Alan Gottlieb

I will never forget Dr. Bailey’s dogged persistence advocating for an issue she deeply believed in, and the moral force of not only her arguments, but her mere presence in meetings.

When the new DPS board is sworn in next week, Tay Anderson, without question, will become the most powerful member of that body, and its ideological leader.

Why did people vote this way? Did they like what they saw from the current board, which has had moments of dysfunction and in-fighting, muddled through pandemic disruptions, and drove out a superintendent of color who had been a career district employee?

What’s clear about today’s election is that big money backing various candidates believes the stakes are high. Why else would campaign contributions to Denver candidates directly and through Independent Expenditure Committees this cycle be approaching $2 million, and will perhaps surpass the $2.28 million spent in 2019?

A teachers union-backed Independent Expenditure Committee is going deeply negative in Denver school board races, with misleading claims and glaring factual errors.

From the beginning of school in late August through the end of September, DPS, (like school systems around the country) has experienced a significant spike in violence and drug violations in and around its schools. The Denver school board last year ordered the removal of 18 Denver Police Department School Resource Officers effective this school year.

Latest campaign contribution filings show that the four DCTA-backed candidates have all raised significantly more money than their competitors. And, no surprise: The lion’s share of that money has come from $20,000-plus donations from the DCTA.

Apparently, school performance has become another fact-free zone, where ideology, rumor, and innuendo are more important than evidence. The political right in recent years has mastered this sad and dangerous strategy, but when it comes to testing, the left is showing that two can play that game.

Dear Dr. Marrero, Welcome to Denver and your first day on the job as superintendent of Denver Public Schools. here are several pieces of unsolicited advice.

There are already rumblings of dissatisfaction with the the three finalists to become Denver’s next schools superintendent. But it isn’t exactly a plum job at this moment in time.