Another View: AV #184 - To candidate Walker Stapleton: school choice is not a silver bullet

An Independent voter’s caution to candidate Walker Stapleton:

the challenges facing K-12 are enormous

And therefore, beware of speaking of school choice as a silver bullet

2014, from Republican candidate Bob Beauprez’s statement on education:

Strongly encourage more choice and competition in education, at the local level

through charter schools and other educational choices.[i]

2018, from Republican candidate Walker Stapleton’s web site, “Stapleton/Sias for Colorado”:

As Governor, I will fight for the right of all Coloradans to have access to high-quality education. Expanding school choice is a critical component of this effort. Charter schools provide a low-cost, high-quality education that serves a more diverse student body than traditional public schools.

These schools are at the forefront of education reform and have made tremendous strides in providing equal access to education for all children in Colorado.[ii]

There are still several weeks before we vote for our next governor, so here is one Independent voter who hopes that our candidates will engage in a constructive debate about education policy.

To that end, I offer this unsolicited advice to Walker Stapleton.

Even Gov. Owens could be too single-minded about the benefits of choice, as in the failure to turn around the low-performing Cole Middle School by forcing it to become a charter. (Senate Bill 186 - Another View #37 –

“Oxymoron: Mandatory Charters,” Dec. 2004)

The last time Colorado elected a Republican governor – Bill Owens, November 1998 – one factor for his win may have been the attention he gave to public education. A number of us were grateful that Owens, a proponent of choice and charter schools throughout the 1990’s – well before he ran for Governor, came to see expanding choice as one piece of the large puzzle that represents our K-12 schools.

The current campaign reawakens the concern some of us had when Bob Beauprez put forth his education priorities in 2014: the tendency for Republicans to portray choice as The Answer for the woes of our public education system. (The Republican National Committee might be partly to blame for such a narrow perspective. See quotes from the RNC’s education priorities, Addendum A, and why I say the exaggerated claims about choice was “wishful thinking in 1990” that “now … rings hollow.”)

Back in 1999, as Gov. Owens completed his first year in office, he put together a broad set of recommendations. I examined them in Another View #14 and wrote:

The current administration did some careful thinking to come up with what I’ll sum up as nine proposals. As many have said, there are many pieces to the puzzle of education reform; no one idea or proposal will get us from here to where we want to go. What Owens presented—at least nine recommendations—appeared to touch on many pieces of that puzzle.

“Many pieces …” – a cliché even then, but for me the phrase referred to the education conference at Keystone hosted by the Gates Family Foundation a decade earlier, “Public Education: A Shift in the Breeze” (September 1989). As a program officer at Gates from 1990-96, I found the 19 public policy recommendations from the conference—supported by the majority of the 225 Colorado leaders who attended that three-day conference—an essential guide for my work. Expanding choice was one of the 19 proposals; others addressed self-governing schools and alternative school governance structures (anticipating the charter school movement); teacher education, development, licensure, tenure, and evaluation; early childhood education; standards for high school graduates, and more.

By no means comprehensive, but the recommendations were wide-ranging and bipartisan enough to win the respect of many trying to determine effective education policy back then. The conference proved especially influential on our governor, Roy Romer[iii] - still in his first term. Education became a priority throughout his next two terms, and, to be sure, in his next job—superintendent of the Los Angeles schools.

Stapleton and choice – and “many pieces of the puzzle”

Last spring Colorado Succeeds conducted a Gubernatorial Candidate Survey of the major candidates in the race.[iv] I quote here from Stapleton’s response. (Emphasis mine)

If elected as Governor, what would be your top three education priorities for ensuring Colorado has the best schools in the country?

1. School Choice: Increase access to school choice, we are for all the above education. Be it public, charter, private or homeschool, let’s empower parents to find the best fit for their children to succeed.

In July Chalkbeat Colorado also asked the party nominees their views on a number of education issues.[v]

If you could make one change to improve K-12 education in Colorado, what would it be and why?

I would like to see every parent have a choice in what school to send their child, regardless of income or ZIP code. The quality of our schools varies drastically not just across the state, but sometimes even within a particular school district. That said, one thing has been shown to be certain: Competition in public education works, and no parent should be condemned to sending their child to a failing public school. Period….

Asked about choice, Stapleton’s answer was direct, clear, and, in my view, sound.

Should Colorado expand school choice further or do more to restrict it – and how would either be accomplished?

Colorado should expand school choice to every child and parent in our state. If local school boards refuse to provide options within their district, I would look at ways to encourage the State Board of Education to expand options for students outside of their own district. We need an all-of-the-above approach to education, and this includes charter schools, public schools, and an emphasis on alternative schooling with vocational studies. Let’s not stymie our children’s futures by shoving them into boxes because of entrenched interests.

And yet when Colorado Succeeds and Chalkbeat Colorado asked questions on other matters, Stapleton often returned to “school choice” – as if it were the default answer. It seemed off target.

Colorado Succeeds: How would you make sure all Colorado students have access to a high performing school regardless of their zip code?

I am a strong advocate for school choice.

I think that it is insane to limit someone’s access to a world-class education based on where their parents get their mail. I support expanding access to charter schools and empowering parents, teachers, and students in their communities. … too often entrenched interests characterize school choice as an either-or scenario. This is nonsense; it has to be an all-the-above attitude….

Chalkbeat Colorado: How do you suggest narrowing the gap in achievement separating white from non-white students?

Charter schools, when compared to traditional public schools, serve a greater percentage of minority and English-as-a-second-language students. So again, I think expanding school choice and holding teachers and school districts accountable for the results they produce is critical to ensure a world-class education for every child in Colorado, regardless of income, ZIP code, race, creed, or religion….

Chalkbeat Colorado: About 40 percent of Colorado students score proficient on national (NAEP) exams in English and math, about on par with the nation. Are you satisfied with this, and if not, what would you do to improve those scores?

Absolutely not. We should not rest until Colorado is a national leader, across the board, in education. A recent study showed that if Colorado charter schools were their own education system, we would lead the entire nation in English and math scores for eighth graders. So I believe we have already laid the groundwork to make this a reality, and we do that by expanding school choice for every parent and child in Colorado….

Answering the questions? Thoughtful? It reminds me of Leslie Stahl’s revealing interview for 60 Minutes last spring: “Education Secretary Betsy DeVos struggles with ‘school choice’ question.”[vi] Please, no slogans.

Unaffiliated voters, perhaps especially anyone like me who taught in two charter schools or who has worked on projects for the Colorado League of Charter Schools, are glad that over 120,000 public school students now attend charter schools. We believe that what has been achieved to expand choice, through bipartisan efforts over the past 25 years since Gov. Romer signed the Charter School Law in June of 1993, has been a huge step forward for our K-12 schools. A reform we can celebrate.

This Independent voter has examined three issues I hope our next governor will tackle:

1. Reading by 4^thgrade - Dec. 2017 (AV#170)

2. Teaching - what if a key “reform,” SB 191, undermines trust? – Feb. 2018 (AV #176)

3. Our lowest-performing schools – May 2018 (AV#179)

However, it feels wrong to overstate how much expanding choice can accomplish. I can well imagine more strong charters making a positive difference in our most troubled districts, like Adams 14, Aurora and Pueblo 60, but according to the 2017 School Performance Frameworks, over 30 of their schools are on Priority Improvement or Turnaround. DPS, by many standards more open to “expanding choice” than any other district in Colorado, had 30 of its own schools earn equally low ratings in 2017. Expanding choice in these districts is an essential strategy, to be sure, but it is hardly sufficient.

And looking across the state, no one can pretend that expanding choice in our 108 small rural districts[vii] is likely to have great appeal in communities where there is often just one elementary, one middle, and one high school. Few moms and dads in those 108 districts see choice and charters as the remedy for limited resources and a shortage of teacher candidates, to name two of their bigger concerns.

Our governor should have a broad understanding of the issues for K-12 education: the achievement gap; the challenge of turning around low-performing schools; our struggle to make accountability fair and effective, etc. I acknowledge that Stapleton has spoken of the need “to take a comprehensive approach,”[viii] and has addressed other areas relevant to improving K-12 education – see Addendum B. What I have highlighted here is where Stapleton’s focus seems too narrowly focused on one strategy. After all these years of school reform, I trust we have learned one basic lesson: there is no silver bullet.

40% of the state budget = 40% of our Governor’s time and attention?

At the Republican candidates’ web site, “Stapleton/Sias for Colorado,” we read:

Education is an investment not only in our children, but in the future of Colorado. Unfortunately, we have far too many students who have become trapped in failing or under-achieving schools. We spend nearly 40% of our general fund budget on K-12 education, yet only one in four students graduate fully prepared for college or the workforce.

Two points: First, the problem is stated accurately, but note where Stapleton goes in his next two sentences (quoted in my opening):

As Governor, I will fight for the right of all Coloradans to have access to high-quality education. Expanding school choice is a critical component of this effort.

I recommend Stapleton and his education advisors review the 2004-06 story from Cole Middle, referred to earlier—“What happened at Cole offers a cautionary tale….” (from “The state tried to save one Colorado school before and failed,” The Denver Post, March 7, 2017[ix]; “Cole takeover should teach a lesson,” by Van Schoales, Alex Medler, and Alan Gottlieb, The Denver Post, Jan. 3, 2004).

Second, consider that observation about “40% of our budget.” What percentage of their time should our governors spend addressing K-12 schools? If not 40%, certainly more time than what we have seen by Gov. Hickenlooper, who has been equally single-minded, in his case asking schools to train students for the workplace (See Another View #91, 115, 171, 175). Our next governor, I believe, should have spent enough time studying education in our state to know, at a bare minimum, of:

1) our failure to turn around so many of our lowest performing schools (the state now reports close to 160 schools on Priority Improvement or Turnaround status[x]);

2) our inability to see even half of students in grades 3-8 perform at a proficient level on the state assessments in English (44.5%) and math (34.1%)[xi],

3) our persistently high remediation rates (35.3% in the latest report from the Colorado Department of Higher Education[xii]) for high school graduates seeking to attend a Colorado college.

And he should know that each of these represent deep-seated, complex challenges.

State leadership needs to step back and see, if you’ll forgive me, “the many pieces of the K-12 puzzle” in 2018. An honest assessment will be humbling. We fall short in so many ways.

H.L. Mencken’s line fits: "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." Not that more choice is wrong. But as educators and reformers look at the many challenges facing K-12 education, we know this: harping on choice is simplistic.

Seven weeks to go – there is still time! This Independent voter hopes candidate Stapleton will broaden his critique of and his recommendations for our K-12 schools to better reflect the complexity of the problems we face.

Addendum A

Republican National Committee – Education Reform

At the Republican National Committee’s website[xiii], the first two sentences under “Education Reform” state:

Parents – not Washington bureaucrats – should be the chief decision makers when it comes to their children’s education. School choice, voucher, and charter programs are just a few methods Republicans advocate to empower parents and provide greater opportunities to children regardless of their zip code.

Well, “just a few methods,” but clearly choice is The Big One, which comes across as so single-minded that it seems myopic. The next two sentences expand on this idea, but as we have heard this since the publication in 1990 of Politics, Markets, and America's Schools (Chubb, Moe), it feels dated and stale.

By introducing competition into our education system, lower income families have the chance to rise up and break the cycle of poverty. Our Party deeply believes in decentralizing our education system to return power back to you and your community.

Some truth here–this belief is validated by the many good charters in Colorado serving a high percentage of students on free and reduced lunch and students of color, especially in Denver—but it overstates the results of a much-more choice friendly system than Colorado had 30 years ago. Who would argue that Denver’s 56 charters, or the state’s 250, have done a lot to “break the cycle of poverty” in our education system? It was wishful thinking in 1990; today, with little evidence to support it, it rings hollow.

Addendum B

From Stapleton/Sias for Colorado web site:

STAPLETON ANNOUNCES EDUCATION PRIORITIES TO HELP STUDENTS SUCCEED – PAY TEACHERS MORE, SAVE PARENTS MONEY, AND PROVIDE MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR KIDS[xiv]

Denver, CO – Today, Walker Stapleton unveiled an education agenda that will put more money in our classrooms and more money in parents’ pockets where it belongs.

“As I travel across Colorado, I constantly hear from concerned parents about their children’s education,” said Walker. “It’s up to the next governor to make sure our classrooms are adequately funded and parents have more choices when it comes to their child’s education. I’m confident my proposals will help hardworking Colorado families and, most importantly, help our students succeed.”

Dollars to Classrooms and Teachers, Not Administration:
An overview of Colorado Department of Education data reveals from 2011 to 2017, student population grew by 6.3%, the number of teachers grew by 8.1%, and the number of administrators grew by 34.6%. As Governor, Walker will work with the legislature to incentivize school districts to cut administration costs and make sure our education dollars reach the classroom and teachers.

Walker added, “In order to retain the best teachers in the country, we should be using our education dollars to pay our teachers and get more money into classrooms to help students succeed. This can be done with existing funds if we increase transparency in the budgeting process and direct dollars to the teachers and the classrooms where they belong.”

Back to School Shopping Tax Holiday
Fourteen other states have tax holidays for back to school shopping during the month of August, and according to the Denver Post, the average family is expected to spend around $680 on back to school purchases this year. A tax holiday on back to school items like clothing, footwear, and school supplies could save Colorado families tens of millions of dollars.

“Every parent knows back to school shopping can be a stressful time of the year and the added stress of worrying about the impact these costs have on a family’s budget doesn’t make anything easier,” continued Walker. “A tax holiday on back to school shopping will put more money in hardworking Coloradans’ pockets to help offset these costs and make a stressful time of year a little easier for Colorado families.”

Empowering Families to Save for Their Children’s Education
Coloradans need more opportunity to succeed. Walker’s proposal will allow parents to open a tax-free education savings account where parents can save money to use for education related expenses, including early childhood education, music lessons, tutoring services, and career and technical educational programs.

“Making available more avenues for parents to save for educational expenses is a commonsense policy supported by Coloradans across the political spectrum,” said Walker. “Providing parents with the ability to save for things like early childhood education, career and technical programs, and even tutoring and music lessons makes it easier for parents to plan for their child’s future. This will help students access programs to improve their education.”

Additional Background on Walker’s Bipartisan Education Priorities:
As Treasurer, Walker worked with Senator Mike Johnston to set up the land trust investment advisory board, run through the Treasurer’s office, that has resulted in more money for public education, without raising taxes. Walker was also honored as a Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellow for his bipartisan work on education policy.

As Governor, Walker will build on his bipartisan work in education policy, will fight for the right of all Coloradans to have access to a high-quality education, and continue to drive for innovation in education that increases student achievement.

Walker will expand school choice because charter schools, which are public schools, provide a low-cost, high-quality education that serves a more diverse student body than traditional public schools. He will also look to expand career and technical education programs and continue Colorado’s success with concurrent enrollment to ensure our students have the tools to succeed.