by Ruthy Wexler

Your DPS School Board Having Fun: Left to right: Barbara O’Brien, Lisa Flores, Jennifer Bacon, Allegra “Happy” Haynes, Carrie A. Olson PhD, President Anne Rowe, and Angela Cobian. “We need to find a wonderful leader,” says President Rowe, “to take this district forward” — a goal with which no one disagrees. But the way to that goal is not obvious. Even longtime pro-reform supporter O’Brien admits, “What is hard about this work, is that we can all imagine a great outcome … but we’re not sure how to get there.”

Over his 10-year reign, Denver Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent Tom Boasberg gained national prominence by his zealous implementation of reform educational measures. In recent years, opposition to those measures has grown — which is why, when Boasberg announced on July 17 that he was stepping down, over 22 local groups swung into action and collaborated on a Community Manifesto that, among other items, proclaimed their right to help select the new superintendent.

On July 30, at the first public meeting addressing the “super search,” the seven-member DPS School Board seemed to agree that community input was essential. “We are listening; keep those emails coming,” said new Board member Carrie Olson, as the other six nodded agreement. But their cheerfully united front masked the fact that this Board, with their divergent beliefs, wil

Activist: One of the activists who signed the Community Manifesto and delivered it on July 27 was Kerrie Joy, whose poem about community strength in education elicited cheers. “We are listening,” she proclaimed, “but we will also be heard.”

l soon face the central, inescapable question: Should they choose a candidate who will continue Boasberg’s policies? Or should they choose someone who wants to lead from a different direction?

Reform Or Not Reform: That Is The Question

Denver schools were widely believed to be failing when DPS Superintendent Michael Bennett began radically changing the city’s educational system with reform measures like welcoming charters, closing schools and using high-stakes testing to shape decisions. “We thought we were creating a system that served students first,” recalls Theresa Pena, School Board member from 2003-2011, who has recently written of her disappointment in DPS results.

When Bennett was picked to fill a U.S. Senate seat in 2009, the Board chose Boasberg to continue his policies.

But 10 years later, the main question — have reform policies achieved their stated goal of closing achievement gaps between low-income and more affluent students? — has no clear answer. In a district where students of color comprise almost three-quarters of the population, the answer depends on whom you ask. Observing recent data that shows DPS’s achievement gaps still gaping widely, Pena believes the district hasn’t gone far enough, while grassroots groups like Our Denver Our Schools (ODOS) and Our Denver Our Voices (ODOV) believe DPS resources should now go to improving neighborhood schools. Van Schoales, CEO of the pro-reform group A+ Colorado, says, “Going back to the way things were would be a huge mistake.”

Changing the makeup of the School Board is the only way citizens can affect change. This past election saw two candidates critical of the district’s current strategies, Olson and Jennifer Bacon, win seats on a previously all-reform board.

If You Wanna Be Superintendent …

On August 3, the Board passed a resolution, saying that the search would be internal as well as external (fueling rumors that Susanna Cordova, who once subbed for Boasberg, might be chosen); announcing the search’s timeline (candidates must submit applications by September 14; the Board will name finalists by October 15); and stating that an outside consultant would be used. On August 13, DPS hired the Illinois-based firm of Hazard, Attea & Associates, contracting to pay them $30,000 plus expenses.

Community, Speak!

Anxious that the tight timeline might prevent their voices from being heard, many teachers and parents shared with this reporter what they wanted in a new superintendent. The most frequently expressed opinion was that he or she be an educator. “They say the best manager is someone who knows the industry,” said ESL teacher Lisa W. “Well, the industry in teaching is … teaching.”

Sarah Dieter, a first grade paraprofessional, wanted, “… someone who has actually taught in a classroom under these budgetary and other restrictions.”

“Only an experienced teacher understands the beautiful complexities of learning,” said Andrea, who teaches Language Arts.

Breaking Our Chains: Among the educational activists who collaborated on the Community Manifesto is “Soul” Asemu, who stated, “Education is the civil rights issue of our time.” Asemu is the Executive Director of Breaking Our Chains, an organization which “focuses on supporting underserved students of color.”

One DPS father: “Businessmen have no business being superintendents.” History teacher Troy Valentine: “It’s not helpful when people with business degrees supervise teachers.”

“We want someone who gives educators confidence to use their common sense,” said DPS parents Gina and Mark O’Brien, whose six-year-old son’s classroom became overheated from a faulty valve, but, “No one would fix it, because it wasn’t next on the list.”

“Someone who views teachers as the foundation,” said first grade teacher Suzanne Hernandez.

“The new superintendent should insist on well-trained teachers and then trust those teachers to understand the needs of their students,” said Amy Turino, a 16-year veteran who now coaches colleagues.

Kindergarten teacher Julie W.: “Someone who really wants that job! Not as a stepping stone into politics. A wonderful job for an educator to use all they know. A woman, if possible.”

DPS parent Debby Thornburg James: “I want the new superintendent to LOVE public schools, so that she or he can immediately begin restoring them in every Denver neighborhood where charter schools now squat in our publicly owned school buildings.”

Councilwoman Deborah Ortega, whose grandchildren attend DPS: “Someone not so wrapped up in testing …”

Principal Sheldon Reynolds suggested that the new superintendent should, “… build on structures developed by Tom [Boasberg] over the past decade rather than dismantle them … The challenge is how do you honor the work (policies and practices) from Tom’s era while crafting a new vision [that would correct] … unintentional consequences of the prior work…”

Promises, Promises

“When I read that Boasberg was stepping down,” Ortega recalls, “I re

Unpopular Leader: The widely unpopular Superintendent of the Denver Public Schools Tom Boasberg, center, stepped down in July 2018 after 10 years at the helm. The last year has been riddled with controversy which some say prompted his resignation.

alized, ‘The community needs to impact this decision.’” The Community Manifesto she helped facilitate, signed by dozens of local organizations and individuals, asks that the new superintendent be “a transformer, not a reformer.” The document was delivered on July 27 to the Board, which so far, has not mentioned it.

The DPS board has the responsibility of choosing Boasberg’s replacement — and thus, the future of Denver’s 92,600 students. The community, says James, “… has been promised the opportunity to give input into this decision, which affects our children most of all. We are waiting.”

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