Association (CSEA) union is seeking the restoration of a 56-year-old Master Agreement between educators and the district, which the D11 School Board dissolved in a 7-1 vote in December 2024.

The D11 board says that CSEA represents about half of the district’s teachers, and expects roughly a third of the teaching staff to join the strike.

“We don’t know why they’re striking… It can’t be about pay because they got a 10% raise. Teachers got a 10% raise last spring for this upcoming school year,” said Jill Haffley, Vice President of the Board. “It can’t be about benefits, because they have the best benefits in the city. It can’t be about planning time, duty-free lunches, those sorts of things, because we guaranteed those.”

“We are united with parents, families, and community members who want to keep politics out of our classrooms and keep great teachers in them. This fight is bigger than one contract; it’s about protecting public education itself,” said CSEA President Kevin Coughlin in a statement in September. “What happens in Colorado Springs will set a precedent for the rest of the state: if extremists succeed here, they won’t stop in D11. They’ll take aim at other local unions, other districts, and the very foundation of public education across Colorado.”