Luminary Learning Network News Today

Officials with the Beacon Network say students at Grant Beacon and Kepner Beacon middle schools will be harmed if Denver Public Schools assumes control of the schools.

Kepner and Grant Beacon middle schools will return to Denver district control after the Denver school board voted to dissolve the Beacon Network innovation zone.

Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero is recommending dissolving one zone, while another is shrinking after Northfield teachers voted to leave.

The amended bill gives Denver’s semi-autonomous innovation zones some recourse when they disagree with school district decisions while preserving local control.

As Denver debates contentious issues, school leaders were told to keep concerns internal and support district positions when acting in an official capacity.

The combination of autonomy, accountability and choice creates a competitive dynamic, changing the incentives and governance arrangements of K-12 education.

Jesse Paul / Colorado Sun When she was a brand-new legislator besieged by lobbyists at the entrance to the Senate floor, state Sen. Rachel Zenzinger felt a tap on the shoulder from a man telling her she was late for her next committee. She rushed to the elevator, and the man accompanied her all the way to the committee room, securing several minutes of one-on-one time to make the case for his client’s bill. When Zenzinger pushed open the door to the committee hearing room, there was no one ...

Sorry, school board members, but community members have real cause for concern. It’s not that the vote to deny the expansions of the Northeast Denver Innovation Zone and Beacon Network Schools is necessarily worrisome in and of itself. The Denver Public Schools board passed a resolution last September to “pause and reflect” about innovation zones and schools through May 2021. Based on the tone of some board member comments in recent months and immediately before the vote, innovat...

Melanie Asmar / Chalkbeat Two Denver schools will not be allowed to join innovation zones — at least not right now — after the school board denied their applications to enter agreements that would afford them more autonomy and flexibility. Board members say they’re in the midst of a monthslong process of evaluating innovation schools and zones, nicknamed the “pause and reflect” period. The board has pledged to consider new applications in August. But innovation leaders, teachers, and...