Act now to support a parent's right to opt-out their kids from the CSAP!

by: Andrea Merida

Mon Feb 06, 2012 at 18:12:29 PM MST

Why is this important?  Plainly and simply, the stakes have become too high regarding the CSAP/TCAP, and consequently, school leaders and districts have adopted a punitive attitude toward families and students who choose to opt out.  

DPS School Board "reformers" shut out opposition from leadership

by: John Tzekara

Fri Nov 18, 2011 at 07:49:54 AM MST

After several hours of the old members approving/declining charters, it was clear that the old board majority was sticking together: Easley, Pena, Hoyt, and Seawall voted together every time, while Merida, Jimenez, and Kaplan did not, with various 5-2 configurations (and many 7-0 votes as well).  You can read the votes here.

It was no real surprise that the new board, which maintains a majority backed by Hancock, Stand for Children, and similar individuals/groups, would do the same.  What saddened me was the blatant signal they sent on their first votes about ignoring other viewpoints.

In their first action, the Board elected Mary Seawall President, Happy Haynes Vice President, Nate Easley Secretary, and Anne Rowe Treasurer.  The three other board members, generally seen as supported by the Teachers' union and opposed by the "reform" crowd, were completely shut out of executive positions.

Dissent is good.  Bringing people of different viewpoints to the table is good.  At a time that Congress is seen as broken along party lines and those divisions are blamed for a lack of progress, we see a faction, or "slate" as they were called during the campaign, stand together opposing any notion of dissent on a local nonpartisan board. Formerly Jimenez held the Vice President role, which was at least a symbolic gesture that all viewpoints would be considered.    

I don't think there is any one solution to improving DPS, and now every position is held by individuals who have already signaled their uniformity.  Add to that Mayor Hancock's appointment of the head of Stand for Children to his cabinet, and we have an ideological monopoly guiding our schools.  We encourage our kids to consider different viewpoints and ways of life, but the people guiding our schools already look like they are not doing the same.

Follow the money - DPS school board race

by: Angela Engel

Tue Oct 18, 2011 at 17:46:41 PM MST

This election year, Denver voters will have an opportunity to demonstrate the power of citizen engagement and the importance of direct control of our neighborhood schools. National interests are investing heavily in Denver's school board race. The players are many, the politics ugly, and the possibilities well...promising.

The Players

Stand for Children established a Colorado Chapter in 2010 in order to push legislation that tied teacher evaluations to test scores. Their investors include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and New Profit Inc. - a "national venture philanthropy fund." Democrats for Education Reform, DFER, are a newer organization that promotes charter schools, alternative certification training, and performance pay, and in addition promote mayoral control. ACE originated in Colorado in 2000. ACE members made significant campaign contributions to the Douglas County School Board responsible for directing private dollars away from some of the most high-performing public schools in the state. Several other funders have also joined the ranks, and the one thing they all have in common are trustees and board members with corporate connections and with very deep pockets.

The Politics (below the fold)

Denver Public Schools' best reform often goes unheeded

by: Andrea Merida

Tue Aug 30, 2011 at 12:33:10 PM MST

In 1999, the Department of Justice won a decision on behalf of the Congress of Hispanic Educators which asserted that the Denver Public Schools lacked adequate programs for students of limited English proficiency.  DPS was ordered to allow parents to choose either full Spanish-language instruction, sheltered instruction (English with instructions in Spanish) or complete English immersion for their children  (Click here to read those court documents).

Let's stop the spin and start the real school reform

by: Andrea Merida

Sun Aug 14, 2011 at 09:47:50 AM MST

DPS Parent: Boasberg, the Denver Plan is a failure

by: DefenseDenver

Sun Feb 13, 2011 at 20:29:54 PM MST

Dear Superintendent Boasberg,

When I opened The Denver Post this morning and read about the 52% graduation rate in DPS, I was stunned.  We have had The Denver Plan for six years now, and all we can manage is a 5% improvement in our graduation rate?  Particularly when this "improvement" is due to nothing other than a "lowering of the academic bar" to make DPS numbers look better than they are?  Proof of this is in the increased remediation rate to 55% of our DPS graduates who attend college.  That is outrageous!

It is time to fix our schools, starting with the high schools.  By "fix" I do not mean closing the schools and replacing them with charters.  Find six excellent principals, or pairings of competent assistant principals with smart business people, (not those from education corporations), and put them into the failing high schools:  Manual, Montbello, North, West, Lincoln, and possibly Kennedy.  That leaves only five decent high schools remaining to serve the students in DPS:  East, GW, TJ, and South.  How can you spend six years not addressing the most pressing problem in DPS, that three fifths of our traditional high schools are failing their students and the remaining two fifths are struggling to competently serve all of their students?

I am tired of reading quotes from you in the paper which frequently contain the following words, "we are very concerned," and "it speaks clearly to the need..."  Clearly, the DPS Administration knows what is wrong.  Quit being "concerned" and do something constructive.  Parents, teachers, and school administrators have turned around many DPS neighborhood elementary schools in the past decade.  Even some of the middle schools have been turned around or are making significant progress.  If the community can do it, surely 900 Grant with its wealth of human resources should be able to accomplish the same feats on a much larger scale.

Bill Gates is an accomplished businessman.  He has yet to prove himself an esteemed educator.  Gambling our kids' education with a bet on corporate America seems very shortsighted.  "Rolling up one's sleeves" and getting to work is a time-tested method of success.  We Westerners still have that quality in our fabric.  We would embrace that type of effort.

Sincerely,

Kristen T.
A DPS Parent & Graduate

P.S.  While writing this, I received your e-mail letter to the DPS Community.  Your "spinning" of the story is, in fact, quite misleading.  What truly is important is the quality of the DPS high school graduate.  I would like to see a true measurement of the academic level of our graduates as demonstrated by results from the ACT or SAT.  With remediation rates as high as 55%, one has to infer that our students are not as prepared for college or a career as they once were.  Tragically, this truth is never told.

________________________

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Read more at our "What Works" page.  Thanks for reading.

A teacher's open letter to Nate Easley

by: DefenseDenver

Fri Feb 11, 2011 at 22:53:20 PM MST

My cat just died, so I'm having a pretty lousy evening.  I've been watching her die for the last three days.  I didn't have enough money to take her to the vet.

You know what else is bugging me, Nate?

You're being recalled not because of being Nate, but because of all that you stand for.  You and your rich folks' clubs who pop in to "help" education could have been doing something all along to help education.  Pay TAXES.  Are you willing to stand up for taxes so that schools don't  have to scrimp and save to help children who are desperate for a safe place and a good education?  Probably not.  And that's why you'll be recalled, if I have to walk around and get the last signatures myself.

Because I have to be in the union in order to beg for a salary that might allow me to have enough money to bring my dying animal to the vet.

Sincerely,

A Teacher Who Canvassed for You

Sen. Mike Johnston: your support of (Easley's) conflict of interest (an open letter)

by: DefenseDenver

Tue Feb 01, 2011 at 13:16:08 PM MST

I am saddened and disappointed to read that you are publicly supporting Nate Easley; by doing so, you are obviously and publicly supporting the conflicts of interest that exists as a result of (1) Nate Easley's position as President of the Denver Public Schools Board of Directors and (2) Nate Easley's position as Deputy Director of the Denver Scholarship Foundation - at the same time.

Surely you have not forgotten (from our meetings and electronic communications) the intense ethical, legal, and financial battles that residents of Green Valley Ranch endured because of similar conflicts of interest that existed when one T.J. Stone served as (1) board member and President of the GVR Metropolitan District Board of Directors as well as (2) board member and President of the Homeowners Association of Green Valley Ranch - at the same time.

I was President of the GVR Metropolitan District during the time when the community was devastated by the conflicts of interest imposed upon it by one T.J. Stone. I and other community leaders met with you, Michael Hancock, and Angela Williams during those many months of community turmoil. Angela has taken action - she has  introduced a Bill which "prohibits individuals from serving concurrently on the board of directors for a metropolitan district and HOA within that district. The bill also requires HOA members to abstain from voting on issues where they or their family would benefit financially".

A notation on my property tax statement (2010 real estate tax due in 2011) reads: "60% OF THESE TAXES ARE DETERMINED BY AND COLLECTED FOR THE DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS."

I am apposed to the current DPS turnaround/closure plans. I support public, neighborhood schools. I support the right of every child to have an opportunity to receive a high quality education.

Community: It's too late, Nate (Easley)

by: DefenseDenver

Tue Jan 25, 2011 at 18:25:28 PM MST

Bennet and Interest Rate Swaps - Let's Discuss

by: Sharon Hanson

Wed Mar 31, 2010 at 18:14:59 PM MST

It's a product derived from another product. They call these derivatives.  

It's a gamble and the buyer is making a bet that future interest rates will be favorable to them.

The banks charge astronomical fees to put a product like this in place and then charge transaction fees.

There is a cost to cancel the contract and the contracts usually run for 30 years while a fixed rate bond issued by a school district or municipality can retire their bonds after 10 years.

Municipalities and school districts throughout the country are losing money on these products. Banks are making money because the Federal Reserve is lending money to the banks keeping interest rates artificially low.  

What Is It About Interest Rate Swaps? And Did Bennet Benefit from them Politically?

by: Sharon Hanson

Tue Mar 23, 2010 at 21:16:48 PM MST

Enter the interest rate swap.  Keep this in mind the bankers make money on transactions; good transactions, bad transactions and all transactions.  And they make more money if the market is rigged in their favor as it is today because of government subsidies - meaning the Federal Reserve is loaning money to the banks at 0% interest rate.  So when the bank offered Michael Bennet an interest rate swap on DPS bond debt he knew that the bankers stood to make lots of money no matter which way the chips fell.  Unfortunately the chips fell in favor of the banks because with interest rates at an all time low municipalities and school districts have to pay more to issue their bonds. When market interest rates sink a fixed rate is good for bonds as they were sold at a fixed rate and will continue to yield the fixed rate for the life of the bond or until the bond is retired.  But what Michael Bennet did was to swap the fixed rate for a variable rate and lock the swap in for 30 years for DPS. The banks got to keep the fixed rate and because of the rule when market interest rates are low the variable rate on bonds goes up, DPS stands to continue losing money until market interest rates go up.  To say that DPS got the short end of the stick is the understatement of the next three decades.  And yes the taxpayers, the teachers and the public schools will suffer as a result but the banks once again are making astronomical profits at the expense of our schools, roads, homes and everything else they have been able to get their greedy hands on.

And now back to Michael Bennet.  I think we have to ask ourselves as voters,

What did Michael Bennet gain from selling out DPS so that the banks could profit, political contributions?

What did he mean when he was asked about banking reform and talked about "unintended consequences"?

What impact if any did this have on his no vote for the cram-down legislation?  

How will his mismanagement at DPS shape his decisions and votes during the very critical and Democratic issue of banking reform now before Congress?

And lastly whom does he represent anyway?