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Denver teachers strike: Day 2

DPS and the DCTA resumed negotiations Tuesday morning. The hope is to strike a deal to avoid strike day three.

DENVER — Feb. 12 - 10:43 p.m. - THE LATEST

After four more hours of closed door talks, the Denver Classroom Teachers Association returned to the negotiating table alongside DPS. DCTA lead negotiator Rob Gould says the union has been "really pouring" over the latest proposal to present to the district. Superintendent Cordova requested time to look over the proposal. Both sides then agreed to call it a night and will plan to continue negotiations on Wednesday. 

Feb. 12 - 7:57 p.m.

Both DPS and DCTA are in caucus once more. Each side has been in separate bargaining rooms for the last hour and a half discussing the latest proposal. Negotiations were initially expected to last until 8 p.m., but could now go well into the evening. 

As evidenced by the photo below, the scene at Denver Central Library has slowed down quite a bit since earlier in the day on Tuesday. 

Feb. 12 - 5:55 p.m. -

9NEWS reporter Ryan Haarer tweeted out the latest pay scale proposal by Denver Public Schools: 

Feb. 12 - 5:15 p.m. 

Both sides have reconvened as Denver Public Schools presents another counterproposal to an earlier proposal from the DCTA. 

For most of Tuesday's negotiations, the union and the district have been in caucus, which means they were upstairs in separate rooms discussing the latest proposals. 

Feb. 12 - 2:50 p.m. -

Negotiating teams from the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and Denver Public Schools came back together to discuss a counterproposal from the DCTA. 

These negotiations resumed more than 3 hours after the teams had gone to separate rooms for private discussion. 

Feb. 12 - 1:20 p.m.

It looks like the mayor's office is wading tentatively into the dispute between the union and the district, as Mayor Michael Hancock's office has provided pizza to teachers, according to the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.

Negotiations remain ongoing.

Feb. 12 - 12:40 p.m.

As Denver teachers and the district worked to find a solution in separate rooms, teachers determined their plans to picket for day three of the strike. 

Feb. 12 - 11:54 a.m.

Hundreds of teachers gathered in front of East High School. They plan to march down East Colfax Avenue to Civic Center Park. 

Feb. 12 - 11:41 a.m.

As negotiations between Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association continues, video from 9NEWS Viewer Idalia Jimenez showed an empty classroom inside of East High School. 

9NEWS does not yet have exact figures for how many students did not come to class on Tuesday. 

Feb. 12 - 11:10 a.m.

Negotiations are ongoing...

Feb. 12 - 10:30 a.m.

Negotiations have restarted between the district and the union in the basement of the Denver Central Library off 14th Avenue. They are scheduled to go until 8 p.m. tonight, but if a deal is reached sooner, obviously those negotiations would be cut short.

The district and the union are feuding over the ProComp portion of their contract, where teachers are demanding higher base pay and the elimination of most of the incentive pay tied to teachers, while the district says its hands are tied when it comes to ProComp. 

The previous round of negotiations - which happened on Saturday - turned sour after representatives from the Denver Classroom Teachers Association said Denver Public Schools reps were making offers that would only make things worse for teachers.

DPS then ceremoniously returned to the bargaining table on Sunday, despite the union claiming no bargaining was scheduled until Tuesday.

Feb. 12 - 9:50 a.m.

Just minutes before DPS and DCTA go back to the negotiating table for the next 10 hours (assuming they don't reach a deal before the end of that time), 9NEWS has received multiple reports of walkouts at some high schools in the district.

Many students at North High, maybe half an hour after we reported they were conducting a sit-in in support of their teachers, have walked off campus, according to 9NEWS anchor Kyle Clark.

A Colorado Avalanche writer reached out to 9NEWS on Twitter to report that students at Montbello High were also walking out of their classes. 

Feb. 12 - 9:10 a.m.

9NEWS anchor Kyle Clark received images of a student sit-in at North High School during the teachers strike on Tuesday.

Feb. 12 - 8:50 a.m.

Negotiations are still set to begin again at 10 a.m. and go through 8 p.m. this evening. Superintendent Susana Cordova said at a press conference on Monday that both sides were moving closer and closer to a deal. 

Here's the full Denver Classroom Teachers Association schedule for Tuesday:

6:30 - 9 a.m. – Educators picket at schools across Denver.
10 a.m. - 8 p.m. –  Denver educators will stand in solidarity with their bargaining team as they sit back down at the table with DPS at Denver Central Library.
10 a.m. - Noon – Educators and community members convene at East High School to picket.
12:30 p.m. – March from East High School to Civic Center Park.
1 p.m. – Rally and march at Civic Center Park and Denver Central Library with faith, community, student and educator leader speakers.

Feb. 12 - 8:30 a.m.

Feb. 12 - 8:10 a.m.

Empty parking lot spaces in the student lot at South and East High schools have DPS admitting (for at least East) saying the day is much quieter. Video obtained by 9NEWS on Monday showed students crowding a hallway in East shouting and dancing when they were supposed to be doing classwork. 

Hundreds of students walked out of the school, according to Denver Public Schools, and many didn't return.

Attendance at East "seems" down, DPS said. District staffers also told 9NEWS reporter Liz Kotalik that the video that went around the U.S. of East High on Monday was not descriptive of the day at the school on the whole.

Feb. 12 - 7:30 a.m.

The 1994 strike

This strike is the first for Denver Public Schools in 25 years - since 1994 - that Denver teachers have left work. That strike lasted five days. That first Friday, according to a New York Times report, more than a third of the district's 63,000 students were missing school.

The 1994 strike was also the first in 25 years at the time. DPS' 107 schools were without about 2,200 teachers, forcing the district to call in 1,200 substitutes and 1,500 regulars to cross picket lines and assist with classes.

Back then, Democratic Gov. Roy Romer asked a court to force the teachers back to work but was rebuffed - something current Democratic Gov. Jared Polis could still do. After that first Friday, according to the Times, Romer brought both sides to the negotiation table and hammered out a deal.

Teachers got a 2.15 percent pay increase for the first year but had their work year lengthened by 10 days to 190, the Times reported. After the first year, salaries had to be renegotiated. At the time, teachers wanted an $8 million, two-year pay package based on seniority. The contract they got amounted to $5.1 million.

Feb. 12 - 7:15 a.m.

Teachers are outside of East High, many donned in the "#RedForEd" red as they pace the sidewalk in front of the school. 

Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association are set to return to the bargaining table Tuesday morning on what will be the second day of a teacher strike in the city. 

Before that, DPS teachers will once again spend the morning picketing at schools across Denver. More than 2,600 teachers called out of work on Monday to take part in the first DPS teacher strike in 25 years. DCTA is reporting over 3,600 teachers to have walked off their jobs on Monday.

Some students joined the strike in solidarity and attended an afternoon rally at the State Capitol where union leaders urged community members to contact the district and demand they fund DCTA's proposal for higher wages. 

RELATED:  Your take on the DPS teachers strike: Share comments, photos and videos with 9NEWS

Despite seeing a wide range of situations at schools around Denver on Monday, DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova said all schools will remain open on Tuesday. 

"Overall, it was not a normal school day, but we worked hard to ensure students were cared for and having as good of a school day as we could provide," Cordova said on Monday night. 

Video from inside East High School showed students crowding the hallway and listening to music -- something they described as a "party," while families at Centennial Elementary School reported a quiet, almost mundane school day.

The Denver Classroom Teachers Association and the district have been in talks over the ProComp portion of their contract for the last 15 months. The ProComp deals with compensation and the union has asked that the money DPS is offering to give them to base pay instead of incentive pay, which the district has continued to offer.  

Both sides are set to meet in the basement of the Denver Public Library starting at 10 a.m. 9NEWS will continue to provide updates on the strike and developments with negotiations throughout the day Tuesday. 

WATCH BELOW: Teachers march, rally at Civic Center Park on second day of strike

Monday's coverage: 

RELATED: Denver teachers strike: Day 1

RELATED: Suburban districts monitor subs during DPS strike

RELATED: Denver teachers strike: What is ProComp (and why does it matter)?

RELATED: Lesson plans for DPS students on first day of teachers strike included 90 minutes of exercise, SAT prep

RELATED: Lawsuit filed against DPS alleges special-needs students 'extremely impacted' by teacher strike

RELATED: Hundreds of students walk out of East High; Video shows students crowding hallways

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