Former Tattered Cover CEO Kwame Spearman Wednesday unveiled a plan he said would help the Denver Public Schools retain teachers — which the school board candidate calls the biggest threat to the city’s educational future.

Dubbing his plan the “5280 Plan,” Spearman — who is among the candidates running  for the district’s at-large seat — said his proposal outlines eight commitments, notably guaranteeing that teachers in Denver will get paid the highest wage in the region.

To accomplish that, Spearman proposes a city-wide ballot initiative to set teachers’ starting wage at $60,000 annually, which will grow by 2% plus inflation over the next five years.

He didn’t specify how he would pay for the higher wages.

Spearman is one of three candidates vying to replace the at-large seat held by Board Vice President Auon’tai Anderson, who earlier decided not to seek reelection and run for Colorado House District 8 instead. The other candidates are John Youngquist, who served as principal at East high School from 2007 to 2012, and Paul Ballenger, a security expert and former Marine.

Spearman, who briefly ran for Denver mayor this year, also vowed to ensure that Denver educators get the “best healthcare” in the region by offering teachers who have been with the district for more than one year with three months of maternity leave and two months of paternity leave. He said he would also fight to allow a spouse to be part of a teacher’s healthcare plan. In addition, he said he would work to add to DPS employees’ healthcare plans subsidized egg freezing, IVF, and fertility benefits.

The candidate said he would also push to provide mortgage down payment assistance for teachers to buy homes. By 2025, he said, DPS will produce a plan, in collaboration with the city and other agencies, to provide subsidized housing for 2,000 teachers and employees.

Spearman went on to promise the “best mental health” support in the region; ensure that teachers’ perspectives become a part of the district’s decision-making; launch coaching and mentorship programs; start a pilot program on “flexible” scheduling to promote “work-life balance;” and, increase diversity representation and emphasize “unconscious bias training.”

“Elevating our educators is about elevating our entire community. The ‘5280 Plan’ is just the beginning,” he said in a statement to The Denver Gazette. “With the collaboration of our city’s educators, especially our educators of color, we will refine, reshape, and reimagine the future of education in Denver.”