Equity

Colorado and Federal laws stipulate that ALL students receive a high-quality education. Despite the hard work of Colorado’s dedicated teachers and educational organizations, State and Federal accountability measures show that students of color and economically disadvantaged, English learner, and special needs students lag behind. Hard-fought legal and political battles notwithstanding, educational equality is not enough; educational equity is the goal.

Equality is important; but students who are far behind require more resources to catch up and close the gap. Providing equal resources to students who lag academically has not closed these gaps. But equitable access to exceptional teachers and funding sufficient to provide the highest-quality education will get us on track. Another source of inequity is that students of color and those with special needs are disproportionately suspended, restrained, or removed from the classroom. This promotes alienation, increases the dropout rate, and promotes the school-to-prison pipeline.

As your CD 1 representative on the State Board of Education, I will analyze every charter school appeal, statute, grant program, committee creation, and piece of guidance that comes to me through an equity lens, as an educational policy professional as well as a mother of a special needs student of color.

Financial and Academic Accountability

Current accountability systems are far from perfect. Language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies teachers feel pressured to “teach to the test” because school ratings depend on how students perform in these content areas. But factors beyond the school and teacher impact Colorado student test performance. Some parents are able to afford private tutoring, which raises their children’s scores. Some students don’t have access to courses that cover advanced test content. It is inevitable that some material will be covered toward the end of the school year, after the tests are taken.

All of these factors negatively impact students, are not conducive to positive school environments, and distract from quality teaching and learning efforts. There is mounting sentiment that we should dispense with standardized tests, return to the “good old days,” let teachers get back to teaching, and stop squandering valuable instructional time on testing, which doesn’t seem to be doing anyone much good. Plus, it seems like testing only shows what schools and districts are not doing right; what about all of the positive progress being made?

The academic gaps we confront today were there in the “good old days” as well, but now we are looking at them under a microscope. And to continue to shine a spotlight on students who consistently fall behind, so we can fulfill our legal and ethical responsibility to educate every Colorado student, regardless of family income, ethnicity/race, English proficiency, and disability, we need an accountability system that includes some standardized measures. Can we improve the system? Can we reduce the amount of time that testing takes?

I believe we can, and as your CD 1 representative on the State Board of Education, I will take every opportunity available to help improve Colorado’s accountability systems: increasing their validity, decreasing the time they take students out of the classroom, and making sure they are not used inappropriately just because they are all we have.

Another area of accountability that burdens school and district staff is the paperwork and “red tape” required to receive State and Federal formula funds and grants. Sometimes the amount of money at stake does not seem worth the trouble, especially for small districts. These funds typically come from State and Federal budget appropriations, which means that Colorado and its districts are accountable to legislators regarding how the money is used, and whether or not such use is effective. Demonstrating that Colorado and its districts and schools are in compliance with statute is critical to making sure that we continue to receive these resources.

As your CD 1 representative on the State Board of Education, I will use my extensive district and CDE experience around data analysis, reporting and management, and accountability to make sure that Colorado and its districts comply with State and Federal requirements in order to continue to receive these funds, and that we do as much as possible to learn how we can best leverage them to benefit Colorado students.

Safe and Healthy Schools

Nothing weighs more heavily on parents than worry about their children’s emotional and physical safety. As if navigating childhood and adolescence is not challenging enough, today’s students are bombarded by the internet, social media, peer pressure, and bullying in overcrowded classrooms and schools, especially at the middle and high levels. A 14-year-old enrolling in Denver’s East High School this past fall was one of 702 freshmen in a school of 2,603. DPS’s George Washington, North, South, and Thomas Jefferson High enrollments exceed 1,000.

Unfortunately, “school safety” has become synonymous with school shootings. School shootings are devastating, but relatively rare. There are many common safety and health issues that impact students daily: depression, anxiety (sometimes about a potential school shooting), substance abuse, violence, suicide, sexual orientation and gender identity, among myriad others. Colorado schools are in dire need of nurses, counselors, social workers, and psychologists. Students in healthy schools do not go hungry because they get free nutritious meals, have teachers and staff who do not turn a blind eye to bullying or students in crisis, learn in environments that encourage parent and family involvement, and know their teachers care about them and share responsibility for them.

As your CD 1 representative on the State Board of Education, I will staunchly support all efforts to make Colorado schools as safe and healthy as possible, so that every student can realize their full potential and graduate ready for their next stage of life.