Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider reveal the secret ingredient to the success of the Resistance to privatization/portfolio district strategy in Denver in this podcast.
For years, Denver had been a feather in the cap of DFER and other advocates of privatization. Betsy DeVos lauded Denver for its commitment to school choice, although she was disappointed that it had not yet adopted vouchers. the Brookings Institution praised Denver for its deep commitment to choice.
Michael Bennett rose from Denver superintendent to the U.S. Senate and still touts his success as a school reformer.
But in the last school board election, the critics of school closings, portfolio strategies, and charter schools won the seats to control the board, to the amazement of everyone.
How did it happen?
Jennifer Berkshire wrote: It’s a fascinating and inspiring story. The movement to “flip the board” started in Denver’s Black community and was then taken up by teachers. But the most amazing part of the story may be how young people – the products of the Denver reform experiment – have risen up to demand change. I don’t think that’s what DFER envisioned!
Listen to the podcast.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Bennett was actually “pushed” on CO by the DNC. No one can tell me otherwise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bennet …
From 1988 until 1990, when he left to attend Yale, he served as an aide to Ohio Governor Richard Celeste.[15] After law school he served as a law clerk for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals[17] and as an associate to Washington, D.C. attorney Lloyd Cutler.[15] He then served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General during the Bill Clinton administration.[18] Douglas Bennet worked in the Clinton White House as well, as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. Following a stint as an assistant to the U.S. attorney in Connecticut, Bennet left the legal world and moved West.[15] After briefly living in Montana, he moved with his fiancé to Colorado in 1997.[15][19] Bennet worked for six years in Denver as Managing Director for the Anschutz Investment Company, where he led the reorganization of an oil company and helped consolidate three movie theater chains into the Regal Entertainment Group.[20][21]
While working for Anschutz, Bennet befriended fellow Wesleyan alumnus John Hickenlooper, informally advising the latter’s successful campaign for mayor of Denver.[19] Moving back into public service, Bennet served for two years as Hickenlooper’s Chief of Staff.
The Denver Board of Education selected Bennet as superintendent of Denver Public Schools on June 27, 2005, and he took office on July 1. He had no experience as a school administrator.[15] Under Bennet’s leadership, the Denver Public School system grew student enrollment, decreased dropout rates, and improved graduation rates and college enrollment. Those trends have continued since Bennet left the office.[22] Bennet collaborated with educators and community members to develop the Denver Plan, a commitment to increase student success by focusing on higher expectations, better professional learning opportunities for educators, and deeper engagement with the community and stakeholders.[23] Bennet and the City of Denver also partnered with private philanthropists to increase college enrollment and affordability for DPS graduates.[24][25] The Denver Post said of his tenure, “Bennet has been a force—pushing reforms and steering the state’s second-largest district to a culture of success.”[26]
In 2008 Bennet persuaded the Denver Board of Education to enter into a 30-year, $750 million financial bond transaction with variable interest rates designed to fluctuate as economic conditions changed. According to The New York Times, “In short order, the transaction went awry because of stress in the credit markets, problems with the bond insurer and plummeting interest rates.” As of 2010 the school system had paid $115 million in interest and other fees, at least $25 million more than it originally anticipated.[27]
Bennet was among the many officials whose names were circulated for United States Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration, a position eventually filled by Arne Duncan.[28] Bennet and his wife were early Obama supporters during the 2008 Democratic primaries,[29] and he was among those who advised Obama on education issues.[30]
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and what scares me is the fact that guys like Bennet whose claim to fame is the invasion and ultimate abuse and upheaval of a school district remain known as “educational experts” their entire careers: somebody will always hire him to spread his so-called “expertise,” no matter how many times he is pushed out of this or that job
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There are no know K-12 “education experts” who haven’t spent at least ten years in the classroom.
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