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$100K offered to Denver school to chart new course


The Piton Foundation is a private, operating foundation established in 1976 by Denver oil man Sam Gary. It is funded by the Gary-Williams Energy Corporation, of which he is the CEO. As though provisions in a teacher's contract is what makes a school a "failure." Again there is no link to poverty. 94% of students eligible for free and reduced lunch.

Where is the initiative to reduce neighborhood poverty?


By Jeremy P. Meyer

A local foundation today offered a $100,000 incentive for Bruce Randolph School to exclude itself from many provisions in the teachers union contract.

Teachers and administrators from the school in northeast Denver have asked for autonomy from union and district rules, seeking control over the school's budget, staff, time and incentives.

Now, the Piton Foundation, an urban-education advocacy group based in Denver, wants to encourage the process by offering the grant that would be expressly used for increasing student achievement.

"This is an opportunity for Bruce Randolph's leadership, staff, students and community to turn their school around," said Mary Gittings Cronin, president of the Piton Foundation, in a news release.
Principal Kristin Waters, at Bruce Randolph Middle School in Denver. (THE DENVER POST | CRAIG F. WALKER)
"Neither the district nor the unions should stand in the way of a school with this level of energy and determination to change the lives of its students."

Bruce Randolph, which was rated one of the worst schools in the state and is under threat of takeover by the state, would be the first Denver public school to separate itself from key parts of the union contract.

The plan must be approved by two-thirds of teachers in a blind vote, said Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. Then it must be approved by both the teachers union and the school board, she said.

"We're still trying to get clarity about what they want to waive," she said. "There is a lot of disconnect between what the authors want and what is on paper. They say they still want to make sure the classes are not larger than 35 students, but they are waiving that provision in the contact that sets a limit on class size. There are a lot of inconsistencies."

For three straight years, the school had been rated unsatisfactory, but its 2006-07 scores improved and, for the first time, the school's rating improved to "low."

Principal Kristin Waters put in place a reform plan called Challenge 2010 and each year is growing the
Dean of students Brian Dale talks with eighth-grader Shay Cooper, 13, at Bruce Randolph Middle School. After classes end, Dale supervises student safety on school grounds. ( Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post )
school to a sixth-grade through 12th-grade program.

The school day was increased 10 minutes; struggling students must attend after-school tutoring or classes on Saturday; and summer school also is a part of the plan.

Waters said her reforms have hit a ceiling and that she needs the autonomy to continue improvement.

It would allow the principal to hire teachers months earlier than is currently permitted. Teachers could add more classes for more money. Many of the decisions would be made by a leadership team that would be composed of the principal, assistant principal and key faculty members.

"Bruce Randolph will serve kids better if it has the flexibility and autonomy it needs to be entrepreneurial — the same freedoms most businesses, charter schools and effective non-profits enjoy," added Van Schoales, program officer for education at the Piton Foundation, in a release. "We know these freedoms need to be tied to quality program design and performance. This grant seeks to give Bruce Randolph additional tools that the teachers, staff and students deserve in order to reach their ambitious goals."

Earlier this week, the group Metro Organizations for People also came out in support of the Bruce Randolph plan.

— Jeremy P. Meyer
Denver Post
2007-12-14
http://www.denverpost.com/education/ci_7724586

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