Commentary: Making School Choice a Reality for Adams 14 Families

It’s inevitable when conversations about school choice arise, so do conversations about transportation —and rightly so. School choice isn't a choice if it’s only for families with the means to shuttle their kids back and forth to school.

Choice should provide every family the opportunity to enroll their children in a school that best meets their needs, and transportation is an essential part of that. Without it, families are limited in their options, and school choice is only a concept.

I’ve seen this all too frequently in Commerce City, where children have been underserved by the Adams 14 school district for a decade. 

I’ve talked to multiple families who considered selling their homes there — homes they’ve owned for generations — to be closer to schools that can best serve their children; schools where they can trust that their children will be supported, challenged and ultimately prepared for a life full of opportunities. It’s heartbreaking and deeply troubling to see the district’s academic achievement data, which in 2022 showed that just 5 percent of students in third through eighth grades are proficient in grade-level math, and only 12 percent are proficient in grade-level reading and writing. 

Clearly there are deep, structural problems facing Adams 14, problems that have plagued the district for generations. Still, we know the students of Commerce City are brilliant and capable of achieving amazing things when they are challenged and supported to do so. 

In part, this is why the Colorado Department of Education awarded a grant last year to Transform Education Now and RootED Denver for a new program, Bright Rides. We provide students who live in the boundaries of the most egregiously failing schools in Adams 14 with free, safe and reliable transportation to high-performing schools in the Denver metro area. Our program is gaining traction as more families explore their options outside of Adams 14. Bright Rides, in partnership with HopSkipDrive, provides transportation to all types of schools.

Most Adams 14 families who are interested in Bright Rides want schools that can meet their children’s needs, satisfy their interests, or nurture their talents. And many of them are fed up with the chaos and lack of progress in their home district. Beyond dysfunctional district-level politics, the families report rampant bullying and a lack of oversight or structure in some classrooms. They want great school options in their own neighborhood, but they recognize their students don't get a do-over because of district dysfunction.
Beyond that, sometimes families aren’t quite sure what they’re looking for in a new school, but they know they want what’s best for their children.

That isn’t solved by a one-size-fits-all school. There’s no single school model that works for every child or every family. Instead, it’s powerful when we embrace the diversity in school models and give families the information and resources to make school choice a reality.

I’ve seen up close how families respond when we introduce them to school choice, and when we help with one of their most basic needs: transportation.

For example, last week I toured the Girls Athletic Leadership School with an Adams 14 family interested in enrolling their child there. There’s not another school like GALS in Colorado. The free, all-girls public charter school celebrates the strength, identities and intelligence of girls, and it provides a loving and supportive environment for them to realize and grow their abilities. The family on the tour was blown away when they realized schools like GALS exist. It opened the world of choice for them, and they wanted to learn more about other diverse school options.

I see this often — families may not know what learning environments are available to their children if they’ve never had the opportunity or means to explore schools beyond their boundaries.

Of course, there are some families in Commerce City who have attended Adams 14 schools for generations, and it’s important to them to keep their children enrolled there and fight to improve the district’s schools. I trust those families to make choices that are in their children’s best interests; I honor and respect their ability to choose.

For families who may not have the same choice — who may feel forced by limited transportation and limited options to enroll their children in low-performing boundary schools in Adams 14 — Bright Rides provides a needed and valuable resource that helps them put their children’s needs first.

And that’s what school choice should be.

Nicholas Martinez is the executive director of Transform Education Now, a nonprofit organization that works with families, students, community leaders, educators and state and local school board members to advocate for high-quality schools.

Westword.com frequently publishes opinion pieces on matters of interest to the Denver community. Have one you'd like to submit? Send it to [email protected], where you can also comment on this piece.