Though there is much that divides our community in terms of school reform, one fact remains absolutely clear—the status quo is unacceptable. As a school board member, I have and will continue to advocate for real education reform, reform that is innovative, collaborative, and effective.
In order to help our students meet the challenges of our rapidly changing world, we must first and foremost ensure that they have the time to gain the skills and knowledge they need. We need a longer school day and year, with improved programming, and we need to ensure that students are prepared for their next steps in school before we move them forward.
We must also embrace a full and rich curriculum, that respects the whole child and emphasizes the skills students will need to be globally collaborative, and not just competitive. Over-emphasizing the most basic reading and math skills, or emphasizing STEM to the exclusion of other important skill sets, will not help our students thrive in the 21st Century world. The 21st Century is not a “basic” time, so our children will need much more than “the basics” in order to thrive. And leading a free and democratic life requires more than knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math. We must help students become well-rounded in all areas, so that they are prepared for life, and not just work.
Looking at the global picture, we have too often put our children at a disadvantage compared to children around the world. For example, how will our children fare compared to children who graduate from school speaking two, three, or even more languages? Instead of restricting the teaching of foreign languages, and promoting an English-only mindset, we should help all of our children learn multiple languages. We should use the linguistic diversity in our schools as an asset to promote multilingualism in all of our students, instead of extinguishing some of our children’s home languages. Our children will need to be literate in multiple languages– and cultures– in order to collaborate and succeed in their present and future.
We have strong examples of schools doing exactly this, including some right here in Denver. For instance, at Academia Sandoval, children like my daughter have been immersed in both English and Spanish so that they become dual-literate in both languages, and are prepared to learn more languages in the future. At West High School, we are working with teachers and Generation Schools to offer a longer school day, smaller class sizes for core subjects, and 21st Century tools and practices in all classrooms. I look forward to continuing my work with schools like these, and to advocating for these kinds of changes district-wide.