Janel Highfill lives in Northwest Denver. She is a parent of two students at Brown Elementary and a member of Stand for Children.
I was filled with nervous excitement Wednesday night as I pulled up to Edison Elementary, where I was part of a small group of parents leading a community discussion about Northwest Denver schools. We first had the vision for this last February after joining Stand for Children, an education advocacy organization that has been supporting our efforts to gather parents, community members, and teachers to share concerns and priorities for our schools.
As I stepped out of the car, I thought of North High School, just a five minute drive from Edison, with a remediation rate of 75 percent. That means that out of the 189 students who graduated in 2009, only 47 left with the skills needed to dive into college-level work. I also thought about the impact of recent budget cuts on schools like Brown Elementary, which has been successfully transformed and is now on the road to success. Northwest parents and community members like me are frustrated by these issues, but this meeting wasn’t about complaining, it was about finding solutions.
Given our excitement at the thought of coming together to discuss these pressing needs, I was surprised by what I saw in front of Edison: DPS Board members Andrea Merida and Jeannie Kaplan standing in front of building trying to silence the dialogue.
Yes, you read that right. Two elected board members were passing out fliers with inaccurate, anti-Stand for Children propaganda. With DPS’s recent focus on Northwest Denver and the forthcoming Northwest Community Committee, which will create a feeder pattern plan for schools in our quadrant, you’d think that Kaplan and Merida would welcome and encourage parents and teachers to roll up their sleeves and brainstorm solutions. But instead, their goal seemed to be to discourage us from having a conversation.
Several of us invited Kaplan and Merida inside to our meeting, which, despite their efforts, was a great success. Perhaps if they had come in to hear our ideas, Kaplan and Merida would have gleaned valuable insight into what matters to parents and teachers. Perhaps they could have used our input to lead the district to provide the quality education that all kids deserve. Clearly, these aren’t their top priorities.
DPS is facing a number of struggles, including an intense debate around the Far Northeast turnaround plan. I’m surprised that Kaplan’s and Merida’s top priority last night was to stand outside Edison Elementary and attempt to stop parents from coming together. Is this really how our elected school board officials should be spending their time?
Most of us who are committed to education issues, no matter which “side” we fall on, agree on the values of parent and community engagement and focusing on children’s need first. Those of us who met last night passionately embrace those principles. Those who stood outside, clearly don’t.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Ms. Highfill, I applaud you for wanting to get involved in the goings-on in DPS. We’re not going to get this right until community is part of the solution.
With all due respect, not a single person from Stand invited me in. In fact, I have never met you. With regard to the fliers that were being passed out, do you dispute the campaign finance information, culled from public sources, that they contained? If not, then which part is is that you find inaccurate? Readers can find the flier in question for download at defensedenver.com.
My colleague, Jeanne Kaplan, and I are always open to dialogue with those that want the same. Given the fact that Stand was lobbying so hard against the recent Board resolution to create a community process to address exactly the concerns you list here, I regret that I am so hard pressed to find an example of our own unwillingness to dialogue.
Again, thank you for your willingness to work hard for Denver’s kids.
Wow, remarkable behavior from two sitting board members….what did their handouts say?
Van, some of us advocate surreptitiously, and some of us advocate out in the light of day.
The flier in question is here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/39273153/Stand-s-Big-Money-Flyer
Andrea, I appreciate the fact that you do it in the light of day. I suspect that most would say the same about me over the twenty plus years I’ve been working on this stuff. I’ve worked hard to make my agenda fairly transparent and if not ask a question. Thanks for the dialog here and elsewhere.
Much appreciated, Van. I always enjoy sharing ideas with you, and yes, you are always out in the open about where you stand. It makes honest dialogue so much easier.
Andrea: Please let me know what DEFENSE is defending? High drop out rates? High college remediation? The school house to jailhouse track? The Military/McDonalds low skill, low wage feeder pattern?
Would you send your loved ones to any of the schools you are currently defending? I did, but you refused to act when I shared with you verifiable acts of ongoing deplorable incompetence.
I am serious. What are you DEFENDING?
Public education, simply put. Also, equity for ALL students, not just a handful. There is no doubt that public education needs to be cleaned up. There is no doubt that our district has consistently fallen down on the job. But when the only solution is one whose unintended consequence is segregation for differently-abled and other-than-English dominant students, then that’s no solution at all. What’s ironic in your comment is that some of the programs you hold up are rote-intensive, high-stakes environments that work for naturally compliant students and that push out nearly 50% of every other student.
Instead, the real solution is somewhere between what we’ve always done and what “reformers” want, married with true community input.
With regard to “refusing to act,” I have no idea to what you refer. Are you referring to the brief conversation we had outside Edison, in which you inferred that North’s assistant principal should be removed? If so, I think you’d better get more familiar with the policy governance model the board majority maintains, which does not allow me to get involved with personnel issues.
Thanks for your comment, at any rate.
Ms. Merida,
Thank you for your response. I personnally invited everyone outside to join our meeting as did several Stand staff. I would love to have had you join us and will make sure you get an advance invitation to our next meeting.
In terms of your question about the flyer, there were a number of depictions that I found troubling. One, the characterization of 527′s as “shadowy.” It is my understanding that 527′s are public record and are a common part of the political process (whether we like it or not). If fact, here is an article about the role they played in the last school board elections: http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2010/01/19/2484-final-tally-for-dps-school-board-races
Also, the suggestion that Stand is not committed to genuine grassroots engagement. There was no hidden agenda in our meeting on Wednesday. We were there as parents to express concerns and suggestions and work toward change. That is my understanding of what grassroots engagement is all about.
Lastly, the assertion that Stand focuses on electing “anti-education funding Republicans” is false. Stand is a nonpartisan organization and working to ensure that schools have adequate resources is an explicit part of its policy platform.
I appreciate your willingness to serve on the school board. I can see that it is not an easy job. My hope is that we can find ways to work in concert to achieve the goals we share for DPS children. Thank you
Ms. Highfill, it appears, then that your objections are mostly about the flier, not whether or not my colleague and I are afraid of dialogue. Would that be correct? ( As a side note, I am not the author of the flier.)
If so, I would ask that you edit your piece, including the title. Also, it’s also incorrect to state that we were “trying to silence the dialogue.” Are you sure that was our intent?
Rep. Daniel Kagan in HD3 is a good Democrat and a champion of public education. I am sure you were not involved with the endorsement and support of his Republican challenger, but I cannot help but wonder if Stand’s endorsement was in retaliation for his filibuster and “no” vote on SB191. I cannot expect you to speculate, but if that in fact was the case, then Stand cannot truly be in favor of building consensus and common ground for the good of our kids. In that case, Stand is just playing politics.
Believe me when I say that you don’t need to use an organization to share your thoughts with me. As Van Schoales of DFER has stated earlier, I am open to dialogue. I invite you to see for yourself.
I am a left-wing educator who believes we need many choices for different kinds of students. KIPP, Big Picture Company Schools, Schools like the ones in the Harlem Children’s Zone, where all kinds of community supports are in place, expeditionary learning schools, Project-based learning schools such as the Minnesota New Country School and all kinds of other options. This is not a Republican/Democratic argument, or right-wing/left-wing disagreement. We have to move away from the status-quo. Community members gathering together, researching options and making local choices should always be viewed positively.
I, for one, view it positively. The false assertion that was made in this piece, with its own factual inaccuracies, was that I do not.
I just want to applaud anyone who is willing to take a stand for public education, especially when it is risky for their own career. Honestly, what’s the subject here: let’s all cheer for open and democratic dialogue. Or is it the very real battle that a very few have engaged to defend public education from privatization. Those of you who know me know my charter background, so this is not about charters–at least not the grassroots variety. One place the battle is currently engaged is at the Jefferson County Open School–a 40 year model of democratic education that is now a state turnaround school and threatened with reform if they don’t conform.
Personally, I feel the main issue with Mss. Kaplan and Merida educational advocacy work, they are local school board members and are elected to oversee and provide governance over Denver Public Schools and I cannot figure out how their conduct is improve education in Denver. DPS School District schools are not what you can call “stellar” or “high achieving” by any stretch of the imagination. Great schools are a rarity. Equity is reached since pretty much no matter what race or social economic group, you belong to,because your options are so poor. This is especially true in Northwest Denver.
Northwest Denver has had an abundance of reform efforts, some worked, and some did not. However, what is clear, that from 2004-2009 NW Denver schools have decreased by a total of 801 students that are no longer attending schools in the neighborhood. I have not calculated the numbers for 2010, but it does not look like NW Denver is reaching the growth rate that DPS’s administration claim. Even the highest achieving school in NW Denver-Beach Court has enrollment numbers have decreased by 5% during 2004-2009.
The parents, teachers, and community members that where at the NW Denver Stand meeting where gathered to discuss issues about how the DenverPlan 2010 (voted in favor by Mss. Kaplan and Merida) is being implemented into NW Denver Schools. The DenverPlan 2010 has major gaps: no action plans, no student strategies, and teachers are it seems are the only group that needto have accountability. The DenverPlan 2010 has sub-strategies of strategies for only the Strategic Use of Resources, Family and Community Engagement, and Great People. I overheard a parent refer to it as “a wishlist”.
The group that was there, give insight into what they feel are concerns with the state of education within Northwest Denver. It was agreed on that we might not see eye-to-eye on every issue, but we all agree on the same goal and that is we want excellent schools for each child of Northwest Denver. As a group, we voted to focus on the issues Middle School and High Schools options through using the DenverPlan 2010 themes of High Expectations and Strategic Use of Resources.
But, isn’t this Mss. Kaplan and Merida duties as DPS school board members to insure that DPS meets high expectations and uses resources effectively? Why is it as parents, teachers, community members and taxpayers in Northwest Denver feel we need to focus on these issues? Instead of holding DPS accountable, Mss. Kaplan and Merida felt they would advocate on behave of an organization, DEFENSE (Democrats for Excellent Neighborhoods School Education) through handing out DEFENSE literature that questioned Stand for Children financing while defaming their branding.
In the future, I hope that Mss. Kaplan and Merida will spend their time participating in activities that are holding Denver Public School’s administration accountable instead of trying to disrupt community and parent engagement. It is time we start holding everyone accountable for the responsibility of the sad state of education in Denver, this includes students, parents/caregivers, teachers, principals, district administration and school board members.
Ms. Sorensen, all due respect, but my colleague and I have a long track record of holding the administration accountable. It’s Ms. Kaplan that brings attention to the press release flurry when the district trumpets the modest CSAP gains that don’t meet our on Denver Plan goal of 3.5% annual growth. Both of us are the ones talking about the way the district may not be using “resources effectively” as you suggest, via the way money is doled out to innovation schools and the fact that we’re dealing with an interest-rate swap, among other issues.
We were there to address the issues called out in the flier with Stand staff. We were also there to talk to parents about the drastic disconnect between the issues that need mitigation that you call out here (declining enrollments, low expectations and resource management) and Stand for Children’s intense lobbying against the very NW community process that would lay all these issues bare, ripe for the fixing.
Do you not find this disconnect the least bit ironic? I do. That’s why I want to hold Stand accountable.
Why is it ok for elected officials to be members of Stand for Children, but it’s not ok for my colleague and I to support DeFENSE? Is our advocacy for public education only valid when it fits some people’s notion of the right agenda?
I realize that you may not be familiar with our work nor regularly attend board meetings. They are time consuming endeavors, to be sure. Here’s a link where you can find archived video of board meetings so that you can see for yourself what we’re all about: http://genome.dpsk12.org/1/Page/Published/10.aspx
The videos look to be about a month behind, but you can get a good sense of what we advocate, at any rate.