Denver teachers chart road to success

Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 6, 2007 at midnight

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Denver teachers want to see a crackdown on classroom discipline, smaller class sizes and mandatory retention for struggling students in grades 3, 5 and 8.

Those are among the recommendations released today by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association in a report titled, "Promoting School Success."

The 10-page report, compiled over the summer from a spring survey of hundreds of teachers, is intended to inject "the teacher viewpoint" in the reform of Denver Public Schools.

"The time has come for teachers of Denver to weigh into the dialogue in a substantial and meaningful way," states the introductory letter to the report.

DCTA President Kim Ursetta today released the report, written by a group of 10 teachers.

Among the recommendations included in the report:

Getting tough on discipline. Students who have three "infractions" or behavior incidents in a classroom should be assigned to attend alternative schools.

Ending social promotion. Decisions about holding students back would no longer require parental permission in grades 1 through 8. A committee of teachers and the school principal would decide. And students in grades 3, 5 and 8 would have to meet set criteria or would automatically be retained.

State lawmakers should fund full-day kindergarten.

DPS should offer comparable salary and benefits packages to attract the best teachers.

DPS should reduce class sizes so teachers can meet the needs of all students.

mitchelln@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5245

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