DPS chief runs race to revitalize

Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 22, 2007 at midnight

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Michael Bennet was giving another talk on the future of Denver Public Schools on a recent Wednesday night, speaking in his usual rapid-fire fashion.

Jacket off and tie loosened, he was bouncing on his feet as he got more and more wound up.

Then a self-described "angry mom" in the audience rose with a question. She was holding a summary of the district's reform plan, the topic of the superintendent's impassioned speech.

"This is not what we're talking about on the playground," Ayo Labode, a 38-year-old lawyer, told Bennet. "We're talking about, 'Where in God's name are you going to send your kids for school?'

"I have 2-year-old twins," she told him. "I live in North Denver. I'm scared to death to put them in DPS. My question is, 'Where would you send them if you were in my place?'"

It was a question that, for about 30 seconds, stumped the usually unflappable Bennet. It also is a question that crystallizes the debate on playgrounds across the city and in the hearts of many Denver moms and dads:

Will they take a chance on the city's struggling public schools? Or will their children join the 20,300 Denver students bypassing DPS every year?

Bennet, 42, came to DPS in 2005 as a star in business and government but with no background in education. He's a good speaker — smart, but not too much of an egghead and given to flashes of self-deprecating humor.

But the dilemma he faces in trying to revive DPS' enrollment is complex and contentious. He will be campaigning to recruit families even as the district is expected to close some schools. He will be wrestling with the issues of race and class that often emerge in conversations about school choice.

"Every time I listen to Michael Bennet, I think he's great," Labode said later, echoing the sentiments of numerous parents interviewed by the Rocky Mountain News. "I like what he has to say. But do I trust it? With my own children?"

The answer, for now, is no. She and her husband, Jim Scott, a registered nurse, are "probably 90 percent" sure that their twins won't attend DPS.

"We may be moving," Labode said. "Education is that important to us."

Empty classrooms

More than 31,000 of the 98,000 seats in DPS classrooms today are empty, district data show.

A study by the Rocky and the Piton Foundation found one in four Denver children ages 5 to 17 do not enroll in DPS.

Even if DPS could bring back all 20,300 kids, thousands of chairs would still be empty.

"We're spending a lot of money on empty space in this district," Bennet said. "That's a difficult conversation to have because no one wants, all things being equal, to close schools."

When he brings up this point in his speeches, he ties it to a frequent parent complaint: "The question is, do you want to use the money in classrooms? In lowering class size, for example?"

The bottom line, of course, is money. A lot of it.

Every student in grades 1 through 12 in DPS brought in about $6,800 in local and state funding this year. Denver kids who are not choosing DPS cost the district at least $135 million in lost revenue.

And running partially empty buildings — DPS schools, on average, are 68 percent full — also costs in utilities, maintenance and other fixed expenses.

Those dollars could be better spent on what Bennet says is the No. 1 priority — improving the quality of teaching.

That means smaller class sizes, more training for teachers, up-to-date textbooks, better leadership development of principals — all the stuff outlined in The Denver Plan, DPS' reform strategy.

"I understand why it's not being talked about on the playground," Bennet told Labode. "But I believe that plan, faithfully implemented, is going to create marvelous schools all over Denver."

Sense of urgency

Sure, say parents such as Kim Allen, but how soon?

Allen, who lives in northwest Denver with her husband and two children, is a mom who plans ahead.

The family attended an informational breakfast in February at the Center for International Studies, DPS' newest magnet school for grades 6 through 12. Their oldest, Tyger, is a fourth-grader.

Tyger and his sister, Riley, are happily settled at Polaris at Ebert, the district's elementary for gifted students. But their parents are mulling middle and high school options, and private school is a strong possibility.

"It sounds like it's not going to be business as usual (under Bennet)," Kim Allen said. "I just don't know if it's going to be in time to help my kids."

A recent survey of parents in Denver found they share Allen's view — 50 percent said DPS will be "much better" in three to five years.

Recent enrollment trends show DPS is gaining in the earliest grades — preschool and kindergarten. Then the numbers drop off, particularly in the middle school grades of 6, 7 and 8. Grade 9 enrollment is up again, as some students return from private middle schools, then drops again for grades 10 and 11.

Even for those who stay in DPS, the older the student, the more likely that student is attending a school outside the neighborhood. More than half of all DPS high school students go to a campus other than their area school.

Bennet, seeing the enrollment trends and hearing parents’ concerns, said he feels a strong sense of urgency to make change happen — fast.

"It is a race against time," he said.

When pressed, Bennet says he needs the next five years. He's had nearly two.

Scars of Manual

A citizens panel is reviewing criteria for determining which schools should close and is expected to refine them by May 31. The school board likely would vote on a plan in July.

Nearly a year later, the targeted schools would close in May or June 2008.

If that seems a lengthy process, credit the public-relations beating Bennet took over Manual High School. The school board abruptly decided in February 2006 to close the mostly minority, mostly poor school for a year because of low enrollment and poor performance.

Bennet, a Democrat who can quote the most obscure speeches of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., found himself confronted by a roomful of angry Manual supporters singing the civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome."

It was a lesson in the emotions involved in shuttering a school. Bennet has learned to acknowledge a community's attachment to a school, no matter how badly it's performing.

"Those are all important values, that there was always a school there, that my parents went there, that I went there," he said. "They need to be respected. We also, as a community, need to come to grips with our single most important priority, which is educating the children of Denver.

"It's long past time for Denver to create a school district that can serve the kids of the 21st century."

The Pittsburgh plan

Denver's crisis is not unique.

Urban school districts across the country — Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Baltimore — are grappling with enrollment gaps and school closures.

Few are doing it without controversy. As was the case with Manual, race and class tend to bubble to the surface.

"What we're imagining in DPS is not what has been done in other school districts," Bennet said. "It will look different."

Theresa Peña, the DPS mom who chairs the Denver School Board, said the district must "fundamentally change the way we're doing business."

What that will look like is not exactly clear — yet.

"We can acknowledge we're a system in failure, but where do we go from there?" Peña said. "That's what we're struggling with right now."

They are taking advice, most recently from Pittsburgh Superintendent Mark Roosevelt, who visited this month.

Roosevelt's "right-sizing plan" closed 22 schools, eliminated 10,177 of the district's 13,706 empty seats and is expected to save $14.7 million per year.

It also opened a new school, expanded preschool and turned eight low-performing schools into back-to-basics learning academies with longer school days.

Roosevelt argues that the plan, which took effect this past fall, will save money and improve achievement.

It's the magic combination Bennet is after.

"We have got to restore the district to financial health," Bennet said. "That's why we've raised the question about the number of school buildings. We may be able to provide a richer academic environment in smaller settings in fewer buildings."

Rich, poor in DPS

But which buildings? In whose neighborhoods?

The Rocky-Piton study confirmed what many suspected — wealthier families, who tend to be white, are the most likely to leave DPS. One in four white school-aged children living in Denver is enrolled in private schools.

White students who stay in DPS tend to cluster in certain schools. Two popular programs — Polaris at Ebert, the elementary for gifted kids, and the Denver School of the Arts for grades 6-12 — are mostly white and affluent in a district that is mostly minority and poor.

Fewer black students than white students are leaving DPS, but black students are moving within the district. In 2005-06, upper-income black students, more than any other ethnic or economic group, chose DPS schools other than their assigned neighborhood schools. They are the most likely to choose charter schools. DPS, by law, funnels an average of 95 percent of state and local funding for charter students to the independent groups that run them.

So should DPS target upper-income families to help fill its empty seats? There aren't enough of them to fill the gap. And what happens when their desires clash with the district's biggest population — Hispanic low-income students?

Other urban school districts have wrestled with the issue, and lost.

"The truth is that DPS and other urban districts don't really have any great options to choose from," said Kevin Welner, assistant professor of education at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

"If they cater to the wealthier families who, as a practical matter, have more choice options and who are disproportionately white, then they unfairly distribute opportunities," he said. "If they don't, then they lose enrollment — and those lost students tend to be more academically successful."

Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver teachers union and a former teacher of bilingual education, said the district must consider diversity in its school closures.

She worries that many community discussions about closures are scheduled for the summer, when busy families may not hear about them or be able to attend.

"We need to have that tough conversation about how we integrate our schools," Ursetta said. "This is not something that has been at the forefront of people's minds, and it's a very important conversation for us to have."

No appetite for busing

Other districts have incorporated race and income in their choice plans.

Seattle Public Schools uses race as a tiebreaker in admissions to some schools. The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the legality of that system.

And the Raleigh school district in North Carolina has made income a factor in its choice policy. The idea of "economic integration" has found favor among some local education researchers.

Not with Bennet.

"I have no doubt that if we waved a magic wand and our kids were distributed on a more economically integrated fashion, our kids would do better," he said. "It's not going to happen while I'm here. Denver doesn't want it.

Nor does he favor race as a factor.

"The only way to do it would be through a system of mandates or busing," he said. "I don't think there's a lot of appetite for that."

Instead, Bennet and his chief academic officer, Jaime Aquino, say the focus is on improving every school.

The Rocky-Piton analysis found low-income students are less likely to leave their neighborhood schools. Aquino said DPS has a "moral and legal obligation" to ensure that they get a quality education.

"There is always the reality some families cannot choice out, and how fair is that?" he asked.

Tough proposition

If the prognosis for DPS seems grim, Bennet is not.

"We have to transform our school districts in America's cities, and we intend to be a leader in this in Denver," he said.

He reels off the dire statistics for DPS: Only 40 percent of students are reading at grade level, based on state tests. Just one in 10 is proficient in math by the 10th grade. The dropout rate among some students is 50 percent.

"We are not getting the job done," he said, using the statistics as ammunition for his vision of reform. "I have no interest in telling a story that isn't true."

His optimism may spring from his history of success. A graduate of elite private schools and Yale Law School, he made millions working for billionaire Philip Anschutz and helped guide the seemingly golden career of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper as his chief of staff.

While some viewed him as an unlikely choice in July 2005 to run DPS because of his lack of education experience, he has since won over many skeptics with his smart hires and grueling schedule.

Whether he can persuade families to return to DPS remains to be seen.

"You're really asking for changing a whole city's idea about education," Thelma Hutt, 80, the mother of four DPS graduates and grandmother of two DPS students, told Bennet on that recent Wednesday night. "You're asking for a complete about-face, and it's a tough proposition."

Bennet smiled.

"I agree with you. It's a tough proposition," he said. "Hope springs eternal. And we don't have a choice.

"I think we're going to figure it out."

Older students use school choice more

The percentage of Denver Public Schools students selecting a school other than their assigned neighborhood school grows as students get older, and the trend is toward more school choice among all students.

Percent opting out of neighborhood schools:

Grade 2000 2005

Kindergarten 32% 36%

Grade 1 32% 36%

Grade 2 31% 35%

Grade 3 32% 37%

Grade 4 32% 38%

Grade 5 32% 39%

Grade 6 34% 42%

Grade 7 34% 43%

Grade 8 36% 43%

Grade 9 41% 55%

Grade 10 44% 55%

Grade 11 54% 57%

Grade 12 48% 57%

Source: Denver Public Schools

Timeline for closing schools

An A+ citizens panel is studying school closures in Denver Public Schools.

April: Panel presents draft criteria for closing schools.

May: Panel holds five community meetings to discuss criteria.

May: Panel meets with school board to discuss criteria and set timeline.

May 31: Panel hopes to present final school closure criteria, refined by community input, to Denver school board by this date. But the panel chairs have indicated additional days or weeks may be needed.

Mid-June: DPS presents its new schools plan based on criteria.

July: DPS holds regional community meetings and a public hearing to discuss its new schools plan.

July-August: Denver school board votes on new schools plan.

Summer-fall: Community meetings to discuss implementing the plan.

October: DPS completes a new school enrollment guide.

December: Aggressive public relations campaign begins around new school-choice options.

May-June 2008: Schools marked for closure have last day of classes.

Source: A+ Denver Subcommittee on Finances and Facilities

Steps DPS is taking

Denver Public Schools leaders have identified initiatives designed to improve schools and increase student enrollment.

SHORT-TERM

1. Enrollment incentives: Schools that recruit students from charter schools, private schools, home-schooling or suburban districts this past fall received an extra $1,179 per pupil.

2. Marketing director: Mile High United Way is paying for DPS’ first marketing director, who is working with individual schools on recruitment strategies.

LONG-TERM

1. School improvement plans: Every school will be required to complete a plan that prioritizes needs in improving student achievement, sets out realistic and measurable goals and identifies steps to reach them.

2. School accreditation framework: Every school will be measured on a framework that includes progress toward state and federal student performance goals, comparisons with other DPS schools with similar demographics, student gains over time and progress in closing achievement gaps among student groups by race and income.

3. Student-based budgeting: Individual schools will get the funding for their students instead of the money going to central administration. This will give schools more freedom in setting their budgets.

4. A+ Commission: A 100-member citizens panel chaired by two former mayors, a business leader and a parent is weighing district issues, including closing schools and marketing DPS.

5. Portfolio of schools: School board members approved various changes, including adding a Montessori school and creating a second districtwide gifted school in northeast Denver, expanding dual-language models in northwest Denver and creating a pattern of schools that feed students from kindergarten through 12th grade in the International Baccalaureate program in southwest Denver.

Nancy Mitchell

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