DPS
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Denver Public School District No.1 is failing. While more than 70 percent of the enrollment is students of color, nearly 70 percent of Black and Latino students are not proficient in reading and math. Only 22 percent of Black and 19 percent of Latino students meet SAT math standards. School officials celebrate increases in graduation rates, but many students do not have twelfth-grade skills and need remediation in college or at the workplace…little wonder, as English and science courses are being watered down.
More than half of high school students are identified as chronically absent. Our schools are still segregated. Promised school-safety reforms have not been fully implemented. Student enrollment continues to decline, leading to more school closures. Parents have filed lawsuits citing a lack of transparency in recent closure decisions. The Denver Gazette recently reported that the administration “quietly assumed hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term debt without voter approval — money that could otherwise be used to lower class sizes, increase teacher pay or expand student support services.” The school board violated the open meetings law and once again found time to censure a fellow board member.
It is worth remembering that the elected school board concept was first established in 1862. Today, the board is not governing effectively, and only 20 percent of citizens voted in the recent election. Many citizens do not even know who their board members are.
The inability of school district leaders to stay focused on the educational needs of more than 85,000 students risks producing the least educated cohort of Denver students in decades. Without dramatic change, many students will graduate unprepared, frustrated and demoralized — struggling to lead fulfilling and productive lives.
The primary mission of a public school system is to educate students at the highest level so they become successful, productive citizens. Students should graduate with outstanding knowledge and skills, prepared to pursue higher education, trade school or enter the work force. Most important, they must be equipped with rapidly evolving technical skills to thrive in today’s competitive, global economy.
Denver boasts that it has the second-highest per capita population of college-educated residents in the country. What we rarely acknowledge is that many of those educated adults are “imports,” not the children raised and educated in our own neighborhoods.
Clearly, the current system is not delivering a quality education for our students.
These institutional failures demand that we seriously examine bold alternatives — including a full merger between the school system and city government. Mayoral oversight of schools was popular decades ago, but those efforts were often flawed. Some mayors appointed school board members who were unresponsive to diverse communities. Others were seen as unaccountable to voters. In some cases, board members were removed simply for disagreeing with the mayor, raising concerns about democratic principles. The closure of Black and Latino schools also generated strong public backlash. Most important, the goal of improving student performance produced mixed results.
Many mayoral controlled systems have disappeared, and while a few cities still have forms of this coordination, their efforts have not been satisfactory. Recently, New York City Mayor Mamdani reversed his campaign position and chose to maintain mayoral oversight of schools, stating that “New Yorkers need to know where the buck stops.” There are lessons to be learned from the successes and failures of thirty years of mayoral oversight. I believe that civic, educational and business leaders should commission an independent task force to evaluate this idea — or other governmental variations — to determine what could work best for Denver. This should be the highest priority for our city.
The good news is that we already know many strategies that improve student performance. Other districts have seen success with higher teacher pay; strategic teacher training and mentoring; greater support for and involvement of parents; transparent reporting on student progress; more customized educational approaches for students with unique needs; smaller class sizes; longer school years; greater public investment in education broadly; performance requirements for both teachers and principals; and educational options such as magnet, charter, international, innovation and specialized schools. Above all, strong leadership that truly expects excellence from students has proven essential.
Understandably, many citizens may hesitate at such a bold proposal. But consider the following realities:
First, school board members are lightly paid, have no staff and function largely as volunteers overseeing a $1.5 billion enterprise with 14,500 employees. That is an enormous responsibility for a part-time body.
Second, Denver City Council members are paid $110,000 annually and receive an additional $264,000 to support three staff and an office. In effect, councilmembers are full-time officials and oversee a $1.5 billion operating budget with nearly 13,000 employees.
Third, the political boundaries and property tax bases for providing tax funding for both enterprises are identical. We are unique in that the same voters and taxpayers support both systems.
Fourth, merging both systems could eliminate duplicative roles— lawyers, accountants, maintenance, transportation and administrative staff. Combining both the city and school systems could save millions of dollars that could be reinvested in priorities like teacher compensation, additional paraprofessionals, smaller class sizes and more student support.
Fifth, a unified system would reduce duplication of facilities. Why build a new playground when a school’s playground sits unused nearby? Why construct a new pool when a school pool is often closed to the public or a city’s pool is not available for students’ P.E. classes? Why are the schools’ football, baseball and track facilities generally closed to the public, when they could be integrated with the city’s other recreational facilities?
Sixth, teachers are increasingly expected to serve as health-care providers, mental health counselors, family mediators and social workers — leaving little time for teaching. Imagine if a sick student could be quickly referred to a nearby Denver Health Center instead of sent home. Imagine if a student was depressed and struggling because a parent was unemployed or disabled, and that parent could be immediately referred to the city’s job-training program or other services. Imagine if a teacher, aware of a family’s home discord affecting the student’s focus or behavior, could contact the city’s social services department to provide professional assistance. Essentially, merging city and school organizations could provide comprehensive services to a student and his or her family. The recently created six Community Hubs are a start and the mini health centers in nineteen schools are promising, but there are nearly 200 schools in DPS without these services.
A combined city and school system could also improve coordination on safety, transportation, food services and facilities — allowing teachers and administrators to focus on one thing: educating their pupils. Teachers would finally not be distracted with non-teaching matters.
The bottom line: Merging our school system with city government could improve overall efficiency, provide timely and comprehensive student and family services, coordinate taxpayer votes on bond issues and capital needs, and provide improved citizen oversight through full-time elected officials.
Some will argue that this proposal is impractical and conflicts with state law. Yes, the Colorado Constitution would need to be amended. Tabor and other statutes would need review. Bond commitments, personnel policies, retirement programs and other complex systems would demand careful study. But this is precisely why an independent evaluation is needed. Until such a review is completed, we should keep an open mind to a new approach for educating our students, saving tax dollars and unifying our city.
No other major American city has conducted a complete merger like the one I propose. In this model, the mayoral administration would oversee citywide operations. City council could assume a role similar to the school board, and the superintendent would be a member of the mayor’s cabinet. Clearly, other variations of these management approaches are possible, and success would depend on capable leadership and informed voters. Foundations, philanthropists and businesses would be inspired to become more supportive of a bold, unified effort to graduate the best-prepared students in America.
Do we have the courage to “think outside the box” and consider a new approach to educating our students? Do we have the audacity and confidence to believe we can create the greatest school district in our nation?
I believe we do — because nothing could be more important to our city’s future.
A “great city” demands a “great school system”!
