Bad Dreams Needn't Come True

If there’s one overriding lesson from last night’s school-related elections along Colorado’s Front Range, it’s that voters in some districts, for whatever reason, are not happy with the status quo, even, paradoxically, when the status quo is about change.

In the two most closely watched school board contests, Denver voters shifted power on the board so that the pace of reform will likely slow, and the direction will almost certainly change. In Douglas County, two incumbents were ousted and a slate of more doctrinaire, conservative Republicans took power.

Meanwhile, voters in Greeley and Mapleton rejected tax increases the two districts argued were essential. In this economy, such votes aren’t altogether shocking. But in Mapleton, where no organized opposition existed, the narrow defeats of a bond issue and mill levy override were still stunning – and crushing for a district in the midst of a long-term, ambitious overhaul effort.

The Denver vote may send shockwaves through “reformers” (an overused term) across the nation, who see the results as a repudiation of New York and Chicago-style reform. Closing chronically failing schools, opening new ones and granting more schools freedom from district and union regulations probably just became a lot more difficult.

It was fascinating to talk last night to people on the losing side. There were prognostications of doom: “Denver is dead as a reform city” and  “Colorado’s Race to the Top bid just suffered a fatal blow,” were among the most commonly expressed concerns.

Overlying the gloom was anger, much of it directed at prominent Denver citizens who largely stayed on the sidelines for fear of ruffling the feathers of other powerful people. Several people I talked to last night named names, promising to call to account those they say stood idly by and allowed incumbent Jeanne Kaplan – who has tried to slow the pace of change – to run unopposed and to nurture a slate of union-backed candidates, two of whom prevailed.

I choose to remain uncharacteristically optimistic about the future of Denver Public Schools. First of all, Mary Seawell won the at-large seat. She will be one of the strongest school board members Denver has ever known. OK, I’m biased – she’s an old friend – but Mary is tough-minded and smart, and will be effective.

Yes, Vernon Jones and Ismael Garcia lost, after running on pledges to support Superintendent Tom Boasberg and even to push for an acceleration of his reforms.

But after having a Where the Wild Things Are evening of gnashing terrible teeth and roaring terrible roars, Denver’s vanquished “reformers” need to face the new day and give newly elected Nate Easley and Andrea Merida the full benefit of their doubt.  (I promise I am not saying this because Merida’s father, a wonderful character with whom I have a good relationship, recently threatened, half-jokingly – I think – to, um, emasculate me if I wasn’t nice to his daughter).

Yes, Kaplan will probably be the next board president. Yes, Easley and Merida were backed by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. Yes, they have expressed some concern about the proliferation of charter schools, about closing schools and about the pace of change in DPS.

But as one outgoing school board member told me last night, “Everything looks really different once you get on the inside.”

Let’s hope that proves true. One scenario that has some people worried goes like this. On November 30, in its last official action, the current school board votes to make major changes to the district’s three lowest-performing schools: Greenlee K-8, Philips Elementary and Lake Middle. These changes are part of the “turnaround” strategy promoted by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and are an integral component of Race to the Top.

That same evening, the new board is sworn in, and as its first official action, on a 4-3 vote, reverses the “turnaround” decisions made just moments before.

If this scenario comes true, and it is distinctly possible, then Colorado’s Race to the Top application really might be in trouble. If the state’s one large urban district goes squirrelly on the kinds of changes Duncan and President Obama support, kiss hundreds of millions of dollars goodbye.

If the new majority tries to prevent school closures and starts rejecting charter applications willy-nilly, then I fear the worst. To me, the worst would be having Boasberg lose board support and leave, to be replaced by a recycled career superintendent. If that happens, DPS is in even deeper trouble than it is now. I’m trusting that this won’t happen.

Last night, everyone focused on the adults; their opposing camps, the big donors, vendettas, factions, what have you. Let’s hope that today everyone can remember Denver’s children.

 

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