As we enter a new moment in Denver Public Schools governance, I intend to remain hopeful that the bumpy days of the past several years could be behind us. I will observe the new board carefully (the name Boardhawk remains relevant), and with respect and goodwill.
Yet I’d be foolishly naïve if I were pretend that the ghosts of the recent past don’t threaten to haunt the board and its three new members. There has been a lot of acrimony, pettiness, and ideologically rooted foolishness that has hampered the board and district’s progress in recent years.
Here, then are a few hopes and worries I carry in my mind as the new DPS board settles in.
Hope: That in her new term as board President, Xóchitl Gaytán remains true to the words she spoke Tuesday night:
“I do want to commit to every single one of you, that you all all have an equal voice on this board, and that we will move in line in a very respectful and professional manner with each other and support each other.”
That would be a positive change in direction. In her first term in president, 2021-23, Gaytán was thrown into the deep end with no preparation, and struggled in her role. She also was in the center of some of the most disheartening and unprofessional interpersonal conflicts that divided the board. She now has significant experience as president, and here is hoping she leads with an open mind and a gentle but firm hand.
Worry: On October 29, just five weeks ago, upon receiving the investigative report leading up to the censure of board member John Youngquist for alleged racial bias and insensitivity to senior DPS staff of color, Gaytán said the following:
…my lens in which I see the world is that of a Latina-Mexicana having lived the undocumented experience, the sensitivities that I have due to the race dynamics that I experienced my whole life, what it feels like to live with internalized oppression due to the racism, having to live up to standards of whiteness. And so that is the lens in which I see and am reviewing this report and the findings.
I believe that white people never learn, never learn, never had to, never will have to, unless they choose to bear witness to the pain that people of color deal with due to racism, biases, micro-aggressions that impact us, and I think the white fragility…it’s peaked up again. And the slightest challenge around these things that people of color bring up, we will see that, and we’re seeing that now. We’re experiencing it.
Rarely do we see white people having to be accountable to this pain that they’ve caused us and that they push off the accountability around these issues, and so I’m seeing that play out here in the findings of the report, and it’s rather rather disappointing to see the pain that we’re all experiencing, especially the employees that had to be interviewed in this report.
Those are hardly the words of someone who wants to be a unifying force as board president, even if there is some truth in those words. Gross generalizations and lumping large groups of people together as a monolith are what President Trump does. Don’t be like him.
Please, President Gaytán, do not lead in this manner.
Hope: That the three new board members, D.J. Torres, Monica Hunter, and Amy Klein Molk, come to the table with open minds and no preconceived notions, and serve with humility and open ears and hearts. This includes respecting the semi-autonomy of innovation schools, the one remaining innovation zone, and charter schools.
Worry: That the new board members will feel some sense of obligation to the Denver Classroom Teachers Association and will be hesitant to cast any votes of which the DCTA might disapprove. That’s not to suggest that the DCTA’s ideas are all bad, or that its intentions are in any way malign. But it is a membership organization that exists to push the interests of its members. These interests do not always align with what is best for students.
Hope: That this board will operate as a critical friend of Superintendent Alex Marrero, not his lap dog. It is frequently said that the superintendent is the board’s sole employee. The board needs to act like a firm, fair manager, not a cheerleading squad.
Worry: Immediately after taking that gavel Tuesday, Gaytán said “I think Dr. Marrero is in for some good times over the next couple of years.” Those are hardly the sentiments of a president who takes one of her primary responsibilities seriously.
