(From The Denver Post, April 5, 2009)
By DAN HALEY
A funny thing happened on the way to the White House: Democrats got religion on education reform.
Not all Democrats, mind you, but the right Democrats. (And yes, some have been there all along.)
Can I get an “amen”?
From President Barack Obama to Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Colorado Senate President Peter Groff, high-profile Democrats have been out stumping hard for education reform. Not just nibbling- around-the-edges reform, but a monumental shift in how we educate our children and how schools operate.
Sure, this flicker of interest can be snuffed out just as quickly as it was ignited but, for now, hallelujah.
Some of the kindling was put in place on the Sunday before last fall’s Democratic National Convention, far from the klieg lights of Pepsi Center or the Roman columns at Invesco Field. Tucked away at the Denver Art Museum, a group of Democrats talked about education reform, and their message was simple: Massive reform of our school system is necessary and the teachers unions — long a Democratic ally — need to come along or they’ll get left behind.
The reforms they’re talking about — pushing for more charter schools, changing the way we pay good teachers, firing bad teachers and loosening regulations that hamper innovation — are a sea change from the traditional Democratic agenda on education, and it has created a rift within the party.
But if this country wants to compete in a global economy, and if we want all kids, not just affluent white ones, to graduate from high school and go on to college, then we have to revolutionize our worn-out education system.
The reforms must be bold, and the leaders who enact them must be courageous.
On Tuesday, Duncan will tour Denver’s Bruce Randolph School with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, formerly chief of Denver Public Schools. In 2005, that northeast Denver school was rated the worst in the state.
Then, in late 2007, school officials (including leaders of its teachers union) filed for a waiver, hoping to be freed from some district rules and provisions in the overly bureaucratic teachers’ contract.
The principal wanted more control and flexibility over hiring teachers, and wanted budget decisions to be made inside the school and not at the district level. Teachers wanted more control over how they spent their time.
With their newfound autonomy, test scores jumped this past year.
Led by Sen. Groff, a Denver Democrat, state lawmakers last year approved a bill that essentially would allow other schools to do what Bruce Randolph did. Denver’s Manual High School and Montclair Elementary were the first to seek the autonomy afforded by Groff’s bill. More than 90 percent of their teachers agreed to give up tenure protections in order to shed some of DPS’s, and the state’s, heavy- handed requirements.
The State Board of Education approved the requests with a slam-dunk 7-0 vote. But the Denver School Board voted only 4-3 in favor.
Monumental reform — the kind that would lure an Education secretary to Denver — is only one vote away from being snuffed out.
Alan Bersin, the former superintendent of San Diego schools, knows this all too well. After launching a series of reforms in his district, the entrenched education establishment rose up and helped oust him. Speaking in Denver last week at an event organized by Democrats for Education Reform, Bersin warned that it could happen here, too.
In fact, it could happen this year, with four seats up on the DPS board. What a shame that would be.
Denver voters can’t let it happen. We’re finally at a place where the debate over schools and teacher contracts has morphed from what’s good for the adults in the schools to what works for the kids.
Don’t go backward.
Editorial page editor Dan Haley can be reached at dhaley@denverpost.com