For two years, Michael Bennet has been the man behind Mayor John Hickenlooper.
Now, as he takes a front seat in running Denver Public Schools, will the mayor become the man behind Bennet?
“It’s a perception issue, that John Hickenlooper would tell him what to do,” said Bruce Benson, businessman and chairman of the DPS Foundation. “But Hickenlooper has too many other things to do than run the schools.”
Besides, after brokering deals for billionaire Philip Anschutz and negotiating union contracts for the city, Bennet isn’t viewed as someone easily pushed around.
“Michael Bennet is his own man,” said Bob Willis, president of the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce.
The close relationship between the two is well-known in political circles. Bennet worked behind the scenes on Hickenlooper’s mayoral campaign and quit his job with Anschutz to be the mayor’s chief of staff.
Bennet said he thought the two would continue “to be a team.”
Hickenlooper said that he and Bennet have not discussed the workings of their new relationship but that he was confident the two would be responsible for their own fiefdoms.
“I’ve never tried to dictate curriculum to the public schools,” Hickenlooper said, noting that he worked well with Jerry Wartgow, Bennet’s predecessor, without trying to tell him how to run DPS.
However, the mayor does have goals for the brand-new superintendent, even if he is no longer Bennet’s boss.
“I think in the next three years we could see double-digit growth,” Hickenlooper said, referring to school test scores. “Michael can bring the schools to a new level.”
The close partnership between Hickenlooper and Bennet is viewed as a positive by Willis and many other city leaders.
Bennet understands the importance of a good school system in attracting businesses and jobs to the city.
“He and the mayor, I think, will collaborate,” said City Councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez. “I think it will be two people working together, instead of one bending to the will of another.”
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.
