Commentary
In this inaugural piece by new Boardhawk columnist Alexis Menocal Harrigan, she argues that the Denver school board’s foot-dragging on drawing new director district essentially disenfranchises some voters.
Last Thursday’s unfortunate action by the holdover board members delays the return of meaningful accountability to the leadership of DPS. And, as usual, it is the city’s children who will pay the price.
What does Denver Public Schools tell us, in light of the achievement scores from year one? Has any district leader involved in the design and implementation come forth to acknowledge the bad news?
While it’s not unusual for newly elected officials to want to make a mark, in this case doing so is essential to begin restoring confidence in a school district that has lost the trust of its community.
“Mental health” counselors intend to alleviate the “trauma” students encounter in their daily lives. While the intention is noble, the practice is varied, with most students quickly realizing the power of victimhood in our society.
Educators should come together to solve issues for students. Currently, DPS leans on investigation rather than collaboration. This is not good for our students.
While the new board may remain deeply divided with the new board members in the minority, the momentum towards having a new board majority and agenda is strong and growing. The magnitude and pace of the board’s new agenda will depend entirely on who leads the board.
It has been a rough two years for DPS, led by an inept and dysfunctional school board that could not get out of its own way. The three new members who will be joining the board later this month – Kimberlee Sia, Marlene De La Rosa, and John Youngquist – bring a wealth of relevant experience and steady hands to a thankless job.
These two evaluations are starkly different for an obvious reason: The majority of the 2020 board was eager to nudge Cordova out the door. The current board seems desperate to hang onto Marrero, twice bestowing raises and contract extensions upon him for no apparent reason.
I have a lot of hope for the future. I know that my role is more than teaching the academic skills needed for kindergarten. It is teaching them how to have a voice and communicate their needs in appropriate ways to other kids and adults.
Denver school consolidation: Facts and opportunities, not blame
From Brian Eschbacher: My goal with this post is to assert a set of facts and opportunities in the hopes it reduces finger-pointing and aligns us all towards making school consolidation decisions as supportive as possible for our students and community. I served as the Executive Director of Planning & Enrollment for DPS from 2011 through 2018, and have created long-term enrollment plans and analyses in more than 20 cities across the country since leaving DPS in 2018.