We asked Denver Classroom Teachers Association President Rob Gould, and Vernon Jones, a community advocate and executive director of FaithBridge, onto the show to discuss the mill levy, reasons voters should approve it, and to answer some questions about why maybe some voters should be skeptical that it’s a good idea. We also discussed board and district leadership and whether there need to be changes.
It is time for the board to call for new leadership of the body. A new officer election would give members an opportunity to reconsider that leadership and publicly articulate the expectations they have of those serving as president, vice president, and other offices.
Recently, I’ve heard people question whether Denver should make another investment in our schools because of the disagreements and challenges happening among adults in the district. As a student, that is hard for me to understand. Whatever concerns adults have about leadership, governance, or accountability, taking investment away from students because of adult behavior feels like punishing us for decisions we did not make.
The Denver school board on Thursday, October 8, censured Director Monica Hunter for allegedly making anti-Semitic statements about a fellow board member. The censure followed a quick investigation by an outside party, and while the findings of the investigation were inconclusive, the board decided on a 4-2 vote that there was enough evidence to merit the censure. Potential conflicts of interest with Hunter’s employment also contributed to the decision to censure her. In this episode, co-hosts Alexis Menocal Harrigan and Alan Gottlieb discuss the fallout.
Maybe it is time for all of us to say NO to the board’s request for a $44 million mill levy tax increase. I am torn. Denver’s teachers need to be paid more. But I do not see how Denver will ever do better by most of its students without a clear plan, transparency, honest discussion of progress, and real accountability for student success — none of which this board has offered.
Alleged antisemitic statements by Denver school board member Monica Hunter aimed at her colleague Amy Klein Molk are problematic. Equally troubling, however, is why the superintendent and board president sat on them for nine months until it became politically expedient to release them. In this episode, co-hosts Alexis Menocal Harrigan and Alan Gottlieb discuss whether board relationships and trust in board President Xóchitl Gaytán and Superintendent Alex Marrero are irreparably damaged, and if so, what should happen as a result.
The Denver school board on Thursday, Sept. 17 voted unanimously to launch an investigation into allegations that board Director Monica Hunter made anti-semitic comments about fellow board member Amy Klein Molk, who is Jewish. In this episode, co-hosts Alexis Menocal Harrigan and Alan Gottlieb discuss the meeting’s bizarre twists and turns, and impacts on Denver Public Schools students, with Nicholas Hernández, executive director of the advocacy group Transform Education Now.
At the September 17 Denver Public Schools Board of Education public comment session, 14 people addressed the board and community about allegations leveled against two board members by the board President Xóchitl Gaytán, with an assist from Superintendent Alex Marrero. Two comments stood out, so we are publishing them here.
In its 2024–25 State of Charter Schools Report, the Colorado Department of Education concluded that charter schools had lower chronic absenteeism rates than non-charter schools in each of the previous three years.
In this episode, cohosts Alexis Menocal Harrigan and Alan Gottlieb discuss the latest Denver school board imbroglio, including potentially serious allegations, and its implications for Colorado’s largest school district.
Short of outright corruption, we should always vote in favor of DPS bonds and mill levies, especially when those ballot initiatives do not increase taxes, as has been the case the last several election cycles.
Consider the message sent by spending almost $100,000 to deconstruct the egalitarian philosophy that drove Denver Public Schools management for more than a decade. The superintendent’s corner office with a bank of windows looking over downtown and the soundproofing all but scream: ”Stay away. I have no time for the likes of you. And what happens behind that door is none of your damned business.”
The 10.7 percentage-point increase in Rocky Mountain Prep family voting turnout since the 2019 election was four times the growth of the city average.
What we haven’t acknowledged is that the pain that police officers felt in schools impacted them in negative ways just like everyone else. Now, add power to the equation. A scorned police officer using real, possibly negative school experiences as a foundation. That’s a scary concept.
In my opinion, East is ground zero for the most egregious failure of the discipline matrix. The new matrix’s consequences for violence in schools are inadequate.
I found community in my college at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and in my first career opportunity. And I have found it again through Ednium.
Why we don’t extend the school year by five weeks and make those last five weeks lower pressure and more fun for both students and teachers?
When I left for college, I knew I wanted to do something to help my community and ensure that money stayed in the neighborhood. But what I thought would be a law degree, turned into me running the stucco business with my dad.
This fall’s superintendent evaluation will be a waste of everyone’s time. But it’s not too soon to start searching for a reputable, national organization to conduct a 360 evaluation of Superintendent Alex Marrero.
I’m going to suggest three ideas to improve outcomes for schools, the problem we are solving for, associated myths, associated facts, the theory of change, the change idea, and the level of spice I think it might contain.
Boardhawk podcast season 2, episode 27: DCTA President Rob Gould and community leader Vernon Jones Jr. on the upcoming mill levy election, board and district leadership, and what voters should make of it all
We asked Denver Classroom Teachers Association President Rob Gould, and Vernon Jones, a community advocate and executive director of FaithBridge, onto the show to discuss the mill levy, reasons voters should approve it, and to answer some questions about why maybe some voters should be skeptical that it’s a good idea. We also discussed board and district leadership and whether there need to be changes.