Denver teachers will not get a 5.2% cost-of-living raise after the Denver school board voted Tuesday to accept an arbitrator’s decision in a pay dispute between Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.

The dispute centered on a provision in the teachers union contract that said if Colorado lawmakers boosted funding to DPS by reducing the budget stabilization factor, Denver teachers could get bigger cost-of-living raises. Those raises would have been 5.2% this year, the same cost-of-living raise given to the superintendent and other district administrators.

Although state lawmakers got rid of the budget stabilization factor altogether, ensuring the state will no longer withhold money from K-12 schools, DPS said it didn’t have enough money to cover a 5.2% cost-of-living raise for teachers on top of the step-and-lane raises that most receive each year for their experience and education. Instead, the district gave teachers a 2.06% cost-of-living raise that, coupled with step-and-lane increases, equaled 5.2%.

The teachers union disagreed with that decision, and the case ended up before an arbitrator. The district and the union confirmed that the arbitrator sided with DPS last month.

The Denver school board upheld the arbitrator’s decision in a 4-3 vote.

Scott Esserman was one of four board members who voted in favor of the arbitrator’s decision. A former teacher, he said that he supports educators but that voters elected him to ensure the district is financially viable — a responsibility he said is even more important amid uncertainty about potential federal education funding cuts.

“I believe it is first and foremost our responsibility to ensure the district continues to operate in a fiscally responsible manner,” Esserman said.

Board Vice President Marlene De La Rosa and board members Kimberlee Sia and John Youngquist joined Esserman in voting to accept the arbitrator’s decision. Board President Carrie Olson and board members Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán and Michelle Quattlebaum voted against the arbitrator’s decision.

Chalkbeat Colorado is a nonprofit news organization covering education issues.