Flip the Denver Public Schools board in election

I am writing to you in response to Meg Wingerter’s article about the upcoming school board elections. It is important that the one line about critically looking at Denver Public School’s finances be emphasized fully. Currently the school board does not review an itemized budget or know where the district actually sits in allocating funds to students dollar for dollar.

As Colorado continues to be the lowest in per-pupil funding in the nation, we are going to be hard pressed to get the community to continue to support mill levies and bond issues if there is not greater transparency with and for the Board of Education. Currently the reform heavy board (Rowe, Haynes, O’brien, Flores, Cobian, Bacon) is happy with limited financial oversight presumably due to the many money making partnerships that exist with the private sector. Transparency in financing is key for DPS to actually put students first.

I’m writing in response to Meg Wingerter’s story about the upcoming school board election to clarify some information where (SFER) Students for Education Reform are framed as a grassroots, local network of students and parents when in fact they are funded by corporate interests. They have spent over $100,000 on the upcoming school board election to further their interests because they stand to benefit by keeping a board working for their interests. The grassroots community in this election is made up of teachers, students and parents like me who want to flip the board.

What does it mean to “flip the board?” It means we must address that DPS is more segregated than it was before court-ordered busing, and is failing our students of color. We must have board members who understand the importance of making sure there are good community schools in every neighborhood. We also need a board that can operate with fiscal transparency and board members who are not beholden to or benefit from corporate profiteers.

It’s irresponsible to continue the game of using tax payer money for the benefit of corporate interests, and we deserve to see who benefits from these transactions. We must objectively and regularly review how money that should be used to support classroom learning is instead being funneled to other areas.