Denver Public Schools workers have a minimum wage of $12 an hour as of Tuesday. DPS says the move will affect about 1,700 employees including paraprofessionals, food service workers and custodians. Some of them made just over $9 an hour, so for them the announcement means a 33 percent pay increase, the district says.
The move was made possible by more than $20 million in savings from a reduction in employee contributions to the state's Public Employees' Retirement Association. Legislation signed into law this year reduced the amount Denver school employees contribute to the state's retirement system so that it aligns with what other Colorado districts pay.
