Commentary

The stakes in the Denver Public School board elections have never been higher. he board must move from internal conflict and self-directed focus to a dedicated focus on the students.

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.

We, the passionate educators at American Indian Academy of Denver, are on a mission to help our children reclaim the genius of our ancestors. We’re in our second year as a charter school in the Denver Public Schools. By building a school of mirrors and windows we want our Indigenous students to be able to

DPS has the opportunity to emerge from the pandemic stronger and better. But it will require, in my view at least, four important changes by board leadership: An increased focus on academics; ending the dysfunction and infighting that is impeding the ability of the district to plan and support educators in the classroom; listening to teachers; and strengthening a balanced commitment to both student mental health and academic progress and skills acquisition.  

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.

The anti-charter positions of several board members clash with the idea of equity. There are charter schools in our district that have positive outcomes for our students of color, multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and students experiencing poverty. Why should we restrict student access to these schools? 

My two boys have routinely been wearing their masks because 18 months ago, we started talking about how we can care for other people, particularly when we really don’t have any idea of what is going on in their lives, with their bodies, or in their homes.

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.

It is frustrating when I see disinformation about charter schools. Some people with their own agendas seek to deny the role charters play as quite often the best option for a lot of us students of color to get a good education.