A classroom at the Edna and John W. Mosley P-8 in Aurora. The school opened at the beginning of this school year. (Anya Semenoff, The Denver Post)
Re: “Build a better future for Aurora’s schools — and its children,” Jan. 17 guest commentary.
While I agree with Papa Dia’s concern for Aurora’s public schools and the children within them, I cannot agree with his call for the city’s school board and citizens to “do whatever it takes” to turn things around.
If “whatever it takes” means closing neighborhood schools, opening trendy “no-excuses” charters, firing well-trained teachers and replacing them with poorly trained, non-degree-holding novices, relying on expensive computer programs that have never been shown to out-perform good old-fashioned teacher-led instruction, these “improvements” are unlikely to advance student learning or help children succeed. In fact, many of these measures are what created problems for the district in the first place.
We should not let panic over our students’ performance override the calm consideration and adoption of evidence-based and time-tested educational solutions.
Eve Cohen, Denver
This letter was published in the Jan. 22 edition.
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