Denver school board member John Youngquist is alleging that the board violated state open meetings law by misstating the purpose of a recent executive session, and by excluding him from that session because it dealt with a matter he had raised about his compensation.
Commentary
“I don’t believe schools are just places for learning. They’re safe havens for many students who need a break from toxic households or just serve as a place where they can be themselves. A supportive community within a school can make all the difference.”
We’ve been sold college as the only path to social and economic mobility, but when we arrive, we don’t have the tools and knowledge to best navigate it. Was it more important to simply get us to college and not help position us in ways that we could really thrive when we got there?
As political winds shifted over the past five years, critics, including board and district leadership, have pummeled Bennet and Boasberg, calling them, among other things, white supremacists and enablers of racist and oppressive systems. Both men are politically astute, and have chosen not to address those insults directly. This white paper as their oblique way of refuting those unjust and hyperbolic critiques.
One of our big initiatives was aligning as a network on key culture systems. We did a lot of work to reset our culture systems and raise the bar across the school. When you raise the bar for students, they will rise to meet it.
New data has again shown that charter school students are receiving quality opportunities. The Colorado Department of Education recently released its School Performance Framework (SPF) results for 2023-24, providing another fundamental lesson that charter schools are getting it right. Last year, the CREDO report from Stanford University showed that charter students are getting significantly more […]
Women as default parents, and the gender imbalance of women being over-represented in school engagement activities are indicative of a larger systemic failure in how we view the role of men and women in education, child care, and parenting. This isn’t simply a PTO issue.
The SHIFT Chronicles is a new monthly feature dedicated to amplifying student voices, where those most impacted by the public education system share their thoughts, reflections, and experiences. In collaboration with FaithBridge SHIFT fellows, these commentaries offer a genuine glimpse into the challenges students are facing within our city’s schools.
It’s not lost on me that school shootings are a complicated societal issue and that everyone is invested in school safety. I am suggesting, however, that when we have an issue that everyone is invested in solving and we still haven’t solved it, we might want to start thinking about it in a different way.
It is true that DPS students and subgroups of students (low-income students and kids of color) outpaced the state on growth measures in many areas. But at the rate that many DPS students are growing, they will never reach grade-level proficiency. That has profound implications for their futures, and is hardly cause for celebration.
Teaching tomorrow’s voters, today
As someone who teaches U.S. history and emphasizes how the Constitution is a living document, it’s vital that my students understand the election process and how to participate in a way that feels encouraging.