Denverites should keep one thing in mind at the ballot box this November \u2013 Denver Public Schools has some of the very best schools in the state and also some of the very worst schools in the state.<\/p>\n
Testing data released this month<\/a> highlighted many bright schools in the district<\/a>, and Superintendent Alex Marrero should be very proud that the district\u2019s students are catching up to their pre-pandemic peers.<\/p>\n However, the data also made something else starkly clear: School choice has never been more important for our children\u2019s educational opportunities. Two schools only miles apart can have dramatically different outcomes for students who enter a classroom at the same level. Because school districts have started measuring and emphasizing growth, we now know where student growth in math and reading excels and where it is stagnant.<\/p>\n There are some candidates running for the Denver Board of Education who would rather see the district’s world-class lottery system go away. Or even if they want to keep the lottery, they want to keep the best schools in Denver a secret<\/a> by making student growth data difficult to find and even harder to analyze.<\/p>\n We must protect and expand Denver\u2019s universal lottery system for school enrollment. The lottery is not perfect but it is far better than the alternative \u2013 students locked out of attending top-performing schools by difficult-to-navigate enrollment procedures that vary school to school.<\/p>\n This November voters will have a critical choice to make \u2013 do they support Denver\u2019s lottery system, where any student can attend any school they want with one easy form, or do they want a student\u2019s academic quality to be determined by their home address?<\/p>\n