The Issues

Our schools are more segregated than they have been in generations. This brokenness is the result of district decisions and larger hegemonic systems, and both must be addressed. Choice was meant to be a way for families to have a variety of styles and methods of education, chosen from a collection of quality options in their own neighborhood. Instead, choice has become a method for families, with the capacity and resources, to search for perceived quality that has been denied neighborhoods- most often neighborhoods with higher percentages of people of color or lower socio-economic status, and this problem is exaggerated by a broken SPF.

We must reinvest in schools and neighborhoods that serve our lower socioeconomic status students and our students of color by providing more opportunities, enrichments, and extracurricular activities, funded by the district and not by PTAs, and supporting the retention of high quality educators and staff. DPS must also acknowledge and respond to the increased geographic segregation across Denver. Neighborhood schools become more segregated when neighborhoods gentrify. This is a complicated problem with no easy answers, but the conversations must happen. Schools that were in desperate needs before their north Denver neighborhoods gentrified, that are now thriving, are an affront to communities of color and should be an indictment of the racism of our system. Responding to these failures and developing solutions must be done in dialogue with our community. People of color and lower socioeconomic status must have a seat at the table and be worked with, not just talked about.

Increased transparency and accountability in district finances are foundational to equitable funding. There are schools that do not receive monies they are eligible for because they have not been made aware they qualify for it. Grant programs are instituted without long term plans to continue important programs that communities connect with and rely on. Equitable funding will also require proactive efforts to listen to the concerns of community and provide in depth information and synthesis of the data behind our decisions and realities. Simply releasing an obfuscated line item budget is not transparency.

We must return to the guiding question- "how does this benefit our students?". Institutions like to preserve themselves, and the burgeoning bureaucracy of DPS exemplifies this; no district in Colorado spends less in their classrooms (only 48% makes it to the classroom). Increasing staff of all kinds, in our classrooms and neighborhood schools, will tend to many of our district's largest issues: the achievement gap, reading levels, mental health and school safety, all of them can be addressed by better resourcing and lowering the student to adult ratios.

We must also set our teachers up for success by providing curriculum and resources that do more than prepare a child for a test. Changing our test focused culture will bring more student focused resources to the classroom. Increased resources in classrooms must also be grounded in equity, which means some classrooms will get more than others to fully meet the needs of students and schools who have less to begin with.

We need to move to less testing with fewer institutional decisions based on the results. Student progress is best measured by the teachers who know each student, with testing based on the context of each classroom and student, as seen in periodic formative assessments. Teacher accountability is better accomplished through observation and coaching. Standardized tests can only tell you something about a student, at a given point in time, they do not tell you about a teacher. What they often tell us about students is that the test was not written for a particular student. Our current testing models also shape what curriculum we are able to use, curriculum that is not designed for the diversity of our student population. Standardized testing also minimizes our ability to focus on educating the whole person, as social, emotional, and resiliency are not measured in multiple choice or short answer.

The changes necessary must start by reshaping how we use the results of the tests. The decisions and policies based on the results of standardized testing shape a great deal. Policies within board control require revision in this area. The outside factors shaping the role of testing, particularly state and federal laws, must be addressed through advocacy and communication. Our board members must be active in their work with the state board, state legislators, and representatives in Washington, D.C. Our board must also educate and prepare our students' families to be engaged in the necessary legislative changes.

Every student deserves an education that engages all of who they are, that builds upon the world they know, that reflects the diversity of their community in history and current events, and that lets them see themselves in the education process. Culturally affirming education requires culturally responsive curriculum, more diversity in our teachers, and learning environments that reflect the communities they serve.

Work has begun in DPS to develop culturally responsive curriculum. This work must be prioritized and expanded. Community members must have a strong voice in the process- we must quit talking 'about' people and begin working with them. We must also look at the enrichments and extracurricular activities we offer and ensure they also reflect the diversity of students we serve.

Our schools provide the best education for every child when our Denver teachers, staff, and leadership reflect the full breadth of humanity that is present in our community. The unique perspectives and life experiences educators of color bring by being who they are must be sought with extra intention.

The national culture of fear inflicted on immigrants (documented or not) and refugees requires partnership as allies and advocacy from individuals and systems. We see the negative impacts on our students through their ability to focus, the ability of their entire families to participate in activities and classroom engagement, as well as in attendance.

DPS must do everything in its power to care for our immigrant and refugee families. We must follow through on the commitment that no data in our systems will ever be shared with ICE. And we may need to find alternative and more relational methods of keeping data for those who still feel apprehension regardless of our commitments. We must be explicit and public in our resolve that every student and their family will be guarded from arrest on or around our properties.

The language in our DPS curriculum and classrooms must honor the full breadth of gender identity and expression. Our schools should not systematically add to the rampant heterosexism and cis-genderism in the daily lives of our LGBTQ+ students. Our physical space also demonstrates our values- any student who would like, should have access to a gender neutral bathroom.

DPS must do a better job of making contextual decisions for our schools- decisions based on the specific realities of each school and its students, each neighborhood and its community. Closing schools does not solve the problem of communities not being properly served. We must listen to the community who attend the school, the community that has chosen not to attend the school, and the staff that have not remained in order to fully assess what is occurring in a school and its neighborhood.

We must develop a long term strategy for providing every school with the means to regulate their temperature in an increasingly warming climate. DPS should invest putting A/C in existing schools where possible and efficient. There are also cheaper and more effective ways of cooling classrooms like heat exchange fan systems. Another option is a September start — on average, the last two weeks of August are 8% hotter than the first two weeks of June.

As a former community health educator, I recognize the importance of age appropriate comprehensive health education curriculum and support its place in our classrooms. Our youngest students are safer and less likely to be victims of child assault when they know the proper names of their body parts. Our oldest students must be informed of the risk factors of sexual activities.