To ensure our democracy flourishes and captures the aspirations of all its citizens, we advocate an audacious yet informed step: Allow our 16 and 17-year-olds to cast their votes in Denver Public Schools elections.
The Denver Education Vision Project left us with a sense of fulfillment, knowing that we were part of an initiative that truly cared about the community it was serving
For a district seemingly obsessed with power and control at the higher echelons, the safety plan is rather vague. There are no timelines for implementation or completion, no specific tasks to key leaders, no cadence of progress updates, no rollout timeline, no KPIs, no specifics on budgeting, and much of the language directs decision-making to principals.
AEA is a cultural summer program that highlights the experiences of Black/African American, Latinx/Indigenous, & Asian American/Pacific Islander families, students, and educators.
This excellent commentary on the illegal Denver school board executive session last March was written by Quentin Young, editor of Colorado Newsline, and first appeared on that website: https://coloradonewsline.com/
Moonshot aims to solve several interconnected problems. We address the achievement gap for students of color, which we believe is driven by the lack of diversity in leadership and the type of learning environments learners can access. Although 75% of students in Denver are students of color, 71% of the teaching force and 60% of school leaders are white.
I frankly am more worried about the state of public education than I was when I made the leap 15 years ago. But I still have hope for public education. Much of that hope lives through resilient students and committed teachers.
Based on my own experience and armed with research, I founded Students Cultivating Dignity (SCD) Enrichment Program in 2018 to support, recruit and retain BIPOC secondary students with gifted and advanced education.
More reversals are sure to come unless school leaders defend and perhaps even expand the policies that have given the city’s most vulnerable students an educational lifeline.
