DPS losing 12 percent to private

Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News

Monday, April 16, 2007

Erik and Mandy Koskinen did not plan to join the nearly 30 percent of families in their Congress Park neighborhood who enroll their children in private schools.

They tried two different Denver public schools. They agonized over what to do. But in December, the couple decided they had to look outside the city school district for Jack, 8, and Sam, 5.

"We believe that a thriving society depends on a strong and well-functioning public school system," Mandy Koskinen wrote in an application to a local private school where tuition tops $10,000 per child. "But simply, our children do not have time to wait."

More than 12 percent of Denver children ages 5 to 17 attend private schools, based on 2005 U.S. census estimates. That's slightly higher than the national average of 10 percent. It works out to about 10,200 students.

The Koskinens' Victorian home near Colfax Avenue and Colorado Boulevard marks the northern edge of a southeastern swath of the city where families are most likely to make that educational choice.

A Rocky Mountain News and Piton Foundation analysis of census data shows that, in some of Denver's wealthiest neighborhoods, more than one in three children attend private school. That includes the central-city neighborhoods of Cherry Creek and Country Club and extends to Southmoor Park at Denver's southeastern tip.

"Where we live, almost everybody on our street sends their kids to private school," said Gil Rosenthal, an attorney who lives in the Hilltop neighborhood. "You sort of feel some people question your decision to send your kids to public school."

Denver Public Schools, in the quest to attract families back to the city district, is unlikely ever to draw some who opt to go private.

"I've never even considered sending my children to public schools," said Kelly Tynan, whose two sons attend St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in southeast Denver, following a family tradition.

"I'm not a fan of public schools," Tynan said flatly, adding that he wished the property taxes he pays for public schools could offset his sons' tuition bills.

Other families, including the Koskinens and the Rosenthals, tried public schools before turning to private education.

Gil and Chandra Rosenthal gave in because of two concerns frequently cited in interviews with parents leaving DPS: large class sizes and the annual uncertainty of public school funding.

Their son Abe, 7, attended DPS' popular school for gifted students, the Polaris Program at Ebert Elementary, in the Five Points neighborhood near downtown. But two years of constant budget talk wore down the couple.

Would Abe have more than 28 students in his class next year or could Ebert afford another teacher? Would the school have to eliminate kindergarten to make room for smaller classes in the upper grades?

And would the situation be any different for younger son Jonas, 4, or little sister Naomi, 2?

"I just don't want to have this discussion every year," Gil Rosenthal said. "I would like to know that if my son is at Ebert and my other son is entering kindergarten, I could send him there, too. I don't want to worry that there's no kindergarten or that one of my sons has 22 kids in his class and the other has 32."

Last May, after outlining their reasons in a letter to DPS officials, the Rosenthals decided to enroll Abe — and likely Jonas and Naomi — in private school. It was not an easy choice.

"I try to think I'm a good citizen, and part of being a good citizen is making decisions that are helpful and good to everybody," Gil Rosenthal said. "I tend to think we are the kind of people who would help make a school better. I feel like, by leaving, I'm shirking my responsibility to do that."

A question of diversity

Private school enrollment in Denver appears to have stabilized and even dropped slightly in the past 10 years.

That may be a result of other options available to parents who don't want to send their kids to neighborhood schools.

Schools opening today tend to be charter, not private, said Rob Stein, the head of Graland Country Day School, one of Denver's largest private schools. He recently was named principal of DPS' troubled Manual High School.

Charter schools are public schools typically run by independent groups with local school board approval and state education dollars.

"Private schools are based on a business model that requires tuition and private subsidy," Stein said. "Charter schools are a much more stable business model. You can get 90 to 95 percent of per-pupil operating revenue from the state."

But competition remains fierce for Graland's 639 seats. The school won't release specific numbers, but it has no trouble filling slots, even with annual tuition running $15,070 to $16,680 per student.

"People will call when they're coming home (with a new baby) from the hospital," said Carolyn Craig, director of admissions and financial aid, though the school typically asks parents to wait until their kids are age 4 to call.

Craig said Graland is seeing a slight increase in interest from minority families, who make up a disproportionately small percentage of private school enrollment across Denver.

Twenty-six percent of school-age Anglo children in the city are enrolled in private schools. That compares with 5.3 percent of Hispanic children and 5 percent of black children, according to census estimates.

The result is a private school population that is 35 percent minority, while the city's public school enrollment is 80 percent minority, predominantly Hispanic.

The diversity found in DPS classrooms is one reason Mandy Koskinen wanted to stay in the district.

"My parents moved back into the city of Denver when integrated busing began," she said, "because they wanted their children to experience that kind of school system, where everyone did not look the same as their children."

That experience — resulting from a federal judge's ruling mandating busing to desegregate DPS from 1974 through 1996 — opened her eyes to a world beyond the white middle-class household in which she grew up.

"I still value that because I think it really helped me to grow as a person," she said. "I desperately wanted that for my own children. But I don't think that is enough. I don't think it can be enough for me to keep my children in Denver Public Schools."

Fatigue and joy

By the time Mandy Koskinen filled out her sons' private school applications in December, she had visited at least eight DPS elementary schools in search of the best place for them and their younger brother, Will, though he is only 11 months old.

She had decided against her neighborhood school — too traditional. She filled out applications for two sought- after DPS programs but was rejected by both.

Her boys wound up at Cory Elementary, a popular school in southeast Denver rated excellent by the state, based on its test scores. There, one classmate is the oldest daughter of DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet.

But what Mandy Koskinen wants to see in her sons' faces when they come home from Cory is the joy of discovery. What she sees most often instead is fatigue.

The former DPS teacher, whose parents also taught in the district and whose brother still does, blames an overemphasis on test scores.

"Jack, in the first grade, his first semester, actually said to me, 'Mom, I know I'm not going to do well on the CSAP,' " she said. The state exams do not begin until third grade.

"Sam, one of the first things he said to me about kindergarten was, 'Mom, this school seems to be all about reading,' " Mandy Koskinen said.

"I wish I would hear, 'Mom, school is really fun. Mom, we got to do this really cool science experiment today.' I don't hear about the creative hands-on experiences I wish they were having."

She understands the drive to improve achievement, she said, but not the district's approach.

Why must every elementary school adopt the same literacy and math curriculum? Why can't schools with good test scores deviate from the mandatory focus on the basics?

"I feel that public education in our city is no longer for the families who don't have the failing students, who have students who are achieving at grade level, who may be achieving above grade level," she said.

"The sole focus now is, 'How do we close the achievement gap?' instead of, 'How do we make successful learners across the board and how do we inspire the lowest-level learners to have a love of learning — and not just do well on tests?' "

On March 13, a letter from the private Stanley British Primary School arrived at the family's home. The Koskinens' sons weren't accepted but are on a waiting list.

Jack and Sam are likely to return to Cory this fall. Will's future school is uncertain.

"I'm disappointed," Mandy Koskinen said, then quickly rallied her sense of optimism that change is possible in DPS. "I'm feeling hopeful. I think that the conversation is getting started, and people are willing to take a look at what is happening and possibly make some changes."

Private to public, and back An analysis of Denver Public Schools' enrollment of more than 73,000 students between Sept. 30, 2005, and Oct. 2, 2006, found:

• 516 students entered DPS from private schools

• 168 students left DPS for private schools

• The result: DPS gained 348 students