A community group Tuesday used humor, fast pacing and piercing questions to school leaders to emphasize problems in Denver’s schools.
The overall message from members of Metro Organizations for People during the meeting at Manual High with school board members and Superintendent Michael Bennet was that the district had let its students down.
“We know the district has not delivered,” said board president Theresa Peña. “We are this close to getting there.”
The group presented a lock-step plan to move the district further — proposing weighted, student-based funding for poor students and English-language learners, a new high school program in northeast Denver for students affected by closures and autonomy agreements for three schools.
Group members presented a skit on school funding and testimonials about school woes, including one by Vanessa Quintana, 16, a student at Cole Middle School and Manual High — both schools that closed.
Quintana said after Manual closed, she bounced around to other schools and wished there was a neighborhood program.
She attends night classes at Colorado High School Charter.
“It has been hard, but it’s never too late,” she said.
Parent Jennifer Gonzalez said her daughter wakes up at 5 a.m. to catch a 6 a.m. bus to George Washington High School, far from home.
“This angers and frustrates me,” she said. “I demand the same quality as families of higher classes.”
Bennet praised the group and tried as best he could to answer questions.
Some proposals, he said, need board approval and other problems are too complex for simple, one-minute responses.
“Not a single person, if they had a blank piece of paper, would design this system the way it is today,” he said. “Nobody can figure out how to get back to that blank sheet.”
Bennet blamed a pension program that takes $800 from each child and costs the district $50 million a year.
The district is mulling refinancing the pension to generate $15 million to $18 million in savings — of which $6.3 million would be directly channeled to low-income students.
The group said they appreciated the efforts and the presence of board members Peña, Michelle Moss and Jeanne Kaplan. But they said they expect more and hope for a continued conversation with the district.
“I’m glad they are open to discussion so we can come to a compromise that is fair for everybody,” Gonzalez said. “We’ll just keep pushing.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
