Public education is a public good
Mamas de DPS v. School District No. 1 is a lawsuit filed in Denver District Court on December 19, 2024, alleging systematic financial misconduct, racial and class-based segregation, and private profiteering in Denver Public Schools.
Mamás de DPS press conference April 12, 2022 at Fariview Elementary
A budget is a moral framework of the values and priorities of an institution.
What are the values and priorities of Denver Public Schools when our neighborhood schools are in constant threat of closure?
All children are entitled to a “thorough and uniform” public school system that protects them, not profits from them.
Constant opening and closing of schools
Since permitting charter schools, DPS has used a strategy of chaotically opening and closing (and re-opening and re-closing schools). This causes permanent, intergenerational harm to children, families, and communities. By normalizing this constant destabilization, DPS has distracted from systemic problems in the district.
The 2024 DPS School Closures
DPS’ Inaccurate “Declining Enrollment” Data
School Boundary Gerrymandering
DPS’ Building “Utilization”
School Performance in Denver
Race and class-based segregation
For about twenty-five years, DPS was under a federal court order to integrate its schools, primarily by redrawing school boundary lines. When the court terminated the order in 1995, DPS redrew the boundary lines and returned to segregation, which has worsened over the past thirty years. Today, racial and class-based segregation in DPS schools creates a feeding frenzy for private corporations.
DPS’ Current Financial Condition
DPS Bond Measures Since 2008
Denver Schools Facilities Leasing Corporation
Segregation in DPS Schools
The History of the “School Choice” Movement
Risky financial deals and real estate profiteering
Since 1984, DPS has been using its school buildings as collateral in high-risk financial deals and real estate transactions without transparency. The district is billions of dollars in debt it cannot get out of without continuing to borrow more money, making bankers and lawyers and private companies rich but bleeding the schools dry.
Charter Schools in Colorado
DPS’ Portfolio Management Model
Charter School Profit
Charter School Building Corporations
DPS’ 2008 Bennet Variable Interest Loan