Quickhits

A long, balanced article from Pro Publica and The New Yorker illustrates how the pandemic is hurting Black and Hispanic students far more than whites.

It’s hard to imagine school districts and systems returning to the semi-functional ‘normal’ that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. So let’s seize the moment and make a great leap forward. 

The Denver school board voted 6-1 Thursday to allow its principals to unionize. The Denver School Leaders Association will have the right to bargain collectively with the district for wages and working conditions.

The “Nice White Parents” podcast tells truths that will make you cringe.

Van Schoales, president of education advocacy group A+ Colorado, calls out the Denver school board for its recent letter to the community criticizing parent-organized “pandemic pods” for learning.

Colorado Public Radio’s website has a long story this morning based on a review of school district teacher surveys. Teachers are anxious and in some cases feel as though their input was overlooked, or collected too late.

Amid the muddle messaging around reopening schools, teachers unions across the country are often proving inflexible in their approach, acting more as obstacles than thought partners, Rick Hess argues in a well-reasoned column. 

Denver Public Schools today joined several other large metro are districts and decided not to open its schools to in-person learning through at least Oct. 16.

Today’s bargaining session between DPS and its teachers union will be streamed live, for those who like to observe sausage-making.

The vote to remove police officers from Denver Public Schools was unanimous, but opinion in the principal ranks is sharply divided.