If parent Meg Franko could walk the halls of the Park Hill K-8 school with newly appointed superintendent Michael Bennet, she’d point out the large class sizes – last year her son and daughter each were in classes of 29 – and the achievement gap between kindergartners who had access to preschool and those who didn’t.
Franko would like to see more money devoted to shrinking class sizes and opening preschool to less affluent students in Denver Public Schools.
That’s where she hopes Bennet – who’ll exit as Mayor John Hickenlooper’s chief of staff as early as July – will come in handy.
“Because he’s coming from the city and has a lot of contacts, he could do a lot to raise the awareness of the existence of those programs,” said Franko.
Bennet “has a background in politics, and one would hope … he would go to the state and say, ‘Enough is enough; if we’re serious about education, we have to pay for it,”‘ she said.
Those connections and, ironically, the lack of a traditional background in public education, are appealing to some members of the DPS community.
“Not always is it a good choice to bring in people who have that (educational) background,” said Carmen Rivera, the parent of two girls who attend Wyatt-Edison Charter School in Denver.
She said Bennet just needs to surround himself “with people who are knowledgeable and people who can help him find solutions.”
Hatton Littman, a member of Northwest Parents for Excellent Schools, said grassroots organizations believe Bennet could bring the same excitement to DPS that Littman believes the popular Hickenlooper brought to Denver.
Parents, she said, are discouraged by reports of poor achievement, and the district has struggled to implement its own reform plan, she said.
“Here’s a guy that understands how to create a strategic plan and … implement it,” said Littman.
And he can get teachers, parents and principals to buy in, she believes.
Pam Martinez, co-director of Padres Unidos, a grassroots organization that advocates for students of color, said Bennet’s support of a college-preparatory curriculum for all students gained him the support of the group and of Jovenes Unidos, its student arm.
“If the schools are college prep, students are more likely to be more focused and figure out what they want to do after high school and not have that assumption that they’ll drop out,” said Elsa Banuelos, youth organizer for Jovenes Unidos.
Staff writer Karen Rouse can be reached at 303-820-1684 or krouse@denverpost.com.
