Stop Oppressive Schooling, Open Letter to Denver Public Schools

Listen to our voices, do not close our schools, and support our neighborhood schools.

Now is the time to reach into diverse communities and LISTEN. Continuing education is important for students and teachers alike. The future well being of our society depends on children learning in an atmosphere of respect and high expectations that affirm their capabilities. Please educate yourselves by using the Bailey Report as a starting point. Thank you.

Time to be creative with education. All children deserve a good education and a chance for a future.

We need strong, inclusive public schools - not charters.

True public neighborhood schools are the only way to get to fair education for all kids!

It is time to strengthen community neighborhood schools. We do not need anymore "special" schools in Denver.

I could not agree more!

Yess! Great cause!!

Denver Public Schools’ 2020 plan lists “Support for the Whole Child” as one of five overarching goals. The college prep charter networks completely fail to address this goal for students who are not successful in their rigid, authoritative, proscriptive pedagogy. They do not adapt to the needs individual student, nor do they provide support for the whole child. They use the same approaches and methods for every child, and “hide” those with the lowest scores in the data. There is a philosophical difference in our society over the purpose of education for our children. I think it is helpful to look at this problem from a “quantitative” versus “qualitative” perspective. This perspective is useful whether one is considering academics or behavior. The Bailey Report mentions a student who throws a chair as an example of poor behavior. Obviously the way every individual student reacts to anger and frustration is based in cultural, environmental, biological, familial differences. However, how this is handles is much different with a quantitative versus qualitative approach. In a quantitative environment, a student throws a chair and that student is suspended because it is the rule and the student must learn that poor behavior has consequences. In a qualitative environment, the teacher takes the time to find out why the student threw the chair. This teacher considers that there is a difference between frustration and hostility. Should a student who throws a chair in frustration be punished the same way as a student who throws a chair out of hostility? Was the chair thrown in the corner or at a person? The quantitative approach is that chair throwing is wrong, period, and that student is punished. The qualitative approach is, maybe the teacher can teach the student more appropriate ways to handle frustration, or conflict. Maybe there is an underlying cause that must be addressed. If the teacher uses this moment to teach instead of punish, the teacher can assess t

NYT Sunday march 12 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/nyregion/brooklyn-charter-school-discipline.html

Former DPS student

Strict policies that strip students of their culture are not in their best interest. A "White-man-as-the-savior" approach to communities of color is not in the best interest of students or their families. If you want to give us choice, give us choices that meet the cultural and social-emotional needs of our students.

I believe we can create schools that are humanizing, develop equity literacy, and prepare students for college and careers.