Douglas County School Board (Denver, Highlands Ranch: 2013, apartments, school district)

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by GoldenZephyr

We have friends who live in Highlands Ranch. They are very happy with their school. Remember both sides are extremely political, both the school board and their opponents.

The opposition was unable to win an election, despite millions of dollars flowing in from around the country. It's unusual that national machine politics would be so concerned with one school board, and DCSD has been enemy number one of many Labor/Leftist groups.

The proposed voucher program, if you look into it is not a bad idea, and would REALLY benefit those stuck in poor school districts. Most of the detractors actually know little to nothing about the voucher program.

Part of the reason it is being launched in Douglas County was because the detractors always said that vouchers were just being pushed to hurt poor school districts. DCSD however is one of the best in the country. So if it worked there, it destroys the argument that the vouchers are bad. That is why you see national political machinery working overtime against the board.

The opposition is just louder than the supporters, which is why the opposition was "shocked" that the board was reelected. I mean "how could people be so fooled" the opposition cried. After all, don't people know how terrible the DCSD board it, I read about it on Facebook The people who work and live their lives, largely support the board and the district. The opposition couldn't even win with millions of dollars from outside and an endless clanging of drums.

What a joke. The proposed voucher program is a horrible idea. It would not benefit those stuck in poor districts. It would however benefit the few above average income students stuck in poor districts. It would crush lower income families in poor districts because the vouchers are not enough money to pay for a quality education. Basically this ends up leaving the poor families stuck in a district that is having money pulled out of it by the better off families in the district, who are now getting a nice tax subsidy to move to a private school, effectively crushing the public education system......but that is really the ultimate goal of those pushing this agenda isn't it?

Thankfully, our state Supreme Court saw fit to declare this lunacy unconstitutional last week.
Colorado Supreme Court rejects Douglas County voucher program - The Denver Post

The battle is not over yet, but hopefully Scalia will find himself in the minority when it's all said and done.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by GoldenZephyr

Statistically irrelevant. Plus Cherry Creek High School is in ultra wealthy Greenwood Village which as a whole tends to be much wealthier than most places in Douglas County. So by your own definition, the outsized numbers of Merit semifinalists at CCHS (one school) is largely due to the very high concentration of wealth.

Douglas County performs well and the problems are highly overstated, but not surprising the because the opposition to the will of most Douglas county voters is loud, theatrical, and has a tendency to "speak for everyone".

Get your statistics straight. Cherry Creek does pull from Greenwood Village (median household income $113,600), but GV is not much wealthier than Highlands Ranch (median household income $106,700). it also pulls from Centennial (MHI: $89,900), Holly Hills (MHI:$87,600), and Glendale (MHI: $27,000).

The difference between the two districts is stark. The school board in Cherry Creek supports the school system, it doesn't look to pawn its students to private schools.

The voters in Cherry Creek have passed all of their mill levy/bond elections, and, in turn, the district is very careful with its money.

Cherry Creek schools give students options to take classes. Douglas County uses smoke and mirrors (or study halls and course load restrictions) to keep its students churning through the system.

[resipsa]

Alright, so I guess the big question is how much of the problems can be fixed with the next school board election? Which I believe is this November. We're probably a year away from moving, so I plan to watch what happens then.

[GoldenZephyr]

Originally Posted by davidv

Get your statistics straight. Cherry Creek does pull from Greenwood Village (median household income $113,600), but GV is not much wealthier than Highlands Ranch (median household income $106,700). it also pulls from Centennial (MHI: $89,900), Holly Hills (MHI:$87,600), and Glendale (MHI: $27,000).

The difference between the two districts is stark. The school board in Cherry Creek supports the school system, it doesn't look to pawn its students to private schools.

The voters in Cherry Creek have passed all of their mill levy/bond elections, and, in turn, the district is very careful with its money.

Cherry Creek schools give students options to take classes. Douglas County uses smoke and mirrors (or study halls and course load restrictions) to keep its students churning through the system.

Medians are meaningless in this type of comparison. Median is simply the midpoint between highest and lowest income. If you understood Median Income, you wouldn't use it the way you did. The number of 200K+ households are much greater at CCHS than pretty much any Douglas County School. The Merit scholars are from very wealthy homes, which was the point of the earlier poster who said that wealth produces better educational outcome. There are more very high earning families in GV that easily make up for the low end. Newport Beach has a median income of less than GV, but I know total wealth is MUCH higher. There are a few homes alone in Newport Coast that would buy you 1/4 of all the real estate of GV. Yet, its median income is lower? Ponder that for a moment.

CCSD is a good school district, DCSD is also a good school district. However, leftists can't accept that you could do things differently and still be good. You have one way, their way.

DCSD opponents have a very serious political agenda, they pretend they don't. Does DCSD have a political agenda, yes, but at least they are honest about it and don't go off pretending to "speak for the community".

"Speaking for the community" is the usual leftist groupthink that assumes anyone "who has any brains" must always agree with them, without question.

Disagreement and dissent are not allowed in any leftist ideology.

That is what scares me the most, the way leftists think, it is you MUST agree with everything that they say, and how they do it or you are the enemy. Demonizing, ridicule, hatred, presumption that they are "speaking for the community", all hallmarks of leftist discourse.

I have friend in Highlands Ranch and they love their school, they have friends who love their school. So contrary to leftist groupthink, there are people "in the community" who are in fact, happy with the district. This is why I suppose they were reelected, despite millions from national political machines.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by GoldenZephyr

That is what scares me the most, the way leftists think, it is you MUST agree with everything that they say, and how they do it or you are the enemy. Demonizing, ridicule, hatred, presumption that they are "speaking for the community", all hallmarks of leftist discourse.

LOL Again, what a joke. You have a much more varied coalition of ideologies under the Democratic party than you do the Republican party. Look at data. The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center Read the section about the political divisions in the Left versus political divisions in the Right.

If you want to see someone react the way you are describing above, simply mention a gun control study to a Republican.

[eatsDEN]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

LOL Again, what a joke. You have a much more varied coalition of ideologies under the Democratic party than you do the Republican party. Look at data. The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center Read the section about the political divisions in the Left versus political divisions in the Right.

If you want to see someone react the way you are describing above, simply mention a gun control study to a Republican.

how is this relevant to the OP's question?

I understand you are responding to another poster's comment... but again, how is this relevant?
At least the other poster was making a point - right, wrong, or indifferent...

[brown_dog_us]

Originally Posted by resipsa

Alright, so I guess the big question is how much of the problems can be fixed with the next school board election? Which I believe is this November. We're probably a year away from moving, so I plan to watch what happens then.

That's the best plan.

There is a lot of posturing and information being thrown around by conservative groups and the teachers union, so it's tough to tell what is really going on there. After the election you will be able to tell if the school board's policies are reflective of the residents or not.

[eatsDEN]

agree 100%


As you said, it is hard to get a feel for the reality in this context...

[rockymtn]

I used to teach in DCSD but moved before the new board was elected. I've been watching everything from afar and from what I've seen, this school board has wasted a lot of tax payer dollars. Money that should have gone to kids but didn't. They have revamped their website 3 times, increased their PR staff, and pay the superintendent like a CEO with many financial bonuses. Their court costs to date could have paid for all the repairs needed to school across the district. The spending on political issues or themselves continues. Waste! Their actions do not show they put students first.

Since the new school board has taken over DCSD doesn't have any schools listed on the US News Top High Schools. DCSD used to have a few schools on that list now none of them even break top 100 in Colorado. Cherry Creek and Littleton school districts have better ranked schools and where all the experienced administrators and teachers have gone.

[rockymtn]

Originally Posted by GoldenZephyr

CCSD is a good school district, DCSD is also a good school district. However, leftists can't accept that you could do things differently and still be good. You have one way, their way.

...

I have friend in Highlands Ranch and they love their school, they have friends who love their school. So contrary to leftist groupthink, there are people "in the community" who are in fact, happy with the district. This is why I suppose they were reelected, despite millions from national political machines.

CCSD & DCSD used to be competitive as far as quality of the schools, however, it's just not the case any more. US News does not have ANY high schools in the top 100 in Colorado. DCSD used to have 4 high performing high schools. CCSD at least has 2 high schools ranked in the top 100 and their students score better on the state test. DCSD test scores have dropped since this school board has implemented all their changes. So when you say that "DCSD is a good school district" you can't mean academically... sports maybe?

I would argue that your friends in HR love their school/ classroom teacher, rather than anything this school board has done. This school board was reelected b/c they ran under a republican banner. Folks in DC vote for the party not the person.