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Commentary

Schoales: Six likely areas for change with new DPS board

While the new board may remain deeply divided with the new board members in the minority, the momentum towards having a new board majority and agenda is strong and growing.  The magnitude and pace of the board’s new agenda will depend entirely on who leads the board. 

Photo of three newly elected Denver Public Schools board members on election night

After Tuesday, there’s cause for optimism about DPS’s future

It has been a rough two years for DPS, led by an inept and dysfunctional school board that could not get out of its own way. The three new members who will be joining the board later this month – Kimberlee Sia, Marlene De La Rosa, and John Youngquist – bring a wealth of relevant experience and steady hands to a thankless job.

Photo of Former Denver Public Schools Superintendent Susana Cordova and current Superintendent Alex Marrero, each interacting with children

Contrasting Marrero, Cordova evaluations tell quite a story

These two evaluations are starkly different for an obvious reason: The majority of the 2020 board was eager to nudge Cordova out the door. The current board seems desperate to hang onto Marrero, twice bestowing raises and contract extensions upon him for no apparent reason.

Photo of Denver school board with Superintendent Alex Marrero

Trust issues cut both ways in Denver Public Schools

A school board and administration that decides to limit public comment sessions to two hours, that withholds public records, that holds illegal secret meetings, that denies legitimate researchers data because they suspect bias, has become so insular and defensive that it has lost its grip on reality, not to mention the public’s trust.