Whitmire: Rocky Mountain Ties—In Denver, Charters Excel Working With District

Whitmire: Rocky Mountain Ties—In Denver, Charters Excel Working With District

The recent release of school rankings in Denver, based on the challenging PARCC tests, resulted in the downgrading of some schools. However, the significance of Denver’s successful experiment with charter schools was hidden within the press release. Denver’s approach of integrating top charter schools into its education system through a common enrollment system, co-locations, and the sharing of best practices has proven to be highly beneficial. This message should be heard by cities like L.A., Boston, and New York, where charter-district relations are still filled with conflict. Cities that choose to view charters as opponents rather than partners are ultimately hindering the success of their own students.

Another important takeaway from Denver’s success story is the range of school options provided to parents. By refusing to partner with top charter schools, districts are missing out on an opportunity to improve their own success rates. The higher performances of charter students end up being credited to the district, resulting in more overall student success. This is a true win-win situation.

In Denver, charter schools play a vital role in the education system. Six out of the top ten highest-ranked schools are charter schools, including the locally established DSST, University Prep, and a KIPP school. Among these charter schools, four have a higher proportion of low-income students compared to the district average. In contrast, the highest-rated traditional schools primarily cater to students from higher-income backgrounds.

The success of the Denver partnership lies in its ability to support students that other districts struggle with, including those in L.A., Boston, and New York. This success can be attributed to the strong partnerships established by Denver Public Schools, who are open to collaborating with any school or charter that produces excellent results. They prioritize outcomes over labels, focusing on what school models work best for the students rather than the preferences of charter leaders, unions, or superintendents. In Denver, underperforming schools are replaced by higher-performing ones, a policy that is lacking in cities where education battles persist.

Alyssa Whitehead-Bust, one of the key architects of the Denver model, emphasizes the importance of making charters full partners by sharing resources, facilities, and accountability systems. Charters also have a meaningful say in shaping policies that apply to all schools, enabling top performers to scale effectively. This inclusive approach has contributed to the success of DSST, which currently serves 4,800 students across 12 schools and plans to serve 10,500 students by 2025.

While Denver’s education record is not flawless and many schools, including some charters, still face difficulties, the district has made significant progress in providing quality education to a larger number of hard-to-reach students compared to other cities. It all comes down to the partnership, a crucial component that is lacking in most cities.

Charter schools continue to attract controversy, even in Denver. However, the level of controversy in Denver is relatively minor compared to the bitter disputes in cities like Los Angeles, Boston, and New York City. Bill Kurtz, CEO of DSST, who closely follows developments in other cities, understands the missed opportunities that other cities are experiencing.

DSST CEO, Bill Kurtz

Currently, an extreme example of this issue is occurring in Los Angeles. A significant decrease in student enrollment has caused Los Angeles Unified to face potential bankruptcy. The district is now faced with a difficult decision: either improve their own schools to attract more parents or compel charter school students to return to district schools. The latter option seems to be more feasible.

In response, the school district, which is responsible for authorizing most of the charters in Los Angeles, has decided to burden these schools with excessive paperwork and accountability demands. Furthermore, the L.A. Board of Education recently voted to shut down five charters, all of which were outperforming their district counterparts.

Denver, on the other hand, has taken a different approach. According to Lake, there is a stark contrast between Denver and Los Angeles. Denver chooses to replicate successful charter schools and work with them as partners, while Los Angeles seems to actively search for reasons to shut them down. It’s worth considering what Los Angeles could have been like if they had integrated top charters like KIPP, Equitas Academy Charter School, and Alliance College-Ready Public Schools into the traditional district, similar to Denver.

Boston is another city that has an abundance of top charter schools, but tensions are high. Millions of dollars are being spent on a referendum aimed at raising the current cap on charters, allowing for an additional 12 charters per year in districts facing significant challenges.

Although attempts at collaboration in Boston have been limited, David Osborne, an education expert familiar with both Denver and Boston, believes that Boston would greatly benefit from embracing charters in a manner similar to Denver. Osborne suggests that Boston could accelerate its improvement by replacing failing district schools with high-quality charters. Unfortunately, the Boston Teachers Union is expected to strongly oppose this idea.

Just for a moment, imagine what Boston would look like today if they had integrated top charters like Brooke, Excel, KIPP, and Match years ago.

Let’s not forget that the political compromises made in Denver were hard-fought. Andrew Rotherham, an education analyst, emphasizes that achieving similar compromises in other cities will require significant effort and advocacy. Good charters certainly play a role, but opponents of charters are just as vehement, whether the charters are high-quality or not.

While achieving compromise may be difficult in cities like Los Angeles, Boston, and New York, there are numerous other cities where it may still be possible. Education leaders in places like Kansas City and San Antonio are starting to consider partnerships and how they might benefit their communities.

In other cities, education and political leaders on both sides of the charter/district divide may need a gentle push in the partnership direction. Teachers unions and superintendents often prefer the old system where students were assigned a neighborhood school regardless of its quality, and charter schools were not seen as viable alternatives.

According to Kurtz, if districts are not willing to support collaboration, parents and students must demand it. The only solution may be for parents and students to advocate for change.

Richard Whitmire, the author of The Founders: Inside the Revolution to Invent (and Reinvent) America’s Best Charter Schools, is a senior fellow at Kauffman and shares valuable insights into the charter school movement.

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