Douglas County School Board (Denver, Highlands Ranch: credit, homes, buy)

[hawkbill]

Originally Posted by rockymtn

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.

Pretty sure this is true about the entire country. Us vs them mindset. Nothing they want can be good. I have no idea if the voucher program would be good or not, but I'm generally on the side of more choice rather than government limitations, so I think it'd be interesting to let happen to see the results. Let's be honest, if you send your kids to DCSD and are actively involved in their education, they're going to be find. Just like they would be in any school district in the state. Where a school district is ranked is vastly overrated in determining the successes or failures of an individual child.

Regarding a different post. Isn't CCSD one of the richest in the state? Using Glendale which is mostly younger single people living in apartments as their example of a poorer community is disingenuous at best. On the flip side of that is Cherry Hills Village which has a median houshold income approaching 200k.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

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.

I missed this, thanks for posting. I am in the DCSD and my daughter is only in elementary school. We have debated whether or not to stay because of this board. Unfortunately we were not able to vote the board out in 2013 because the majority of voters DO NOT have children in school so they voted with the board.

I can't rep you or davidv for some reason but you deserve the reps for responding.

[resipsa]

Originally Posted by hawkbill

Pretty sure this is true about the entire country.

Not really. School board elections are usually non-partisan. I have no idea what the political affiliations are for the our local school board (in northern IL).

[eatsDEN]

Originally Posted by rockymtn

Their actions do not show they put students first.

unfortunately, interested folks on both sides of the spectrum seem to be raising this point

whether the opinion is that:
the Teachers' Unions are pilfering the resources as salary/remuneration for the faculty, or opposing pay for performance initiatives
the School Board is wasting the resources in various and sundry ways

Sometimes it is hard to distinguish reality from posturing - especially if you don't have meaningful interaction with the district.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by eatsDEN

Sometimes it is hard to distinguish reality from posturing - especially if you don't have meaningful interaction with the district.

Honestly that's lazy. There is plenty of information out there on what each side wants done.

This school board was politicized when Koch money started funding "reform minded" candidates. The goals were to dismantle the system. Pulling influence away from the teachers and allowing parents to take district money out of the district and spend it on religious schools are the cornerstones of their "reforms".

Outside money started pouring in from the other side to fight the Koch money. It's arguably the most politicized school board in the country with Jeffco close behind.

[eatsDEN]

well, call it what you will....

I understand what you posted about the outside money influence...

what is not so clear is the true motive for those invloved...

are the board members really trying to "dismantle the system" as you write; or is it possible that they are merely trying to accomplish some community goals to which they were elected by their communities to do?

It is difficult to ascertain this sort of reading on things, IMHO, without being involved with the district -- and that entails more than reading the local boards, newspapers, etc.

Sure, spewing out the accusations and innuendo about the Koch brothers or NEA/NTE/AFT/whathaveyou may be impressive or swaying to some members of our community -- but IMHO it seems to me that many of the stakeholders in this particular conundrum seem to be self serving at best, in essence...

[GoldenZephyr]

Originally Posted by eatsDEN

well, call it what you will....

I understand what you posted about the outside money influence...

what is not so clear is the true motive for those invloved...

are the board members really trying to "dismantle the system" as you write; or is it possible that they are merely trying to accomplish some community goals to which they were elected by their communities to do?

It is difficult to ascertain this sort of reading on things, IMHO, without being involved with the district -- and that entails more than reading the local boards, newspapers, etc.

Sure, spewing out the accusations and innuendo about the Koch brothers or NEA/NTE/AFT/whathaveyou may be impressive or swaying to some members of our community -- but IMHO it seems to me that many of the stakeholders in this particular conundrum seem to be self serving at best, in essence...

Totally agree with you. Thinking back, I was spending a great deal of time in Highlands Ranch during the 2013 school board election, and I couldn't even tell the names of the so called "Koch" funded board members.

However, I saw political activists EVERYWHERE putting the names of the Teachers Union leftist candidates.

At every school, it was "beep beep, vote for all 3" with the name of the political activist candidates. I never even saw a sign for who was running on "team Koch". So for all the "Koch" money, I didn't see any advertisements, just the millions on advertisement from leftist political machines.

Yet, despite the enormous political bullying, and it was bullying, no one who supported the DCSD board could show it at a school for fear of physical attack. My friends would pick up their kids from school and be pelted with political advertisements, activists would even try to turn students political apparatchiks.

Honestly, I believed the school board was "bad" until I really started to dig in and was turned off by the hysterics, activism, distortions, and bullying. My friends don't need other people to "speak for the community". They have their own voices, thanks!

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by GoldenZephyr

Totally agree with you. Thinking back, I was spending a great deal of time in Highlands Ranch during the 2013 school board election, and I couldn't even tell the names of the so called "Koch" funded board members.

However, I saw political activists EVERYWHERE putting the names of the Teachers Union leftist candidates.

At every school, it was "beep beep, vote for all 3" with the name of the political activist candidates. I never even saw a sign for who was running on "team Koch". So for all the "Koch" money, I didn't see any advertisements, just the millions on advertisement from leftist political machines.

Yet, despite the enormous political bullying, and it was bullying, no one who supported the DCSD board could show it at a school for fear of physical attack. My friends would pick up their kids from school and be pelted with political advertisements, activists would even try to turn students political apparatchiks.

Honestly, I believed the school board was "bad" until I really started to dig in and was turned off by the hysterics, activism, distortions, and bullying. My friends don't need other people to "speak for the community". They have their own voices, thanks!

If you want to see some bullying do some research on some of the board meetings that were held that allowed the public to attend. The board members openly berated citizens and teachers as if they shouldn't have been allowed there. The arrogance of the board was thick and they talked down to almost anybody that opposed them at the meetings. There are several videos out there and if I can find them I will post them here.

[eatsDEN]

I'm guessing the folks present at the meeting had opposing views to the board,
and possibly were disrupting the proceedings from being conducted in an orderly manner?


I saw some video of citizens that demonstrated this sort of behavior pretty recently too...

loveland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIa2p1I2RJc

jeffco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPrjQzmHAc4

[Timmyy]

They were actually speaking in turn and got interrupted by the board. I can't locate the videos right now but they are out there.

There was no mob mentality at the DougCo meetings.