Welcome to our semi regular, very irregular, probably public affairs programming, got with us two veteran activists from the education scene in Denver. And just to set the stage back about two weeks ago now, 10 days ago now, the superintendent of the Denver public schools, Susanna Cordova, resigned. She submitted a resignation not effective immediately. I guess that's still in the works. But she's taking another job in Dallas. And that came as a surprise to I think the community came as a surprise to the school board in particular in what has happened in the intervening week or so, is that there's become a.
An effort has been created, I suppose, to portray her exit as having a different political meaning than what it probably does. I had a brief off the record conversation with Susannah the weekend before last. She didn't mention any of these other issues out there. I did ask her for an on the record interview not. That request has been unveiled so far, but in talking with school board members are just having messaging back and forth. Know clearly they were surprised and let's not.
Mince words about this, DP's has been in sort of a crisis mode for a while, it's been exacerbated by the pandemic and the necessity of going back and forth on school openings and what grades were attending had the option of attending in person.
But you know that that almost seems like noise up against another signal. And people have stepped into sort of the vacuum on this, notably Mayor Hancock. Former Mayor Federico Pena put out a statement earlier this week, which I think was basically a work of fiction, a plus co. try to put their spin on events. And we've seen other groups and personages. Alan Gottlieb has resurfaced. Alan was at the Time Foundation. He was the founder of Etna's Co., which then became Chalke B, apparently Chalke beat.
It's not pro charter privatization, profit taking enough. And so Allensbach with his own platform. And then yesterday we saw a public appearance by past school board members, Andrea Mérida. Very sore, very sore, a. subpoena, and so we've had people, Andrea, being the exception we've had the people have been at the forefront of pushing privatization in Denver schools, pushing a charter agenda, pushing a test and punish model. All these folks are coming out of the woodwork.
You know, from my from where I sit as a DPS parent, I see the Democratic establishment machine getting revved up to play a role in the school board elections that are coming in a year's time and maybe some other things going on as a pro student, pro family.
Slate took control of the board a year ago. We still had the court of administration and really the entire superstructure of DPS arrayed pushing still a high stakes testing, privatization, charter zation agenda, even though the board itself doesn't reflect that particular ideological mindset.
So so why don't you talk a little bit about Colorado Latino Forum? Put out a letter yesterday kind of pushing back on this this effort to define what's happening in DPS in this moment and thought it was a tremendous letter that was.
Yeah, thank you.
So the Colorado Latino Forum Board, we decided that we needed to put out a rebuttal statement based on what we read from the from Mayor Handcock. What was really disconcerting and very concerning was his statements around insinuating that the powers should be taken from the Denver school board to make the decision on hiring a superintendent and putting it on a on a set of individuals and why that was disconcerting to us and and highly concerning was the power that he exerted over over a decision making process that is not his to make.
And that was where our initial concern was was founded on. And we gathered to make this statement based on facts and not on fiction. Right. Based on facts and not on hearsay, based on facts and not on rumors are being spewed regarding whether or not there was racism or sexism involved against Superintendent Susana Cordova. And that's really the basis of our statement. Now, there's a lot to there's a lot that we can discuss within our statement. And we've had several questions about it.
And we can we can dive a little bit deep into it. But basically, we are wanting to list certain facts that current Denver school board superintendent Susana Cordova could have made changes and made an impact, a significant positive impact, especially for the BIPAC community, BIPAC, meaning the black indigenous people of color communities. She had time to make those significant changes and it didn't happen. She had time to have entered into that position and replaced former Superintendent Mossberg's administration executive level staff.
And she didn't. She went on and continued on with the same group of people under her helm and continued on with the same agenda. And that's where those are. The reason why we decided to list out those facts is typical for the public to be able to differentiate between a low performance review. And racism and sexism. Right, make a decision public based on facts, are you seeing a Denver school board being racist against a Latina superintendent or are you seeing a Latina superintendent that had many, many an opportunity to make significant change and it didn't happen?
And I think that's a great summary. I mean, you know, a couple of things, I think evade the public's attention and a lot of it goes to sort of the visibility that people have into decision making.
You know, with the advent of last year's board, there's not been a tremendous change in policy. The board basically, as it currently works, you know, doesn't. Set policy, it really what it does is that it is reviewing policy that comes from the central administration. They're not really driving the ship. The superintendent has been driving the ship in. Voters have in part. Rejected that with the last election, they certainly rejected that with the broad public support for the teacher strike, which is now receding in the rearview mirror.
But people need to understand the core central administration for the last 15 years has been oriented around serving the superintendent, not serving the district schools.
And it's been run since Michael Bennett was superintendent as basically a political machine that sits on top of a school district. And the problems of that model, I think, have become manifest that the debt that the district has taken on is stupefying, mind boggling, the amount of debt the district's gone into in the last 15 years. And there has not really been a change in that.
And so now we've got the political establishment and it's a thin political establishment.
We're not talking about people that are actually engaged in the schools, not actually engaged in improving education. Handcock ran on on an education platform when he ran for mayor.
His most notable TV spot when he was campaigning for the job was, you know, how awful it was that he had to transport his son from far northeast to East High every day.
In the years that he's been mayor, what has he done to improve education in the far northeast? I mean, just finally, we're starting to see the green shoots of a return to having comprehensive high school there, which is what the community wanted.
It's what the community said they wanted before Montbello was closed by Cordova's predecessor, Tom Boasberg, who conveniently fled the country.
So. So what is your take on on what's going on?
What are you seeing? Well, there's a lot going on. I mean, it just depends on which angle are we talking about? Are we talking about why Hancock is speaking? Are we talking about why Cordova is not speaking? Let's let us be clear. Cordova said nothing. This was initiated and we found this out yesterday by Brother Just Live, where Mary Sewell is the one who initiated this letter that went into what? The Westword. So what we have that basically is a a white, wealthy woman who started a letter for other people to sign about how Latino people are being a Latino woman has been pushed out.
And if that's not the the very definition of of pandering and of, you know, speaking for another community that you don't yourself belong to, saying what they should be upset over when the woman who's at the center of the controversy has yet to make a statement saying that she was pushed out at all. And so there's that piece of it. And then, of course, it's it's one of the things that also came up yesterday. And I'm wondering if it's going to rear its head in these upcoming these new upcoming elections.
Is this somehow superficial division between black and brown people in regards to the consent decree and how this was some type that the black community somehow didn't support Cordova because of her linking and her her her connection to championing the consent decree. So there's a lot of messiness that just seemingly came out of nowhere for those people who work on the grassroots or even the grass tops. And I'm sure it caught off guard. I know it caught me off guard. I really am appreciative to see off in Sochi in particular for responding so quickly to to to the bullshit basically and being able to articulate what the issue really, really is and for people.
And so what it does let me know is that more than anything, those people who consider themselves reformers are part of the reform movement are gearing up for the twenty, twenty one elections. They have, of course, that this puppet mayor in their back pocket ready to yank a string and get him to open his mouth, because like you said, I've yet to hear the mayor talk, not once about the closing of his alma mater, Manuell High School, which has happened three times under his watch.
But yet he has something to say about Suzanne Cordova resigning and taking a high six figure salary in Dallas. Like how does that even work like that? Didn't even make any sense. So I think I think those of us who have been watching this from afar, such as yourself, Daryn, and Sochi and CNN Sochi, who always has her finger on the pulse of what's really taking place inside of Denver education. I think this is this is a the first salvo of what we can expect to occur in twenty, twenty one around these elections.
The reformers went back in. Even some people who are reformers by their willingness to sign on to this letter clearly want it went back in to some sort of significance. And so we can we can get ready for it to be somewhat of a we used to call the Cordova Show the shit show. I think we're about to see that come up again inside of this next 20, 21 elections.
And let's remember something else here that I think is is really critical. And that is, you know, that the ideology that the corporate reformers brought to the table 15 years ago has repeatedly now been shown to be a failure. You know, the high stakes testing. You know, every every school district, every state in the country essentially has rejected some element of that premise, it just doesn't make sense. And it never had made sense to use standardized tests to try to measure outcomes for something they were never meant to measure.
Standardized tests were designed to measure narrow areas of academic achievement and skill.
They're not designed to measure whether or not a school or a teacher or classroom or even a district as a whole is working within that model. Fail and fail and fail so that. Central guiding principle of this ideological effort to change schools, to take over schools, to privatize schools has failed.
And you look at a more granular level. You look at the colocation of charter schools within public school buildings.
That's failed. North High is probably the best example of that.
And we've got the massive Lincoln, which Montbello and yeah, Montbello is a shell of its former self.
And every time I think about that community, it ruins my heart.
You know, I remember Montbello back when Rentrak there at the Montbello Invitational track meet every night and to go to that campus today and not to see that vibrancy, not to see that life, not to see that community. That's right. Is is just horrifying to me.
But we're going to see a season of this where, you know, the the corporate reformers, the privatizers, the profiteers. I have nothing to show for 15 years but failure, and so they're going to target the people in the school board and that's the hallmark of our political era, right?
Morning Express, they're going to express their sadness and their disappointment for losing well, for losing their IT girl.
Their IT girl meaning. That's right. This is being Susana Cordova. Right. That was their go to leader that they were looking forward to be able to continue, right? That's right.
Boasberg Well, Bennett left what boasberg left, and they were hoping that Susana would continue with that. And now they're losing her, which means they're losing their power in continuing with that shell game because we have. Jennifer Bakan, we have Brad Lorik, we have Scott Baldor. Yes, Scott Boldrin Anderson. Dr. Keri Olson, who are teacher driven, community driven Denver school board members who are willing to listen to the needs and wants of their constituents, of their community, who voted overwhelmingly, voted them in, and they've been doing their job as Denver school board.
And for someone like the mayor who holds the power that he holds and and is losing at that shell game, the for shell game with all the other donors has got to be disheartening for them. It's got to be disheartening. So I understand and see their move, the move.
But we've got to counteract with facts, with information to let the public know this is this is really what's happening. You make the decision on how you're going to vote in the next school board election.
And that election is coming up soon in this campaign to really begin within weeks, probably candidates start emerging, fundraising starts taking place.
And, you know, one of the things if I was if the shoe was on the other foot and I was looking from the access of Mary Suel, Michael Hancock, Teresa Penya, the entire group of them.
I don't know where they're going to find credible candidates from the community because, you know, it is not they don't have success, we learned. From now, a decade and a half of failure, what they trot out every couple of years in an election season just does not work. So it's going to be curious to see how both weak their candidate recruitment is. And it's always been an issue. I mean, that happy hands come and go, you know, happy Haines's literally went from a lobbying firm to the Hancock administration while she was on the school board.
Prior to that, she worked for DPS. I mean, there's this insidious profiteering, revolving door. And, you know, the hallmark of that approach has been nothing but failure.
I think what they're going to use the G and I think this is a I think this is a precursor to what they're going to use and place of using evidence of their success. What they're going to use is race as a bait and switch issue. Because let's be clear, that's what this was all about. This was this was predicated on not that, Suzanne, that she received low ratings from school board members, not based upon her performance, but based clearly just only based upon their race or her race, is what they said.
And so they're not going to lean on, nor, like you said, very eloquently and accurately, they're not going to be able to lean on evidence that their model is successful. What they're going to try to do is to roll out a black or brown person and run this on the issue of race and wanting to put a black or brown person in place. And this this was the test trial, so to speak, of how they're going to message that, who they're going to message it to and who are going to be the people that parrot that message and who's going to be on board to parrot that message.
But they're not going to run on evidence of education. They're going to run, which is you know, that's again, that's the irony behind this whole rollout happening from a rich white woman or wealthy white woman and Mary Sue penning the op ed in the first place, like, what the hell? This didn't come from a grassroots organization like the left that had this type of, you know, pushback against. And to be honest with you and I would like to xda even talk about that this as well, is isn't it funny how silent all black and brown grassroot organizations, wouldn't they be the first ones to cry foul if Susanna's could?
Cordova was a champion of black and brown families and children.
You haven't heard a peep from any grassroots black or brown organization saying that she was pushed out. You heard it from a wealthy white woman from the Gates Foundation who's crying about it like. So she just said they lost they lost their their shining star and their foothold inside of the district. And Susanna, those of us who know who Susanna is and what she represented inside of the district, we're popping champagne bottles. We're not going to do it for long because we know that this represents them coming back strong.
But there's no tears being lost over the fact this isn't Cordova is is leaving.
I have to say, just to add to that thought, to add to that. So I don't know that I'm celebrating. My perspective is I'm I'm concerned I'm saddened that we're losing a superintendent right now in the middle of a pandemic. When I hear when my son is my little seventh grader is sitting in front of his Chromebook and he is doing his virtual learning. And in the background, I hear one of the boys in the background saying, teacher, I'm going to go grab a snack.
And she says, well, we just finished with lunch. Did you not eat lunch? Well, no, I tried to make a sandwich, but my mom didn't buy the groceries. Oh. Why didn't she buy him? Well, she bought some, but she just didn't have money to buy the meat that I'm supposed to put in my sandwich. I only had the bread and he didn't have, you know, whatever it was, baloney or turkey or whatever.
He didn't have the food to be able to put together a meal for himself. So he was trying to find a snack because he was hungry. He was hungry, he was home alone while mom was working and he was hungry, and let's face it, that's the reality of what's happening right now.
So it's disheartening to know, yes, it's an opportunity, right. We all know it's an opportunity to find a better superintendent. Yes. But at the same time, heartbreaking and disheartening that the people and the human beings that are left in the wake of this are the teachers, the parents and the students that are left to deal with what's with the aftermath of this in the middle of a pandemic.
And so we have a situation where the mayor of Denver and the establishment of the city and the Gates Foundation and Mary School, we can personify they're concerned about this petty B.S. within DPS instead of dealing with the. Manifest impacts of this pandemic, I mean, I'm getting a letter home from school. They're not actually coming home. Of course, it's an email. I'm getting an email from my son's school every week with another student or staff member has tested positive for I.
And we've got all of these huge structural imbalances in this district and they're being amplified by the pandemic. And we've got people playing politics with personnel. Now, as we know in DPS, politics and personnel are never far separated. And, you know, personnel and budget is policy in the district. There's there's no policymaking tool that is effective in the same way that placing people in positions of power. Is there's no you know, there's no policy prescription that is as impactful as when that budget is set every year, but people need to realize this school board really lacks the tools and the capacity to impact some of those issues.
The school board has a very limited toolset and they have been made more limited by things like Cordova's contract and the institutional momentum of having the cabinet level in DPS be there not to serve students, not to solve problems, not to improve academic achievement, not to help families through this pandemic, but to serve this ideological mission. And that's one of the messages that, while complicated, I think people around the city intuitively grasp.
Well, for one thing, I don't know if I would call it a petty beef or petty B.S. that they're involved in, because we know that what it really is predicated on is a billion dollar budget and that they're still trying to keep their their money grubbing hands on, you know, on that keep that trough open. And so there's a you know, it's not like they're just doing this because they're trying to, you know, be the mean girls or the mean boys in the locker room.
They're doing it because it's tied to their bottom lines and they're continuing to have access to the wealth. To your point, despite children like Sochi is speaking about, despite family suffering, despite all of that, what you choose to do, Maricel, is to open a shop and get 14 people to sign on to it, not talking about the issue that you just brought up very eloquently and that self articulates so, so clearly. But to talk about the fact that a person is leaving the district who they themselves has yet to open their mouths to talk about the fact that they're leaving the district in the middle of a pandemic.
I mean, let's be clear when we're talking about and this is what the reformers have done very well just by penning this op ed, we're not actually talking about that. We had a brown woman who was just basically abandoned ship in the middle of a crisis like. How much are we supposed to say that she really was down for and supported when basically she decided to take another job in the middle of a crisis? Usually we would lambast anybody who would just hit the eject button in the middle of a crisis and leave leave now on top of figuring out covid.
Now we have to figure out what the leadership of this of this district is going to look like. We're not even having that conversation. And that's the part that they did very well. And I think it was done purposefully so that we're not even really talking about the issue that she quit.
Not only did she quit on black families, brown families, working class white families, she quit on ninety three thousand students. She quit. And that's who we knew. That's who I knew her to be. I've seen her in action. So I knew her predecessor to be. And that's what that's what I know cowardice shows up at in the middle of a crisis is when you hit the eject button and we're not even having that conversation. Yeah, that's really that's a really unfortunate piece about this, right, is that, you know, in her in her public announcement to the media, she she's making the statement that she, you know, was recruited and chose to take this position that she was recruited for.
Never once did she mention anything about, you know, these Denver school board members were were mean to me or they were there was racism involved.
And that's why I'm leaving. You know, if they're truly actually was racism and sexism, you would think that someone of her caliber and her level would know how to file a discrimination lawsuit. If, in fact, you know, there's evidence of that having occurred to her, you would think that one of her first steps would be to file that discrimination discrimination lawsuit. That's not what's being said by her. And her statements are, you know, I I chose to go to this position and I'm looking forward to doing that.
That's my her next step in life. And she didn't explain the reasons. But we can all speculate as to her reasons. But for it to take a turn, for it to be a all of a sudden the story about racism, if you're going to tout racism, you meaning Mayor Hancock and whatever other political elite are involved with Mayor Hancock. If you're going to tout racism, let's talk about the institutionalized racism happening in the system right now. What and to students, let's talk about that.
You know, because Susana isn't talking about that. That's not what she said in her statement.
You're going to tout racism. Let's tell the appropriate racism the real true facts that are occurring today.
Right. And again, I think in this context, we know. Right.
It's much like some of these voter fraud lawsuits that when they actually get into the courtroom Friday, they cannot produce any very Trumpy in all of this is very troubling, isn't it?
Yes. And a lot of ways, you know, we now have the benefit of hindsight. But, you know, looking back at the last 15 years and DPS, it's been very troubling for a long time. There's been a lot of.
Allegation, a lot of insinuation, a lot of Potemkin villages with no fact, that's right, no basis, no foundation behind them.
And, you know, maybe we maybe the bright side of this particular moment that we find ourselves in is now some of this stuff is even more clear, crystal clear than it ever has been. What what's at stake, but also those who put their own stake. Before the public spoke and the well-being of our our families, our kids, our teachers, I mean, what this pandemic has done to all of those groups is just stunning, staggering, what the teachers are going through, what the families are going through, what our kids are going through.
And we haven't heard the response from their Hancock, for example, and that would really make a difference.
Yeah, I agree. And this is why. But I want to look at this in a different in a different vein. This is why I'm very encouraged by the board that we have in place. I think Sochi alluded to that. I'm very encouraged by some of the people that we are going to be that are going to be coming from the grassroots who are running for school board in this upcoming election, because unlike them, we have a pretty good bench of people that I'm very excited to to see pop up in this next election and give a run for the rest of the reformers.
I think I think it also is indicative of the fact that we have an opportunity to to look for a superintendent. And again, one of the things we're not talking about is how much of a sham the last superintendent search was and who was controlling the strings behind that and how Susanna just tra la la and ended up being the last candidate, the only candidate left in and the finalists. And so this this actually underscores and it validates what the community felt back two years ago about that process.
And so I'm encouraged that since we we've gained the wisdom of having gone through that process two years ago, that when we engage in that process now that the community will know and be on. Because to your point, again, who do they have lined up now to take over Superintendent Mark there? And, you know, like who who hoo you're going to roll out now with that would have any type of credibility and the community to to take this on.
And so we have somebody.
That was why. That was why. So you know that one of one of the reasons of of the letter from the mayor was because. That's right. It may not have they may not have someone right now. And it's a scary thought for them to not have that someone to be to have been left with this eerie feeling of, oh, she's leaving. We better hurry up and defend those actions and be ready to find that next superintendent that we want to have in place.
But maybe we don't have that power because now there's a whole new board.
I hope that's right. People that weren't there before, two years ago, you know, and so that's scary for them. It's a scary thought. Yeah. And so their reaction was one from fear. Right. And fear of community fear that people are awakened to this reform agenda and what's been taking place, fear of of the community having actual knowledge and power.
Now, that's based on the based on the Denver school board members that are that are sitting that are the elected right now that are really listening to community.
And so my hope is that the Denver school board members are watching and listening to everything, including, you know, reading and really making their own decision on the letter and the statement by the mayor, CLX statement or any other community statements or even conversations happening on social media by community, really listen and read them and make your own decisions. Denver school board and allow us, the community, parents, teachers, students to participate and really, truly, authentically engage with you, partner with us in the search for the next superintendent.
And even though they touted authentic engagement last time, you know what? Authentic engagement needs to be customized this time for every community in every different way. And you say this is a message to the Denver school board in that you all really need to do your work in terms of what does. What does authentic engagement look like for every community and how are you going to customize it so that you're hearing from everyone throughout the city of Denver and really taking into account what we all have to say, our needs and our wants, and that's my message to them today, is start looking at that, start looking at that engagement process and making it truly authentic for all of us.
Good point.
So are you saying, Sochi, that a bunch of flip charts and guided discussions are not authentic, authentic ways to gauge the the voice and concern of community for hey, for maybe for some maybe for some people that works.
But I remember making a statement to the Denver City Council about a year ago, but this was regarding metro districts. And something's happening in southwest Denver regarding the redevelopment of Loretto Heights in southwest Denver. And, you know, our city councilman in southwest Denver had touted authentic engagement. And so here's his perspective or his opinion of authentic engagement entailed people writing down their opinions and on little sticky notes and gathering the sticky notes. And when my my statement to Denver City Council was for my people, for Latino, Mexican or Chicano indigenous people, sitting down and writing sticky notes is not authentic engagement.
How about you sit down, have a meal with us, have a conversation, gather our opinions and take some notes on what we're telling you and engage authentically with us that we don't have a sit in a room and just hand-pick the ones you want to hear from and have us write down our thoughts on sticky notes. Really engage. Let's have a meal. Let's sit down, let's talk and really listen. Sounds great. Hey, I'm going to call a halt to this because I know you've got to run.
So it is 12 15 here. So thank you both so much. So I missed this seeing you guys in person so much.
I know I missed the both of you. Thank you for that. I really appreciate it. Thank you for coming together. Yeah. Take care.
Bye bye. Bye.
Guerin Green
[Guerin Green on DPS] (https://novelcognition.fyi.to/guerin-green-sochi-gaytan-soul-ashemu-battle-to-define-cordova-exi/)
