We invited Amy on to discuss her very early impressions of board service, policy governance, board-staff relations and intra-board relations, and the most pressing issues facing the district.
Kimberlee Sia was elected to the Denver Public Schools Board of Education in 2023, representing southeast Denver’s District 1. She has two years remaining in her first term. In her career, Sia has been both a teacher and a school leader, so she came to her board service with some subject-matter expertise. She served as board treasurer during her first two years. Sia joined the podcast to discuss her hopes and visions for the next two years, as the board, with three new members, hods its first work session, and a retreat, next week.
Maureen Kelleher is a veteran Chicago education journalist, who now produces Board Rule, a deeply reported, weekly newsletter on Chicago Public Schools and its board. This article is from today’s edition of Board Rule. It focuses on the contentious search for a new CPS superintendent. Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero was one of two finalists for the job before the search process imploded, thanks to the usual craziness of Chicago politics. It’s well worth a read. Boardhawk is reprinting it with Kelleher’s permission.
Marrero and the mess in Chicago: a view from the Windy City Read More »
Former DPS board Vice-President Auon’tai Anderson reached out to Boardhawk editor Alan Gottlieb following two recent podcast episodes that mentioned Anderson’s own censure case while discussing the pending censure of board member John Youngquist. He asked to share his perspective on board censures. What followed was a wide-ranging conversation that should be of interest to listeners, regardless of their perceptions of and feelings about the outspoken former board member.
Four union-backed candidates won convincing victories and incumbents Michelle Quattlebaum and Scott Esserman were routed in their reelection bids. Only Xóchitl Gaytán remains from the deeply dysfunctional board of two years ago.
DPS board election liveblog: A clean sweep for DCTA; 2 incumbents ousted decisively Read More »
The four Denver school board races have drawn more than $1 million in campaign money in a spending sprint to the Nov. 4 election that will determine a board majority for at least the next two years. The single biggest contribution is $600,000 from Denver Families Action to the political committee Better Leaders, Stronger Schools, to support Alex Magaña, Mariana del Hierro, Timiya Jackson and Caron Blanke.
DPS board races top $1 million, including $600,000 from Denver Families Read More »
Hear Kristen Fry’s story of her Kafkaesque reputational execution at the hands of the Denver school board and superintendent.
All 11 candidates for the four Denver Public Schools board seats squared off Tuesday night in a televised debate that generated some rare back-and-forth heat over everything from student achievement to the performance of Superintendent Alex Marrero. With ballots mailed Friday for the Nov. 4 election, a large crowd attended the debate at Regis University
Denver school board candidates clash in lively debate as vote nears Read More »
The races to represent southwest Denver and an open at-large seat present clear choices of views on the value of standardized tests in measuring the achievement gap. The five candidates for the two sets expressed varying opinions at a Sept. 15 forum sponsored by the Denver Democratic Party.
Academic achievement gap key issue in DPS board election, recent candidate forum Read More »
Seven Denver school board candidates – including all three citywide at-large challengers – mostly stuck to general themes Tuesday night about their qualifications and support for students and teachers but many were light on specific strategies to raise achievement.
DPS school board candidates agree on most goals, but not how to achieve them Read More »
