DPS made the wrong call in closing three elementary schools
“DPS closures are tough but needed,” Dec. 20 editorial.
The Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) strongly disagrees with the closure of Amesse, Greenlee and Gilpin Montessori elementary schools. We’re not convinced the decision-making process allowed for concerns of the community to be properly heard and considered.
The closures are predicated on the notion that schools are “failing.” Yet when Gilpin Montessori introduced data demonstrating its final School Quality Review (SQR) score (which determines whether doors stay open or closed) was incorrect, the district refused to acknowledge it. Also, the board meeting failed to accommodate the numbers of parents and teachers attending to argue against closures.
The DCTA is committed to teacher and school development. But that requires support with accountability. District leaders are not accountable when they are unresponsive to needs of schools, do not commit to Montessorispecific programming communities seek, close schools showing improvement and pre-determine decisions without community input.
This was hardly a decision that strengthened the community voice.
Littleton The writer is president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association.
BBB As a former teacher, it amazes me how even now, administrators feel that school closure is good, sound policy. Education is like a three-legged stool: teacher, student, parent. All must work in concert to help the child learn and move forward. Children do not go to school to learn how to take tests. They should be learning about and experiencing the love of learning.
Is this measurable? I don’t know, but it is the best way to educate a child. Downtown, as we used to call the school district, is so far removed from the local school, they are enabled to exist in their own world, where children are reduced to test takers, and goofy fixes are sent to local administrators for implementation.
The decisions to be made in a child’s education are the role of the teacher, the child and the parent. Reform the roles of teachers, children and parents and you will see children emerging from our schools loving to learn.