Democrats for Education Reform-Colorado Friday endorsed three candidates in the Denver Public Schools board election that is viewed by some as a referendum on district reform policies.
The group endorsed Happy Haynes in the crowded contest for the open at-large seat, Anne Rowe in southeast Denver’s District 1 and Jennifer Draper Carson in District 5 in the district’s northwest corner.
Rowe is expected to face Emily Sirota, and Carson is seeking to unseat incumbent Arturo Jimenez. All candidates have to turn in sufficient petition signatures to get on the November ballot.
DFER is a well-financed New York-based political action committee with branches in 10 states, including Colorado. This is the first time it’s endorsed in DPS board races.
The DFER-Colorado advisory committee interviewed seven of the nine candidates announced so far and also asked them to complete questionnaires.
The committee has some influential education figures, including State Board of Education member Elaine Gantz Berman (a former DPS board member), former Colorado Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll, Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, state. Sen. Mike Johnston of Denver, former Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien (now with the Piton Foundation), former State Rep. Christine Scanlan (now Gov. John Hickenlooper’s top lobbyist) and A+ Denver executive director Van Schoales.
State Director Moira Cullen said DFER-Colorado will actively support endorsed candidates in 2011 “whether it’s financial or assisting with other aspects of their campaigns.” Cullen runs a Capitol lobbying firm that represents several education clients.
The group did not formally endorse in the 2009 DPS elections but did contribute $7,000 to Ismael Garcia, who was defeated in District 2′s Southwest Denver by Andrea Merida.
Candidates react to group’s endorsement
Happy Haynes
“Happy respects DFER’s voice as an advocate for the district, and we look forward to working with them throughout the election,” said Peter Schottenfels, campaign manager for Haynes, who is a former city council member and DPS executive.
DFER did give honorable mention to one of Haynes’ opponents, Roger Kilgore, a Park Hill water engineer. “We were impressed with his commitment to improving public education in Denver,” the group’s announcement said.
Other announced at-large candidates include South High School teacher Frank Deserino, Jacqui Shumway – who also ran unsuccessfully in 2009 – and Baker neighorhood resident John Daniel. Daniel and Shumway were not interviewed by DFER-Colorado, because they had not completed campaign paperwork at the time of the interviews.
Rowe, a founding co-chair of A+ Denver, said she was honored. “When you look at the members of the advisory committee, these are some of the greatest education leaders we have had over the past several years in Colorado, and this endorsement means a great deal to me.”
Anne Rowe
Sirota, whose background is as a community activist, “I have a fundamental disagreement with DFER and Anne Rowe. … When I look at a 51.8 percent graduation rate, a nearly 60 percent remediation rate, and unacceptable CSAP scores, I see a school district in crisis – not a school district going in the right direction.”
She said her candidacy is aimed at “changing the DPS administration” and “representing the desire of communities throughout southeast Denver to have a role in shaping the direction of our schools. Right now, I am deeply concerned that some special interests are trying to use the word ‘reform’ as an excuse to perpetuate the status quo.”
Carson, who worked in Jimenez’s 2007 campaign, said, “Our schools across the city and especially in Northwest Denver are not getting the job done, for far too many children. I am glad to have DFER’s support.”
Jennifer Draper Carson
Jimenez said, “While I expect various groups to endorse in this race, I’m proud to have the support of so many people from Northwest and across Denver, including those in the reform community.”
Haynes, Rowe and Carson also benefited from a joint fundraiser help by supporters on June 13 (see story).
Read the DFER-Colorado announcement and candidates’ questionnaire responses here.
Certainly, it’s no surprise that DEFER is endorsing the slate of corporate candidates. Apparently, they share similar beliefs such as “failing schools”, high stakes testing that holds mostly teachers accountable for the results, charter schools that operate without public oversight, “turnarounds” such as the “redesign” of Denver North High School in 2007 for which neither Michael Bennet nor Tom Boasberg has ever accepted responsibility. Despite community opposition, Bennet listened to a small group of community members and implemented the policy based on his personal observations and anecdotal information. He completely ignored the reality that North High had been neglected by the district for decades The principal, who was making progress, was replaced, a veteran faculty dismissed and the results were predictable. Student achievement declined, the dropout rate increased and the student population declined. Most important, students lost trusted teachers and counselors who were replaced by inexperienced and often indifferent teachers. As supporters of this fiasco, DEFER, the three candidates they support and both Bennet and Boasberg should take responsibility. That not being likely, the community should hold them all accountable by soundly defeating them in November. DEFER is a great acronym because these Democrats(?) have deferred on true reform such as empowering teachers, parents and students, reducing class sizes, lengthening the school day and year for ALL students instead of just for the privileged and the lucky.
At Ed,
Anything is better than members who are owned by the teachers’ union.
,dave
I find it interesting – and totally predictable – that this slate of candidates would be endorsed by DFER. This group and others like it are supportive of the status quo as reflected by Denver’s flat graduation rates, flat student achievement, skyrocketing remediation numbers, skyrocketing inequitable educational opportunities (we have managed to establish a two-tiered system of haves and have nots), and fiscal mismanagement. We have had six years of the Denver Plan, and the increases in student achievement have not even met the Board of Education’s minimal standards for success – gains of 3.5% for each academic category. We did gain 4% in writing this year, but even according to the latest press release by the superintendent, six years have produced 7 percentage points in writing, 8 points in reading, 11 points in mathematics. You do the math – I don’t think that averages 3.5% per year. DFER, if you think a slate that supports this rate of change is acceptable take your plan and your candidates (and your money!!) some place else. Denver’s children and families deserve something much better than this status quo.
Jeannie Kaplan
DPS Board, District 3
Mr. Barnes, can you elaborate?
Thank you for mentioning my 2009 run for the DPS board, but please realize that “success” for me is getting folks to recognize the importance of Art, Music, and Physical Fitness in the Inspiration of Excellent Education! My campaign DID change the discussion… even at the state and national level, according to my Colorado Senator. But we need to inspire this discussion even more! I am proud to be running with Happy, Roger, Frank, and Dan… for the “kid” in all of us and for all those teaching and supporting our kids every day! We all win if Music, Art, and Physical Fitness are a substantial part of EVERY school curriculum and DPS graduate’s education!
I read all the candidates’ questionnaire responses and the differences seem more to be in tone, the details of how the school board actually works, and the research on how schools achieve improvement. “Education on Education is the cure for Education” and some candidates need to know several things if they really wish to improve our children’s education.
The use of CSAP and students’ other test results to evaluate teachers was mentioned by itself or as part of Senate Bill 191, but no one hinted that they knew of Campbell’s Law, that high stakes testing corrupts the thing being tested. The recent news on teacher and school sponsored cheating in Atlanta (I believe) points to that effect.
The Denver Plan was mention several times but a careful read of the plan reveals that children are treated as widgets or parts on an assembly line, passively being molded into some final product. That plan gives little attention to raising student responsibility for their own success or helping others. To be fair, school board members are distant from the educational practices in the schools, so I would not expect them to express opinions on this area.
Several candidates did mention the Leading Effective Academic Practice (LEAP), which focuses on teaching and leadership development, which is in agreement with research on education system improvement.
Regarding new schools, strong enrollment is the norm in new schools. New sells. It is a sign of hope, not based on results. It is easier to set a successful learning environment in a new school than change an existing learning environment in an existing school, but it can be done. This applies also to judging the effectiveness of turnaround efforts such as in the FNE. Just as a large ocean going ship does not turn around as quickly as a row boat, a large, established school also does not turn around in a month, but you should be able to see knowledgeable turning pressure being applied.
Lastly, few candidates mentioned working to address a core problem in our system, that too many children enter first grade already several years below grade level in language and other skills that contribute to learning to read. A lot of pressure can be put on middle and high schools to raise performance, but the amount of gain possible is limited when nearly half the class lacks essential reading skills.
It is very disheartening to see a Board member disparage the hard work that our students and teachers are doing every day in schools across our city.
For the true record of our students’ and schools’ strong academic gains, here is an excerpt from an Aug. 10, 2010 EdNews story: “Education News Colorado looked at the ten-year change in reading proficiency rates for the state’s 20 largest districts and for its ten large poor districts – those with more than 5,000 students and poverty rates topping 50 percent. Only DPS and Harrison District 2 in southeastern Colorado Springs achieved double-digit gains in those ten years, with each increasing reading proficiency rates by 12 percentage points. In DPS, two of those points came between 2001 and 2005 and 10 points were gained between 2005 and 2010.” (emphasis added.) Denver is the only district in EdNews’ analysis to post this large of a gain over the five years from 2005-10. DPS reform efforts started in 2005 with the launch of the Denver Plan, which was unanimously approved by the Board of Education in its original form that year and then again with the updated 2010 Denver Plan last year.
In addition, for the six years of the Denver Plan, the district’s proficiency rates have grown at a much higher rate than the rest of the state’s. In the past six years, our achievement gains in each subject are significantly higher than the rest of the state. In math and reading, we’re +8, science +11, writing +9. Now, let’s compare that with proficiency gains in DPS versus the rest of the state for the six years prior to the Denver Plan: In math, DPS was -5, reading +1, science -21, writing -1.
It’s clear that the reforms of the Denver Plan and the hard work of our students and teachers have led to dramatic achievement gains in the past six year.
The district has also seen very strong enrollment growth under the reforms of the Denver Plan; the number of graduates earning diplomas each year has increased roughly 30% in the past six years; and strong financial management has allowed the district to avoid the kind of drastic budget cuts that many other school districts have had to make.
Furthermore, Denver is often lauded for its aggressive, student-centered reforms. The most recent evidence of that came just yesterday, when a parent at Cory Elementary School wrote an Op-Ed in the Denver Post that highlights the success of the district’s reform efforts in winning parents back to DPS middle schools.
That’s the true track record of DPS under the reforms of the twice-unanimously-approved Denver Plan. And that’s the true track record of the thousands of outstanding teachers and students who the district’s leadership is here to support and serve.