Even though it’s summertime, it has not been quiet at Denver Public Schools. Nor should it be, given the district’s unconscionable dropout rate, serious achievement gap and lagging test scores.
Just this past week, the school board approved an $800 million budget, agreed to three new schools, presided over an administrative shake- up and accepted a $14 million federal grant.
But as has been the case for months, some of the noise burbling up from the board isn’t entirely necessary.
Fortunately, board member Nate Easley has been a steady hand since he was chosen as board president shortly after his November election. During the campaign, we expressed some reservations about Easley, and how he might lead, but so far he’s been the difference between a district that’s chugging forward with sensible reforms and a district that’s embroiled in utter chaos.
Many of the high-profile, critical board votes have been 4-3, with Easley casting the deciding vote.
The board, for example, waited until the final hours of the fiscal year to pass the district’s $800 million budget for 2010-11.
An earlier vote in May deadlocked at 3-3 as board members squabbled over the district’s contributions to its retirement plan.
Three board members said they feared the district is underfunding its pension plan, which could put the district in future peril.
“The bottom line, I am worried how this will affect our classrooms,” board member Jeannie Kaplan said, adding that the pension is being underfunded by more than $70 million a year and could put the district in the hole for $369 million by 2015.
That’s a total canard, and superintendent Tom Boasberg uncharacteristically called her out on it, saying her figures “are completely made up and false.”
Contributions to the state Public Employees’ Retirement Association, or PERA, are set by the legislature and already are built into the budget. Before DPS joined PERA, it paid out twice as much as other school districts in pension and retirement on a per-student basis.
Now that took a significant amount of money out of the classroom. DPS’s pension plan is still a heavy burden, but it’s in a better position since joining PERA.
While the past school year was marked with tension — remember the marriage counselor brought in to help everyone on the board play nicely? — there was also progress.
Not only did DPS end the forced placement of teachers, which was key, the board also approved some new, innovative school models for struggling students. Eight new schools will open this fall and another half-dozen will be closed or re- designed.
DPS also announced last week that it will receive $14.4 million from the federal government over the next three years to turn around nine of its lowest-performing schools.
Even if the votes are all 4-3, we’re glad the district continues to move forward.
