Eleven candidates are vying for four open seats on the Denver Board of
Education in an election that could be pivotal to the district's future
at a time of churn and change.
Incumbent Jeanne Kaplan is running unopposed in her central Denver district. The three open seats are more competitive: Five candidates are vying for the northeast Denver seat being vacated by Kevin Patterson; two are running for Michelle Moss's vacant southwest Denver seat, and three candidates are competing for a citywide, at-large seat that has belonged to Jill Conrad for the past four years.
Education News Colorado sent
all candidates a nine-question questionnaire last week, to help voters
ascertain where the candidates stand on key issues facing the city's public
school system. Six of the 11 candidates responded. Two decided not to
respond and three failed to respond.
Readers can read the full, unedited answers by following the links below. Underneath the links is a full list of the questions candidates received.
These and other questions could come up during a series of three candidate forums to be held beginning next week and running into early October. Here is the forum schedule:
September 23, 6:30 p.m. Bruce Randolph School, 3955 Steele St. For at-large and District 4 candidates.
September 30, 6:30 p.m. Dora Moore School, 846 Corona St. For at-large and District 3 candidates.
October 8, 6 p.m. Lincoln High School,2285 S. Federal. For at-large and District 2 candidates.
Here are links to candidate responses to the questionnaire:
At-large candidate Mary Seawell.
Read her questionnaire answers here. And
visit her website here.
At-large candidate Christopher Scott.
Read his questionnaire answers here. And
visit his website here.
At-large candidate Deborah Fard.
Did not respond to questionnaire. No website found.
District 2 candidate Andrea Merida.
Read her questionnaire answers here. And
visit her website here.
District 2 candidate Ismael Garcia.
Read his questionnaire answers here. And
visit his website here.
District 3 candidate Jeanne Kaplan (incumbent, unopposed).
Kaplan declined to answer questionnaire.
Read her explanation here. And
visit her website here.
District 4 candidate Nate Easley.
Read his questionnaire answers here. And
visit his website here.
District 4 candidate Vernon Jones.
Read his questionnaire answers here. And
visit his website here.
District 4 candidate Alton Clark.
Did not respond to questionnaire. No website found.
District 4 candidate Andrea Mosby.
Did not respond to questionnaire. No website found.
District 4 candidate Jacqueline Shumway.
Declined to respond to questionnaire.
Visit her website here
Questions sent to DPS board candidates:
Effective teaching
1. Nearly 100 percent of teachers in Colorado’s largest school districts received satisfactory ratings in each of the past three years, according to an analysis by Education News Colorado. Because the current evaluation system appears to be broken, please provide specific examples of measurement tools you believe should be used to gauge teacher effectiveness and explain why. Examples might include linking CSAP growth data to a teacher or school, classroom observations by peer teachers, growth on district assessments, etc.
2. Most forcibly assigned teachers are placed in higher-poverty schools, at least partly because those schools tend to have more openings, according to an analysis by the Denver Post. This suggests the district’s “market incentive” – or $2,345 in 2008-09 – component of ProComp is not working to attract teachers to these schools. What should the district do to, first, end the predominance of direct placement in the poorest schools and, second, better attract teachers to these schools?
Pace of reform
3. Denver Public Schools has set 3.5 percent as its annual academic growth target on most CSAP indicators, a figure that some board members initially considered to be too low. Yet the district failed to meet even those goals on the 2009 CSAP administration. How do you feel about the pace of reform in DPS – are the district’s goals too high or too low?
4. DPS recently celebrated an increase in the graduation rate at Abraham Lincoln High School. Yet state figures show an increasing number of Lincoln graduates require remediation when they attend a college or university in Colorado. How can the district both increase the rigor of instruction while also increasing the percentage of high school graduates who are prepared – i.e., do not need remediation – in college?
Equity
5. What steps should be taken - or are being taken now – to ensure an A in an academic core course at a historically struggling school such as North High School carries the same weight as an A in an academic core course at a traditionally high-performing school such as the Denver School of the Arts? How do you ensure the quality of education is consistent across the district?
6. Does DPS currently have an appropriate balance of school options – traditional, charter, innovation - for students and parents? Why or why not? And, specifically, does DPS currently have an appropriate balance of options for low-income families?
Struggling teachers, schools
7. What should be done with school staff members who are shown to be ineffective, based either on the current DPS evaluation system or using the measurement tools that you outlined in question no. 1? How long should a teacher or principal be given from the determination of ineffectiveness to consequence?
8. DPS’ School Performance Framework is intended to serve as a warning system for troubled schools yet its consequences are rather vaguely described. When the SPF data is released later this month, if it shows a school is failing to meet the needs of its students – less than one year’s growth in one year’s time – what actions should be taken to ensure students are given an opportunity to succeed? What actions should be taken if a school persistently failed to meet the needs of its students – for example, insufficient growth for three consecutive years?
Federal efforts
9. Are there any aspects of President Obama’s strategies for school reform that you oppose? Why?