Commentary

The DPS board got back to work with a retreat Monday, and quickly got up to its old, bad tricks as well, violating the spirit if not the letter of Colorado’s open meeting law. 

When you examine the need for school closures in Jefferson County, the first thing that strikes you is the shocking scale of the problem.

Denver Public Schools board Vice President Tay Anderson discusses board relations, the coup that wasn’t, and other issues related to DPS board dysfunction

After last week’s 6-1/2-hour Denver school board meeting featured a couple of cringeworthy interpersonal clashes, I’m sure at least some board members are embarrassed by what the public witnessed. They should be. While the in-fighting rages, work of substance is being neglected.

DPS still has an opportunity to keep this process from devolving into a fiasco, but that will require the district to address the impacts on families who will be directly affected by any school closure.

It is evident there is a gap in arts-based learning models in the Far Northeast, and our no-audition, public charter school model will provide every student with an opportunity to explore and develop their talents, in an area where there’s an urgent need for arts-based learning.

We worry the Denver Public Schools Board of Education won’t see the tremendous value our school will have; instead, we fear our application will be sunk by reductive conversations about declining enrollment and by divisive anti-charter rhetoric.

A lack of clarity on academic goals for Denver Public Schools is emblematic of the district’s and school board’s struggles and strategic incoherence.

I am here because I believe in the promise of KIPP Colorado’s mission and vision. I have deep ambitions for KIPP to provide the best educational outcomes for under-resourced populations; to set the stage and pave the way for what it means to see an educational community thrive with joy, love, identity affirmation and rigor.

This Mental Health Awareness Month we must listen to the stories of young people in Colorado, who, in significant numbers, have been facing a mental health crisis. I know the need for this firsthand because I went through my own mental health struggles in high school.