Monday, September 26, 2022

AV #252 - K-12 education: In what direction are we headed? Do we share common goals?

 

First in a series – Finding agreement amidst our divisions                                                                               


 

As we see districts like Denver Public Schools and Douglas County articulate markedly different goals, can the state find a shared vision? Or are we too divided?

Does “local control” mean 178 districts each “go their own way”?

 

“I think that the current period has a great trouble defining a direction. It’s very responsive to the emotion of the moment.”

Henry Kissinger. Interview with The Wall Street Journal, Aug 13-14, 2022. Discussing his latest best-seller, Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategies.

 

Kissinger is speaking here of the world. But his statement reflects where we are with public education, does it not? WSJ asked Kissinger about the dangerous situation with both Russia and China, and if the U.S. “could manage the two adversaries by triangulating them, as during the Nixon years.” He answered: “You can’t just now say we’re going to split them off … All you can do is not to accelerate the tensions and to create options, and for that you have to have some purpose.”

My question—to bring this idea closer to home—is whether we as a state must accept that Denver Public Schools and Douglas County (just as two examples) will each go their separate ways, as if untethered to any shared goals for all of K-12 education across Colorado. Is this intrinsic to being a “local control” state? Or can Colorado leaders find a way “not to accelerate the tensions” and articulate a few common goals? Can they clarify our purpose? Can they give us a sense of direction? 

**

It matters. Is there a leadership book doesn’t emphasize this? Begin with the end in mind (Covey). To inspire, start with why (Sinek). Or this, to paraphrase the Cheshire Cat’s wisdom in Alice in Wonderland: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." 

We might yearn for clarity on where we are going, but two factors in Colorado stymie such hopes.

First, in a local control state, we allow for clashing agendas. DPS board members can take their schools in one direction, while the Douglas County board maps out an alternative course. Maybe we are OK with this; we live in different worlds (we tell ourselves), so of course we have different beliefs. Or at least different priorities. This is just the way it is, in our divided nation.

Two examples: choice and equity.

Choice:  Roughly 24% of the students in both districts enroll in charter schools. But the current union-backed board in DPS prioritizes neighborhood schools over choice (See excerpts from “Dismantling Denver,” by Alan Gottlieb and Parker Baxter[i]). The current Denver School Board’s top five goals make no mention of choice (Addendum A). In contrast, the Strategic Plan for DCSD affirms, “Our community values choice for families and students in their education.” 

On matters of equity and race, the difference is especially stark.

Denver Public Schools

Douglas County School District

From DPS Board of Education Ends Policies,[ii] May 5, 2022

Global End Statement: [DPS] will provide students with Racial and Educational Equity to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to become contributing citizens in our complex world. 

DPS Ends Policies: #1 – Equity. #2 - Teaching & Learning, #3 - Student & Staff Well-Being, #4 - Health & Safety, #5 - Post Graduation & Global Citizenship. (More in Addendum B.) 

Chalkbeat Colorado, May 23, 2022

 “Denver’s superintendent’s goals include dismantling ‘oppressive systems’”[iii]  

According to Chalkbeat, the Denver School Board of Education produced five “overarching goals.”

#1 - “The district will be ‘free of oppressive systems and structures rooted in racism.’”

9News, Jan 26, 2022

 “Douglas County School Board approves resolution recommending changes to educational equity policy”[iv]

 “Last year, the old board approved an Educational Equity policy, which would take an approach to the curriculum with diversity and inclusion in mind.”

 Colorado Public Radio, Feb. 3, 2022

 

   “The new board majority recently passed a resolution calling for changes to the policy, which they say has led to ‘shaming and retaliation against teachers, students and staff who express views and opinions that are counter to others’ views and opinions,’ according to school board member Kaylee Winegar.”[v]

 

Colorado Public Radio, April 4, 2022

 “Former DougCo superintendent says he was fired illegally over support for masking, equity policies”[vi]

Second, Colorado’s governance structure limits what our leaders are able, or willing, to do. In the best of times they can cooperate, but I doubt any of them is in a hurry to affirm: This I Believe, Here I Stand. No one steps out and says: here is the purpose of public education in our state, here is where we need to go. And so we muddle through, without a vision–as Bob Dylan put it, “no direction home.”

Governor Polis has been a tireless advocate for early childhood education. However, he seldom articulates a vision for the larger K-12 sphere as Governors Roy Romer (1988-2000) and Bill Owens (2000-2008) were eager to do. Furthermore, our Governor has no role in appointing the Commissioner or members of the State Board of Education. He works with them; can he get out in front of them? (In a second term, Polis might feel free to do so, much as Roy Romer did, 1991-95.)

We elect our seven (soon to be nine) State Board members. Each speaks and votes based on his or her vision for what is best for the state. Their decisions can affect what our 178 districts do regarding accountability, choice, and standards; they convey the majority’s priorities. But for the most part the State Board responds, it does not lead. And a Commissioner of Education appointed by the State Board of Education is limited in her ability to set a direction for the state. All are constrained. 

And while individual legislators can demonstrate leadership on particular issues, they are inevitably more practical than visionary. They focus on this year’s priorities, not the long term. If asked in the winter: where are we headed?, they might answer, we are headed for adjournment by May 6—so let’s accomplish something by then. 

As much as we might need it, perhaps it is unreasonable to ask our state leaders to try to articulate a common sense of purpose, a shared sense of where we are headed. But without it, where are we?


Addendum A - Denver’s top give goals – “ends statements”* 

May 23, 2022

  1. The district will be “free of oppressive systems and structures rooted in racism.”
  2. Students will receive a well-rounded and culturally relevant education. All students will score at grade level on district tests, and students who score below will achieve “significant academic growth.” Students with disabilities will have the resources they need.
  3. Students and staff will be mentally and physically healthy.
  4. The district will be a safe environment where the impacts of COVID are minimized.
  5. Graduates will be ​​independent, lifelong learners who can make well-informed decisions.

*From “Denver superintendent’s goals include dismantling ‘oppressive systems.’” Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado, https://coloradosun.com/2022/05/23/alex-marrero-goals/

Addendum B - From Denver Public Schools’ Strategic Plan – DPS Thrives*

Aug. 19, 2022

Mission:                                                                                                                                            (Bold mine)

Educational equity is our collective responsibility. We prepare students for career, college and life. We create conditions and partnerships where students, families and team members belong and thrive.

The System Experience: Equity and Excellence

Unfair, inequitable student outcomes are part of DPS’ past and present because our education system is designed to be unfair and inequitable. It is time to finally disrupt and dismantle the oppression and supremacy our system perpetuates each day. We will eliminate ineffective systems and replace them with equitable, transparent systems. We are committed to fostering meaningful partnerships that elevate the role of our community in reshaping DPS for the future. We want to be a district that students, adults and community flock to and are proud of—for the work we do to ensure our students have the experience they deserve.

Goals

1. DPS disrupts, dismantles and redesigns systems and practices for equity and excellence.

2. DPS provides resources and services equitably and transparently.

3. DPS is recognized locally, regionally and nationally as a leader in practices for equity and sustainability. 

Strategies. #1 – Systems for Equity:

a. Establish regular routines for auditing equity in operational and academic systems.

b. Identify, dismantle and rebuild inequitable systems by fostering student, family and community voice and leadership.

c. Cultivate student and family interest in DPS by improving programming, choice and communication.

d. Build a holistic data culture

*DPS Thrives: Executive Summary, Denver Public Schools, https://issuu.com/dpscommunications/docs/dps_thrives_executive_summary.

 

Endnotes


[i] From “Dismantling Denver - The city was a national model for education reform. Then union-backed candidates took over the school board,” Education Next, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Spring 2021).

https://www.educationnext.org/dismantling-denver-nationwide-mode-education-reform-union-backed-candidates-took-over-school-board/

Charter schools and school choice. Last fall, the board voted to delay by a year the opening of a new high school by DSST Public Schools, a local STEM charter network. The new high school would have enrolled students from its nearby middle school—the highest-performing middle school in Denver, where 80 percent of students qualify for subsidized lunches and 94 percent are of color. While board members said their move to delay was prompted by concerns about achievement at other DSST schools, they were holding DSST to a much higher standard than that which they applied to middle schools they directly control.

   Ultimately, the State Board of Education reversed the Denver Public Schools board decision. The local board cannot end charter schools in Denver and in fact could lose exclusive chartering authority under state law if the district denies charters to worthy applicants. Denver’s charter schools are much more integrated into the district than they are elsewhere in the country, sharing not only an enrollment system but also various facilities and some services for students with severe special needs.

   But with Denver Public Schools enrollment projected to shrink for the foreseeable future, cooperation is under pressure. Some board members buy into the narrative that Denver’s charters—all nonprofits—have some sort of profit motive, and they describe charters as part of a corporate- and privatization-backed conspiracy to weaken traditional public schools. To many who oppose choice, charter schools present a threat to their vision of what public education ought to be: funded, employed, and controlled by a central authority.

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