In the same week he won a key procedural victory over the Adams 14 School District, University Prep CEO David Singer was recognized with a 2023 "Changemaker Award" from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
With so much attention now focused on the Denver school board, Boardhawk is providing this nuts-and-bolts primer on the board for people who might be new to issues of Denver Public School governance.
“The board is making decisions without us,” Claudia Carrillo said in an interview after her daughter and son testified during a three-hour public comment session about how their education has been harmed. “It’s like they are setting us up to fail,” she said.
“I can promise you that I have done more to keep kids of color out of trouble, even when a school has wanted me to write them up with a citation. I know the potential impact this could have on their lives."
Auon'tai Anderson was in elementary school when Manual was closed, and Marrero was in his early 20s on the East Coast. They would be well advised to read some source documents about Manual’s closure before making ill-informed statements.
None of us are arguing for "throwing children away," as certain board members have claimed, yet the current discipline matrix treats everyone as expendable.
I know what it is like to teach in our classrooms, to lead in our schools, and to support principals as a supervisor, coach and mentor. Doing those things brings me great joy. I also know what it is like to stand outside of the school where my two children are trapped because a shooting has occurred.
This summer, we will mark a significant milestone for education here in Denver. Rocky Mountain Prep and STRIVE Prep will unite to become the first cradle-to-college network in Denver, offering students educational support from 12 weeks old through 12th grade.
Chalkbeat has an excellent update on the Know Justice Know Peace podcast dispute, after senior reporter Melanie Asmar viewed video of an August meeting...
A divided Denver Public Schools Board of Education Thursday restored some of the autonomy to 52 innovation schools it had stripped away in an overly-hasty move last March.
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.
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.
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.
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