Schools for Tomorrow Blog

Who’s got skin in the game?

Why haven’t DPSRS and PERA merged yet? The deadline they set was January 1 and I know it’s not January 1, but it’s game time. The merger seems like it would be good for everyone. It was supported by DPS, PERA, the teachers’ union, and others. Only DPSRS was lukewarm.

A merger would be a boon to Colorado teachers in and out of PERA, DPS and to the kids who need it most. It wouldn’t hurt any districts. DPS now pays a staggering $1300 per student into the pension; PERA districts pay $500. DPS charter schools pay through the nose. I’m not sure I even support pensions, but so long as we have them, a merger makes sense for everyone.

So will someone please tell me who’s holding up this parade?

Alan Greenspan recently told Congress that “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief, ” reminding us that we can’t assume that leaders of an organization will act in the best interest of its owners or their insurers.

Had the public known that it was the insurer for banks and insurance companies, would it have wanted more oversight? Colorado taxpayers are the insurers of the DPS pension and yet we have abdicated responsibility for the plan to the trustees with the assumption that leaders of DPSRS and PERA will act in the best interests of the plans’ members. But are we, the insurers of the plans, paying enough attention to the incentive structures we’ve created for the plans’ management?

In other words, how do we know that the leaders of these organizations are pushing for what’s best for teachers and kids? Are these multi-billion organizations being properly held accountable to taxpayers?

It is peaches and cream to assume the best of everyone, but we just saw Joseph Cassano - a man who racked up $11 billion of debt at AIG - walk away from the insurance company with $280 million as taxpayers bailed out the company. Apparently what was good for Joseph Cassano wasn’t good for AIG. So why are we assuming now that what’s good for those making the hard decisions about whether and how to merge are doing what’s best for their constituents? Are our assumptions flawed?

If making the right decisions meant losing your job or your power, would you do it? What if the economy were in the toilet? What if no one were looking?

I’m not part of the PERA/DPSRS merger negotiations. The nosedive of the market can’t be making those negotiations any easier. (Check this out for heartburn) The negotiations are taking place behind closed doors. Please tell me I’m wrong about all of this.

I was over at Manual High School late last week, after the Denver school board heard school facility-sharing recommendations from the district staff. One recommendation that caught me by surprise was locating an alternative high school program called Concerned About You Academy at Manual. I spend a lot of time at Manual and had not heard anything about this co-location proposal.

So I asked Manual Principal Rob Stein whether he knew the program was likely to be located inside Manual. He stared at me as if i were speaking gibberish. He may have thought I was kidding, until he made some calls and found out it was true.

Manual got blindsided.

According to DPS, Concerned About You Acdemy would consist of 300 overage (18-21) under-credit dropouts. The program would be co-operated by Aims Community College and the Central Missionary Baptist Church.

Then, today, Manual learned the proposal was put on hold, at least in part because of this story that appeared in today’s Denver Post.The lede:

The Rev. Willie D. Simmons, a prominent Baptist minister, has been sued by a former secretary who claims Simmons sexually assaulted her twice in her office then fired her and expelled her young daughter from his charter school at the church.

Simmons’ church? Central Missionary Baptist, co-sponsor of Concerned About You.

DPS got blindsided.

The story also points out that Simmons was never charged with a crime related to the incident. But the alleged victim is now suing, which makes for some dicey publicity if you’re trying to open a school.

There’s a wonderful German word, schadenfreude, which means “a pleasurable emotion resulting from the misfortune of others.” I wouldn’t blame folks over at Manual if they were experiencing a bit of schadenfreude today, at the expense of the DPS administration.

Psychological torture is spreading from the cells of Abu Ghraib and Gitmo to the classrooms of at least one affluent suburban high school.

It’s hard to reach any other conclusion after reading about administrators at El Camino High School in suburban San Diego, who decided it would be nifty to create a “teachable moment” by fooling students into believing several of their classmates had died in drunken driving accidents over the weekend. Har dee har har.

This may sound like an idea incubated in the hormone-heated mind of middle school boys. But school administrators did this in cahoots with the highway patrol. You’d think a group of adults who make their living working with adolescents might suspect such a prank would create mass hysteria. But no,

I was going to write something humorous and pithy about this. But it’s flat out not funny. Heads should roll. Shame, shame, shame.

Read Susan Green’s column today for a spot-on analysis of the ridiculous case the Denver DA brought against Skinner Middle School Principal Nicole Veltze (see my earlier post on this topic). Thankfully, saner heads prevailed and the case was dismissed. This week, Nicole is back where she belongs, running a school. And DPS is out 100K. That’s enough, as Greene points out, to hire a couple of teachers.

It would be nice to see DA Mitch Morrisey apologize for his boneheaded bullying. But that’s asking a lot of a politician. Especially in an election year.

The "rock-star superintendent?" Puh-leeze. The cult of personality is not what we need. Show me an urban district that is serving its kids well consistently and over time, and then I’ll think about lighting a match for an encore. Thanks to Brian Weber for the tip.

A compelling story by Nancy Mitchell in today’s Rocky Mountain News illustrates how quickly a well-intentioned person’s career can be destroyed when dysfunctional bureaucracies collide.

Nicole Veltze, principal of Denver’s Skinner Middle School, may have made an error in judgment when she suspended two seventh-grade boys who acknowledged groping a female classmate late last year. It might have been wise for her to call the police as well. Given what has happened to Veltze since, I’m sure she wishes she’d taken that extra step.

But for Veltze to face criminal charges for not calling the cops is the height of absurdity. It’s reminiscent of stories about first-graders who get suspended for accidentally bringing Mom’s paring knife to school in their sack lunch.

Now, in fact, Denver Public Schools employees are being forced to overreact to a comical degree. Only it’s not funny. So we’re being treated to stories about teachers calling social services when two five-year-olds are caught exchanging a smooch on the playground. Or a six-year-old boy being investigated by cops for telling a classmate she had “a sexy booty.”

DPS workers are rightfully worried that they could fall victim to the same overreaction that could cost Veltze her job. No wonder they want to cover their booties.

It’s clear that something of a pissing match has developed between DPS, the Denver Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office. And Veltze is the one getting sprayed.

There is a way to develop common-sense solutions to challenges like these. This doesn’t mean sweeping inappropriate behavior under the rug, or sanctioning sexual harassment. It means taking action commensurate with the magnitude of the alleged crime.

Poor Nicole Veltze. She is the epitome of a good soldier, volunteering for some of the toughest jobs in DPS, and performing them admirably. Let’s hope the cops and the DA come to their senses before she ends up with a criminal record for trying to do the right thing.

And let’s hope DPS gives her back her job at Skinner. It’s the least she deserves.