Educational Quality and Equity Should Mean Educational Transparency

Latino Education Coalition

Posted Oct 24, 2024

The Latino Education Coalition (LEC) expresses serious concerns regarding the recent report from the Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA), which aims to analyze the academic achievement gains among students in Denver Public Schools (DPS) following the district’s reform movement over the past eleven years. While the report highlights certain achievements, it falls short of addressing critical issues that directly impact educational quality and equity for Latino students and other marginalized communities.

Historically, our public education system was designed to serve the community, not private interests. The increasing influence of private funding in education—especially as seen in charter schools—raises concerns about the potential for financial profit to overshadow educational equity. The timing of the CEPA report’s release, just weeks before the November election and the upcoming vote on Amendment 80, appears to be a strategic maneuver to advance “school choice” rhetoric, which is not about choice at all, but only allowing private organizations to make a profit from public funds. After all, families without the resources to access options outside of their neighborhood boundaries don’t really have a “choice.” Amendment 80 threatens to embed this false school “choice” –including for private schools and vouchers—into Colorado’s Constitution, risking further economic segregation in our schools. Students from lower-income families will be disproportionately affected, as they often lack the resources necessary to access educational options outside their neighborhood boundaries, including the costs associated with transportation or to fully pay for private school tuition, even with vouchers.

Historically, our public education system was designed to serve the community, not private interests.

The CEPA report emphasizes DPS’s portfolio strategy and its three primary reform tactics: the creation of new schools, the closure of existing ones, and district-led school turnarounds. However, it neglects to delve into essential questions that affect student outcomes. Most notably, it fails to differentiate between district-operated and charter-operated schools, which is crucial for understanding the landscape of educational success. Furthermore, the funding sources for this report raise eyebrows, as it has been supported by organizations that advocate for charter schools, prompting questions about potential biases in the analysis.

The report touts the academic achievement gains for DPS students over this period but presents its findings at the “big picture” level and not at the school building level. For example, how many of the 65 “newly created” and 35 “closed, restarted, replaced or otherwise intervened” schools were District operated vs. charter operated, and how did each do? School staff and community members have shared how charter school personnel approached them in search of high-performing students whom the charters would recruit. The accountability question remains – how do charter schools compare to District operated schools.

For true accountability and transparency, the LEC calls on the organizations behind the CEPA report to release detailed data segmented by race, income level, and English proficiency. Transparency is essential for parents to make informed choices about their children’s education. Equity and quality demand taxpayers’ voice in maintaining oversight through democratically elected school boards in both the district and charter schools.

Latino Education Coalition of Denver