Commentary

The school board might close three severely under-enrolled schools, and members are getting along, but they continue a drive toward less transparency.

The DPS board and leadership seem more interested in imposing their will and reining in innovative practices than in focusing on what we at Beacon Network Schools are doing to serve our students.

The simple, straightforward Denver Public Schools Debt Clock website, debuting today, serves as a stark reminder that postponing important decisions for political reasons can be costly -– literally as well as figuratively.

With Denver Public Schools innovation plan renewals coming up for votes over the next few months, we’ll be able to see in real time just how badly the school board has, with its meddling, damaged the concept of innovation.

Students, namely Black boys, are significantly more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college if they have a Black man as a teacher in elementary school. Black boys improve standardized test scores when they have Black men as teachers. Simply put, Black boys – and students more broadly – benefit from having Black men in the classroom.

Last week I came across the latest example of at least one Denver’s school board member focusing on the trivial in place of substance, while simultaneously trying to use board power to breathe down the neck of innovation schools.

We love and support our students, and we encourage their interests and needs.

The look and function of this space truly is the future, and is what we can expect to see more in schools going forward.

Here’s hoping that 2023 shows at least some modest improvement in governance and administrative performance. Either way, three of seven seats on the board are up for election in November so the voters can exert influence, if they bother to get engaged.

Denver Public Schools recently provided a high-profile example of what not to do when it comes to unavoidable school closures.

State Board of Education member Lisa Escárcega reflects on the fraught process involved in getting new state social studies standards adopted.

This is no fly-by-night research, led by ideologically-driven researchers. These are serious academic researchers, conducting rigorous studies. Their findings paint a far different picture than reform critics, some of whom serve on the Denver school board, want you to see.

The reality here in Denver is that the reformers over the decades have been varied in their outlooks, and have spanned all parts of the educational system. They have been teachers (sometimes even teacher union leaders), principals, central office administrators, and a series of three superintendents.

The conversation we urgently need to have is one focused on quality rather than governance type. Do all of our students have access to the high-quality public school options they deserve?

Individuals and groups on both sides of the Denver education ideological divide need to join forces to deliver a clear message to all board members, including those not up for reelection. It’s a simple message: This is unacceptable. You are embarrassing us. You are poorly serving our children. Get to work on what matters.