By Moira Cullen, DFER CO State Director
On Tuesday, Denver overwhelmingly elected Michael Hancock as its new mayor. Education reform was a huge issue throughout this election, which is remarkable, given that the Mayor has no official oversight of Denver Public Schools. Yet the future of Denver Public Schools and the importance of the Mayor’s leadership in ensuring access to a quality education for all of Denver’s kids were revisited again and again throughout the election cycle by the candidates, in the Denver Post, at candidate forums, and in campaign ads and literature.
On May 31st, Democrats for Education Reform hosted a mayoral candidate forum with other local education advocacy organizations. (You can also read about it in the Denver Post.) Early on, Michael Hancock identified himself as an ardent education reformer and had the endorsement of a number of our DFER-CO Advisory Committee members. Here is a preview, from the Q&A at our forum, of the Mayor-Elect’s views and what we can expect from him on key issues such as charter schools, education funding, school closures, and the upcoming DPS school board election.
On His Background and Values
Hancock is a proud product of Denver Public Schools and a 1987 graduate of Manual High School. (A high school that has been plagued by failure in recent years.) In his remarks, he stressed that great schools create great communities. Often we create great communities and expect great schools to come along, however, schools should be the anchor of our communities. Denver has lost immense economic opportunities because of its poor public school system. We all need to work together to build great schools because they are the foundation to ensure safety and promote economic development. Hancock set out a clear vision of a Denver that has quality schools in every community so children can learn where they live. He stated that school reform is not about charter verses traditional schools but about quality schools.
On the values that will underline his leadership on education, how his mayoral administration actually makes a difference, and how he will measure success