Kwame V. John the Debate Recap & Voter Recommendation

I just watched the CBS News Colorado | Chalkbeat Colorado debate for the candidates seeking to serve in my seat this November, and I wanted to provide you with my thoughts on the debate and a recommendation for undecided voters.

First, the debate began with the topic of School Resource Officers:

Would you vote to REMOVE SROs in the future:

Kwame Spearman: YES, and would want to transition them out by the end of his first term to create a community officer program.

John Youngquist: Did not provide a direct answer, but I would assume, based on his previous comments, that the answer is NO.

*** Both candidates cited “no plan was in place when SROs were removed.”

Here are my thoughts:

Both candidates are wrong when they cite no plan was in place for them; when SROs were removed, we directed the $1M in funding district-wide mental health supports, and we were working with a community officer responder model with the former police chief, which fell through on the city. Furthermore, Kwame has yet again endorsed my stance on police-free schools and even wants to enact community officers, which Director(s) Esserman, Quattlebaum, and I proposed instead of returning SROs at 13 schools. Read the full SRO resolution here.

Here is the next question:

Should students be expelled for being accused of a serious crime but not convicted?

Both Kwame and John said the following: No, but they shouldn’t be in our traditional schools until their crime has been fully processed.

Here are my thoughts on this:

Kwame started out his answer by acknowledging his law degree and that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I agree that innocence should be extended to our schools; however, we should not punish a student through a “diet-expulsion” process. Forcing students to leave their school communities if their behavior did not occur on school campus or does not have a nexus to our schools is wrong. If our judicial system made the decision with the evidence provided that they do not pose a threat to the community, it is not our job to override the Department of Justice.

What changes would you propose making to the discipline matrix?

Kwame: We need to simplify our discipline matrix, we need to have a plan for SROs, and we need alternative education environments for students that have behavioral issues.

John: The current matrix is ineffective and was proposed without admin at schools. Right now we need to recreate that matrix that is in a way with statue and federal law which it is not.

Here are my thoughts:

The discipline matrix can not be modified by the Denver School Board as it is operational. Both candidates here are trying to signal to their bases without actually knowing the role of the Board of Education. Our current matrix is in compliance with both state and federal law.

Measured by standardized tests the district is serving white students better than Black and Latinx students, what can the board to better serve Black and Latinx students?

Kwame: We have to understand what is working for our white students and we should applaud that and it’s because they have access to choice and we need to give our BIPOC students that. We need to a new generation of thought and we need to expand choice for BIPOC students.

John: We need to acknowledge that BIPOC students don’t feel welcomed into our classrooms. We need to acknowledge that we don’t prioritize that we don’t have the most experienced teachers with our BIPOC students.

Here are my thoughts:

John answered this question better than Kwame. It is disappointing that Kwame wants BIPOC students to live up to the standards of whiteness. This stance ignores the other social-economic impacts of our children of color. It also endorses a problematic notion that only school choice can support students of color instead of investing in the communities that they currently live in.

Are there any votes that Vice President Anderson has voted that you disagree with?

Kwame: When you see the resign DPS signs they are about one school board member and that school board member got out of the race when j got in and it’s not worth it to pile on that one school board member anymore. — Removing SROs is one I disagree with.

John: Restrictions of the innovation schools and SROs.

Here are my thoughts:

Kwame’s campaign was launched and continues to be sustained by anti-Blackness. He continues this false notion that all of the issues that take place in Denver Public Schools are solely on the shoulders of the sole-Black male on the Denver School Board. This is disappointing with Kwame being one of two Black people running to be on the School Board, and he continues to uphold white supremacist talking points. Now, John must have me confused with someone else; I voted against the restrictions on innovation schools and authored the reversal policy that restored innovation flexibilities.

The school board extended the contract of Sup. Marrero without an evaluation and then gave him a raise. Do you agree with those, and how would you oversee the superintendent?

John: This was a model that we can’t see again on how we supervise the lack of performance by a superintendent. It’s been difficult to watch and I don’t agree with how this has moved forward for our superintendent.

Kwame: No, I would’ve voted against it, it was untimely and he had not proven he deserved the contract extension or raise. We got here because we pushed our Susana Cordova. There is no vision for Denver Public Schools.

Here are my thoughts:

I disagree with both of them on their characterization of the Superintendent. Now Dr. Marrero and I don’t always agree with everything, but I would not say that he has had a “lack of performance” — Dr. Marrero, along with this Board of Education, has made many strides forward in various areas, one being DPS having the highest graduation rate in our 160 year plus history. I voted for his extension in 2021 to give him the time to build and execute the plan, and I voted against the 2023 extension and raise due to the lack of a robust evaluation. Finally, former Superintendent Susana Cordova was not “pushed out” she resigned.

The school board has been criticized as dysfunctional, and polls are low; how would you change that?

Kwame: Those polls are talking about ONE person, and we need to have new leadership and have a compelling vision. We are in a crisis of confidence.

John: I’m interested in seeing that is not invested in individual interests and group think that leads to inaction. I don’t believe it’s about one person it’s context and culture that’s been developed over time.

Here are my thoughts:

Again, Kwame continues to uphold white supremacist talking points, and it's disappointing he can only shoulder the blame with one person; I applaud John for sharing that he does not believe this should be put on one person and talks about the issues as a whole.

Finally, instead of going through the remainder of the questions, I will do a rapid True or False round on some of the statements by the candidates.

Kwame stated that the district should spend less on lawsuits and said that we have made a settlement to former Principal Kurt Dennis and the Executive Session lawsuit.

Both of those statements are FALSE.

John stated that we do not know how our budget is being spent.

This statement is FALSE.

Kwame said we could mitigate declining enrollment if we embrace choice and Denver Public Schools.

This statement is FALSE.

John stated another list of small schools is going to be released in a month or two.

This statement is FALSE.

Kwame stated that he would champion a policy to limit classroom sizes.

This is not within the power of the Denver School Board, those are negotiated with contract agreements with our unions, and the Board of Education does not sit or engage in collective bargaining.

John said he wanted to END the current teacher evaluation system, LEAP.

This is not within the power of the Denver School Board; state law would need to be changed in order to make this change.

Kwame stated that we have been installing air in school buildings that are closing.

This statement is FALSE all school buildings in Denver Public Schools are in use.

Kwame also stated that the minimum wage in Denver Public Schools is $18 an hour.

This statement is FLASE the Denver Public Schools minimum wage is $20 an hour.

Overall, both candidates do not understand the actual role of the Denver School Board. None of them proposed actual policies that they would champion within our governance model that would impact the academic outcomes of our children; they both failed to highlight the actual good work that is being done in Denver Public Schools, and all they did was signal to their bases which currently hate the Denver Public Schools. Now, overall, John performed better than Kwame. John did not attack Kwame when Kwame has very problematic stances, particularly supporting the return of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the city of Denver.(This is highly concerning with newcomers that we are serving and with DPS being 52% Latinx.) Kwame wanted to criminalize the unhoused and allegedly paid his employees at Tattered Cover so poorly that they were sleeping in cars. Kwame returned to Denver a few years ago to run for office while John was dedicating his time to the students of Denver Public Schools. I do not agree with John on a lot of issues, but there has not been a single time where I have found John to be dishonest in his stances to solicit votes or support, unlike Kwame.

If I was an undecided voter and I had to vote for one of these candidates, I would vote for John Youngquist. He will be able to bring the experience of our school leaders and ensure the Denver School Board can continue building on the many successes that we have made in Denver Public Schools.

• Auon’tai Andeson, Vice President of the Denver School Board.

Watch the full debate here.