Survey results released today attempted to discern varying viewpoints on education policy from candidates running for one of three seats on the board of education for Denver Public Schools.
“We believe there’s a great deal of difference among some of the candidates, but we want to see how they’re different. Right now it’s a little fuzzy,” said Van Schoales, executive director of A+ Denver, the group that conducted the survey in partnership with other community organizations.
Of the nine candidates running for the school board, eight responded to the survey. At-large candidate John Daniel did not return the survey.
Among those who responded, not all answered the questions.
Many of the candidates voiced criticism of the questionnaire format that asked each candidate to rate 28 statements with a number from one to five indicating varying degrees of agreement or disagreement.
Arturo Jimenez, running for re-election in northwest Denver, did not answer any of the questions, but responded with a request for a better measure of opinions.
“Education policy is not a collection of statements that can be boiled down to simple multiple choice questions,” Jimenez wrote. “I hope you will consider sending a questionnaire that allows for candidates to write answers to the many pressing concerns facing our students today.”
Some candidates, such as Emily Sirota, running for a seat in southeast Denver, responded with long comments to clarify an answer further, while others, such as Roger Kilgore, running for an at-large seat, left many questions blank.
Schoales said the purpose of the questionnaire was to push candidates to take clear positions, and to use it as a starting point for deeper conversations.
“Based on campaign literature and website, it’s hard to know where the candidates stand,” Schoales said. “It’s driven by political questions rather than policy questions.”
Of those answers that the survey did get, the largest disagreement among the respondents appeared around supporting a system that would reward and sanction schools and teachers based on meeting accountability goals.
Two candidates, Anne Bye Rowe, running for southeast Denver, and Frank Deserino, a teacher running for at-large seat, disagreed with the system, while four other candidates who answered the question said they would agree with such a policy.
A common thread among candidates was in supporting and improving quality of teaching.
All who responded also agreed, or strongly agreed, that innovation schools should control their finances and programs, and that the district should provide funding and flexibility for low performing schools for about two years before attempting any other intervention.
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372 or yrobles@denverpost.com
