Good things are happening in Colorado!
By Moira Cullen, DFER Colorado State Director
Recall Efforts Fail
First, and most importantly, the recall effort against Denver Public School Board President Nate Easley has failed! Last week, Denver’s Clerk and Recorder confirmed that the recall proponent’s effort fell far, far short of collecting the 5,300 valid signatures needed to get the recall effort on the ballot. Nate Easley released the following statement:
It is clear that the proponents of this politically motivated recall election have failed to gather enough signatures to force a recall election.It is also clear that there is a group of concerned parents, students and educators in Denver’s Northeast Community who are not satisfied. I welcome the opportunity to discuss our choices — do we step backward, and accept the failed status quo, or do we move forward, and embrace the challenge of doing whatever is necessary to ensure that every child in Denver has the opportunity to attend a “great” school.I truly believe we all want the same thing for the students, District and Denver as a whole. It is my hope that we can all work together in this critical mission to provide quality education for our children. I will continue to make myself available to any and all who would like to discuss ways to improve Denver’s schools. Specifically, I am focused on how our community can work together to: (1) increase parents’ engagement in their children’s learning; (2) partner with schools to dramatically increase the number of DPS students able to read by the end of their third grade; and (3) desegregate Denver schools and diversity the DPS teaching and administrative teams.
Democrats for Education Reform-Colorado was part of the team that developed the strategy and led the fundraising efforts to support Nate throughout the recall effort and we couldn’t be more pleased that he can now focus, once again, on improving Denver’s schools. We sincerely hope that the proponents will not seek another effort to recall Nate in November. DFER-CO will now gear up for the DPS School Board elections in November, in which 3 of the 7 Board seats (with two of the reformers on the Board term-limited) are up for election, putting the balance of power on the Board, and education reform in Denver, in jeopardy.