Jeannie Kaplan, who was elected to two terms on the Denver school board, explains here that reform has not worked despite a lavish PR campaign to boast of “results.”
She begins:
“I have been suffering from DPS and “reform” fatigue, hence my recent silence. But several things have occurred that have catapulted me back to my computer: multiple emails from Superintendent Tom Boasberg touting DPS’ success; newspaper stories telling the truth about public education; conversations with real “boots on the ground” DPS educators and parents; and former DPS superintendent, current U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s somewhat over the top introduction of his childhood friend and current DPS superintendent Tom Boasberg’s appearance at a No Child Left Behind re-authorization panel where the Senator reiterated the DPS success myth. When Senator Bennet finished, committee chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said, “I think that boils down to ‘he [Boasberg] cleaned up after you left.’” To which Senator Bennet responded, “You can’t even know half of the truth.”
Kaplan proceeds to tell the whole truth, not less than half the truth. After ten years of high-stakes testing and charters, achievement gains have been meager. Denver schools are increasingly segregated. The achievement gap has increased. Pension costs have grown, along with debt. Teacher turnover has increased. And local control has been sacrificed as out-of-state money pours in from wealthy individuals and national groups like Stand for Children and Democrats for Education Reform to elect reformers to the school board.
Read her post to learn the truth that neither Senator Bennett nor Superintendent Boasberg mentioned at the NCLB hearings.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Au contraire – rephorm is working perfectly everywhere it’s been implemented. So long as you don’t get confused and start thinking that “working” means improving public education.
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Yes, so-called education reform is one of the few realms where failure, as long as you destabilize the pubic schools and enrich the edu-profiteers, is success.
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All state employees in states where the privatization movement is rampant should be vigilant about watching for pension destabilization schemes like the one illustrated here in Colorado. Yesterday, Christie was found at fault for withholding $1.57 from the pension fund in NJ. The Wall St. privatizers are looking for ways to further manipulate the funding of state pensions in New Jersey. These vulture capitalists will suck any pension dry if given access to them. http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/02/nj_unions_former_governor_deride_christie_pension.html
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Thank you, as always. A couple of brave DPS teachers have commented on these “reforms.” But nothing is making much of a difference here. 29 new school proposals in the pipeline, 8 of which are DSST s. Even after head of schools, bill Kurtz, white east coast (Maine) Princeton grad assured the DPS board DSST cannot be the solution for DPS. Seems he forgot about that or has been bought off. 25% of secondary school students will be DSST when these new schools are up and operational.
The real problem here is this proliferation of private charters. 59 and counting. No accountability at all. I’ll detail that soon. Sorry for the rant. I get pretty upset with what’s happening here. Nothing will change until we get a different board. Don’t see that happening for quite a while, perhaps too late to undo all of this.
How are you feeling?
Thanks again. I very much appreciate your support.
Jeannie
Sent from my iPad
>
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Jeannie Kaplan is the only one who has been able to describe the havoc in the DPS halls. It is not a kid friendly place and what they are doing to kids and teachers reminds me of this saying, “And may the odds ever be in your favor.” Keep posting Jennie it is the only thing that gives a lot of our thoughts validation.
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Kaplan mentions the “business” model. The de formers do not seem to realize that businesses are giving up this unprofitable management style!
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