As Denver schools continue with one of the nation’s most ambitious education reforms, supporters of the effort worry it could be undone by November’s school board election.
Reform-minded Superintendent Michael Bennet has framed the Nov. 6 election for three seats on the seven- member board, coupled with a school-closure plan, in blunt terms.
“If we survive, it will be a tremendous outcome,” Bennet said Tuesday. “If we don’t, it will be terrible.”
He declined to endorse board candidates.
Because school board elections get such low voter participation, special- interest groups can sway results, said Van Schoales of the Piton Foundation, an urban education advocacy group.
Electing contrarians can unravel or halt reforms being put in place and sometimes mean the end of a run for a superintendent, Schoales said.
“He’s right to be concerned,” Schoales said.
But election of three new board members who wanted a change of plans would still leave four who have charted the current course.
“The issue isn’t this person versus that person,” Schoales said. “The issue is are we all on the same page as the district? The amount of political angst and time that you spend as a superintendent on a board that is contentious is a problem. But that is typically what happens.”
Backlash possible
Bennet’s reform plan was put into place last fall. Among other things, it doubles up reading and math classes for sixth- through ninth-graders who are behind, establishes new grading policies and imposes new graduation requirements.
The DPS improvement efforts are on center stage right now as Bennet is proposing to close eight schools and reorganize five others to save money, boost achievement and better use the district’s space.
“Reforms can upset people and spark a backlash,” said Andrew Rotherham, co-director of Education Sector, a national nonpartisan education think tank in Washington, D.C.
“Benefits of school reform and what Michael (Bennet) is trying to do, your average person in Denver isn’t going to see that and be mobilized to go out there and vote,” Rotherham said. “But the organized interests who don’t like the reforms will get in the fight. It’s the old rule of politics.”
So far, no organized opposition to the overhaul effort – known officially as the Denver Plan – has come forward.
Last month, however, the influential teachers union turned away from the two incumbents on the board who are running for seats – school board president Theresa Peña and Bruce Hoyt.
The Denver Classroom Teachers Association instead endorsed John McBride, who opposed the district’s 2006 closure of Manual High School, and Laurence Botnick, a social worker who wants a more open process in the school closure plan.
The northeast Denver high school reopened this year to freshmen only and a new educational mission.
The union also backed Raymond Gutierrez, a high-school dropout in northwest Denver, who says the system must change.
Union president Kim Ursetta said the endorsements were based on candidates’ support for teachers and public education. She said the union endorses the Denver Plan and the closure proposal, discounting the notion that the union – with 3,000 members and numerous supporters – is dissatisfied with the district.
A bad time to run
Potential change in the school board has some in the community concerned.
Incumbents Peña and Hoyt have been holding fundraisers, raising thousands of dollars and hosting precinct walks.
Tuesday, reports for the first campaign financing period show Peña and Hoyt generated more than $31,000 apiece – more than double any other candidate.
“We’ve got two incumbents that are absolute stars, and we’ve got to keep them on the board,” Bruce Benson, chief executive of the Benson Mineral Group, said in a meeting at The Denver Post. He said he’s spent years on the reform effort, “and I don’t want to see it go down the tubes.”
Benson has contributed $5,000 to both Peña and Hoyt.
Peña has said she is concerned about campaigning at the same time as school closures are being discussed. Regardless of the race’s outcome, Peña will vote on the closure issue Nov. 19.
“This is the worst time to run for a school board seat,” said Peña, running for the at-large seat against McBride and former school board member Rita Montero. “School board incumbents have lost their seats because of (closures). But we’ll die on that sword if we have to.”
Elsewhere, the politics behind school board races have forced mayors to take control of school districts. In New York, Boston and most recently Washington, D.C., mayors are in charge of school budgets, appointments of key administrators and important decisions.
Mayoral control minimizes the effect of school board elections, Schoales said.
“One of the arguments for mayoral control is everyone shows up to vote for a mayor,” Schoales said. “And mayors make sure they have a good school district.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
