I think it may get worse for her. She bought this position by her past campaign contribtions to R senators
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-keg-our-politics-are/?utm_term=.ca0a09ad2180
Bringing Charter Schools back to the top.
Here is a very good piece about one of the several charter schools in the Denver Public School system. As I mentioned here from time to time, Colorado and Denver have a very robust system of charter schools. (This is largely the result of changes in state law championed by the GOP, which shouldn't matter but it does). In Denver, the board of education goes beyond charters and allows "innovation schools" which operate like a charter but have no charter. Denver, like many large cities, is heavily Democratic. The otherwise very liberal Board of Education is all in on charters and choice and what such shcools bring to the table. (Discussed elsewhere in this thread)
This brings me to the 2017 very contentious Denver school board election. Dark money poured in. A lot of it from teacher union interests and some of it from those who support school choice. This was Democrat vs. Democrat situation. The progressives are of course those who support the trend towards charters. The opposite of progressives were the union candidates who vehemently objected to the reduction of power and influence that charters and innovation brings to the schools.
Moreover, education becomes tainted by national politics. As one observer noted:
Several factors are at play: the controversial tenure of
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, long-simmering divides within the Democratic party over education policy, a more aggressive teachers union, and the growing influence of outside groups responsible for a torrent of mailers and digital advertising that can prove powerful in low-turnout elections.
Odd that the pro-reform/choice candidates are tied to Trump and DeVos because too a person, they oppose, if not vehemently despise, both. Of the four open seats, 2 pro-choice candidates won, and 2 union supported candidates won. In my area, the pro-union candiate won with a plurality because the pro-choice vote was split two ways.
Regardless of Trump and DeVos, the charter movement, in my view, must go forward. The Language School desribed in the link could never exist as a traditional one-size-fits-all school. The US ranks in the mid-teens for STEM education among nations of the industrialized world. Kids also no longer learn trades in high school. And we have a shortage of skilled labor in most of the county. Charter and other school choice efforts can address this.
The Democratic "free college for all" pablum won't cut it. Free college doesn't necessarily give us more engineers, welders, doctors, pipe-fitters, or scientists. Free college is a slogan. We need a concerted effort to change the direction of education and our collective skills and abilities. We need to set the stage for that in K-12. Traditional public education is failing in that mission. Charters and choice can begin to fix it.
Oh, my grandkids attend the Denver Language School. Both received bi-lingual certificates after the 5th grade.
