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Julie Banuelos
Julie Banuelos ran for election to the Denver Board of Education to represent District 5 in Colorado. Banuelos lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.
Banuelos completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Banuelos was a candidate for at-large representative on the Denver Public Schools school board in Colorado. Banuelos was defeated in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Banuelos participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2019
See also: Denver Public Schools, Colorado, elections (2019)
General election
General election for Denver Public Schools Board of Education District 5
Bradley Laurvick defeated Julie Banuelos and Tony Curcio in the general election for Denver Public Schools Board of Education District 5 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Bradley Laurvick (Nonpartisan)  | 35.4 | 9,307 | |
 | Julie Banuelos (Nonpartisan) | 34.3 | 9,005 | |
| Tony Curcio (Nonpartisan) | 30.3 | 7,952 | ||
| Total votes: 26,264 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2017
- See also: Denver Public Schools elections (2017)
Four of the seven seats on the Denver Public Schools Board of Education in Colorado were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. In her bid for re-election, at-large incumbent Barbara O'Brien defeated challengers Julie Banuelos and Robert Speth. The open District 2 race included Angela Cobian and Xochitl "Sochi" Gaytan, and Cobian won the seat. District 3 incumbent Mike Johnson was defeated by Carrie Olson. District 4 incumbent Rachele Espiritu ran against Tay Anderson and Jennifer Bacon, and Bacon won the seat.[1][2]
Results
| Denver Public Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Barbara O'Brien Incumbent |
40.49% | 49,283 |
| Robert Speth | 35.23% | 42,878 |
| Julie Banuelos | 24.28% | 29,559 |
| Total Votes | 121,720 | |
| Source: Denver Elections Division, "Coordinated Election November 7, 2017 Final Official Results," accessed November 27, 2017 | ||
Funding
Banuelos reported $20,314.24 in contributions and $16,835.41 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left her campaign with $3,478.83 on hand in the election.[3]
Endorsements
Banuelos was endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[4]
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Banuelos was also endorsed by a number of community members. Click here for a list of her supporters.
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Julie Banuelos completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Banuelos' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Accordingly, my platform includes dismantling the school to prison pipeline by divesting from School Resource Officers and policing in schools to instead supporting mental health support and restorative practices that will promote actual whole child programming. Additionally, I believe in protecting the rights and access for students who identify as being part of the LGBTQIA community. This also means championing and expanding a culturally responsive curriculum that hires and retains more teachers of color in a district where about 70% of student demographics are BIPOC. Likewise, I believe students and teachers are more than test results and faulty ratings attached to their schools. Finally, I am in favor of providing teachers a livable wage in a city where the cost of living is skyrocketing and broadening their benefits.
A historical and widening opportunity gap persists in DPS. My plan to eliminate these racial, economic, and social disparities in DPS include the following:
1) Re-evaluate the implication of the Choice System; 2) Monitor and insure that instructional and intervention services for English learners, special education students and/or students identified with Dyslexia are implemented and practiced; 3) Implement and require culturally responsive and culturally affirming practices and curricula is adopted and; 4) Re-envisioning school safety by comprehensively funding a robust mental health team in all schools, hiring full-time nurses, social workers, psychologists, rolling out complete restorative justice and trauma informed care in all DPS schools.
The Choice system is costly to sustain, but has also resulted in more racial segregation and a disintegration of community-building, especially for the working class and monolingual parent. Competition will always result in “winners” and “losers.” Parents are led to believe that their child is not learning because they attend red or yellow schools. The rhetoric around the School Performance Framework (SPF), as it relates to red, yellow, green or blue schools has resulted in a sort of membership flight from a “red/failing school” to a “green/high performing” or “blue/distinguished” school resulting in low-membership in another school, typically where there are high numbers of BIPOCs and working class, which then inevitably is closed due to low enrollment or continued low SPF rating. Instead the solution should be to fund schools comprehensively and sustainably while implementing programming that nurtures all types of learning modalities and where the teachers value the cultural and social capital of each student.
Also, DPS consistently fails fulfilling the Consent Decree, falls short of following the mandated instructional practices for special education students, students on Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) or 504s and flounders working with students identified with dyslexia while schools with high Free and Reduced Lunch (FRLs) students lack equitable access to the curriculum. Subsequently, monitoring the district’s budget and how it funds and addresses these aforementioned issues along with providing high need schools with sustainable and comprehensive funding is one method to address the persistent and widening achievement gap.
Furthermore, as an advocate and member of the Latinx community, I recognize that the culture fostered in schools plays a significant role in student learning. Accordingly, hiring teachers, paraprofessionals and school administrators that resemble the majority of the students in the district is equally important. It’s my priority to develop a policy that will support hiring more BIPOC teachers through local recruitment. The implications of SB10-191, the value placed on standardized testing, teacher evaluation and many other components have resulted in not only a shortage of teachers but created an aversion to one of the most important careers in our country because of the toxic climate, so it will be arduous.
Likewise, helping students feel safe at school through culturally responsive and trauma informed practices will have positive ripple effects on student learning. However, because the current board takes a conservative stance or moderate action to address the underground student push-out and the school to prison pipeline our BIPOCs students continue to be robbed of educational opportunities.
Too often we see political candidates come to our community to pander and ask for our vote only to fall short of making much-needed change. This is one of the many reasons I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone to run for the DPS school board. My experience, values, activism and work in the community indicate how committed I am to stand boldly and unafraid to challenge the status quo. I know first hand the issues facing our students, our teachers and our community. Our students and their families have a right to an educational system that prepares learners for any path that will foster their personal potential guided by intrinsic rather than extrinsic benefits. In doing so, community and society can progress toward a focus on elevating humanity instead of degrading people through poverty, unemployment and educational inequity.
Elected officials must elevate community, in doing so, society as a whole can progress and have equitable access to resources that provide dignity. We are witnessing a shrinking of the middle class, individuals maintaining two-three jobs to survive. This is unacceptable. Our elected officials must bare the blame for these current conditions.
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate the beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch Or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!
Ensure that the office staff has one or two personnel that speak the dominant second language (i.e. Spanish, French, Arabic…). If this is not possible, the office personnel must be able to access the language line easily and efficiently. Too often our monolingual parents are made to feel awkward and a burden when unable to communicate concerns around their child’s education
Assure that communication (answering machine, robocalls, newsletters, texts and email blasts) from school to home are in the languages that reflect the school demographic
Hire teachers/staff/administration that are reflective of the school demographics and values
Artwork posted around the school building and programming around specials classes must be culturally-affirming
A parent liaison must be included as part of all our schools to serve an important role and make an impact in keeping parents, caretakers and families informed about meetings (Collaborative School Committee, Parent/Teacher Organization, English Language Acquisition-District Advisory Committee and Board meeting information and minutes, to name a few)
Schools should have more community-building activities (e.g. back to school bbq’s, highlight achievements that are less about standardized testing and more about the many talents that students bring, etc…)
The district should have consistent and accessible training around Collaborative School Committee (CSC) and budget analysis
The district’s student demographics indicate that of the total student membership, 70% are students of color whereas 70% of total teachers are white. Recruiting and retaining teachers of color does not appear to be factored in the district’s recruiting practices. The values, culture and commitment to addressing this issue starts at the top of the district. Several factors can contribute to equalizing this disparity: 1) Develop BIPOC teachers from the ranks of our paraprofessionals, who often are people of color and have deep ties to the school community; 2) Provide incentives to our paraprofessionals to enroll in alternative teaching programs at CU-Denver or MSU; 3) Restore the value and dignity of pursuing a career in teaching from the standpoint of students, parents and society as a whole by paying teachers their worth; 4) Deepen connections and engagement with our in-state university system to recruit BIPOC teacher candidates who will 5) Establish a strong induction program for new teachers where master teachers serve, and be provided a stipend, to be mentors for new teachers in their schools; these master teachers must share cultural and demographic similarities; 6) Grow BIPOC master teachers into principals and/or assistant principals can be helpful in attracting and retaining a diverse staff in the building; and 7) If in-state and in-district efforts are exhausted, then the district must make efforts to recruit teacher candidates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other education institutions that have a large number of teacher graduates of color, such as those in New Mexico as well as Southwestern University in Texas.
The SPF is a one-size-fits-all evaluation system that relies heavily on standardized testing while failing to highlight the cultural and social capital and achievements unrelated to testing--including the development of second language skills, parent and community engagement, the retention of experienced teachers, the morale and school climate, and so on. Since the inception of the SPF, schools have been judged and labeled in descending order of “quality” as Blue/Distinguished; Green/Meeting Expectations; Yellow/Accredited on Watch; Orange/Accredited on Priority Watch; and Red/Accredited on Probation. Families, particularly the few well-to-do and well-informed ones, compete in ways akin to college admissions, to choice-into Blue and Green schools. Those in Yellow, Orange or Red schools live in fear of falling down further in the mislabeling of their students, teachers and communities.
School choice benefits those with the savviness of multiple proficiencies required to maneuver through the web-based choice portal, those who are competitive and can access information easily, and those with the resources to shuttle their children to any school in town. Needless to say, our immigrant and working class families are less likely to have such resources.
Additionally, the school choice system has detracted from the model of high quality neighborhood schools. Our local public schools used to be institutions in the community staffed with tenured and experienced teachers who typically had siblings, parents, and other relatives attend the same schools over the years. Close-knit communities with generations of children that attended those schools developed legacies and traditions where sporting events, music performances and talent shows drew opportunities to socialize and stay engaged. However, with the implementation of free-market practices in 2009, the school choice system has disrupted these legacies and traditions for the sake of achieving “quality schools.” Montbello High School, Gilpin Elementary, Horace Mann, Remington, West High School and others have met their demise at the chopping block otherwise known as school closure, or have suffered the humiliation of a co-location model because of the lack of student enrollment.
The reality is that only 35% of all students in the U.S. attend college. This statistic must be taken into account when creating opportunities for learners of all types who wish to pursue work in the trades through apprenticeships, to explore entrepreneurial opportunities, to become artists, or just to feel empowered to experience any fruitful post-secondary interests. Currently, Emily Griffith, Denver School of the Arts (DSA) and the Career Education Center (CEC) stand out as high schools that offer programs for non-college bound students. The success of these schools in offering our students these specialized options as equally admirable career paths should be expanded to all quadrants of the city.
Finally, middle schools and high schools must also have more counselors so they can align as closely as possible to the best practice of 250 students to 1 counselor. I support the movement for more Counselors Not Cops, because if we are committed to dismantling the school to prison pipeline, then our values and actions as a school district must mirror that undertaking. School administrators must demonstrate via budgeting practices that they are supporting the district’s promise.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Julie Bañuelos participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[5] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 5, 2017:
| “ | My top priorities include: 1) Ending the privatization of our public schools; 2) Launching meaningful policy for families; 3) Ending discriminatory school policy; 4) Supporting teachers and; 5) Advocating for fiscal responsibility of our tax dollars. Regarding my first priority ending the privatization of our public schools, I will speak and object to school co-locations, restarts and closure have undeniably hurt students and their communities. Pleas and protest of such practices have fallen on deaf ears of the current board; therefore, I plan to initiate a full moratorium on new charter school applications and approvals. That work will include conducting public hearings on existing charter schools to deal with issues and complaints often overlooked by DPS leadership. Another important aspect of privatization in our public school system is allowing for members of pro-corporate reform ‘non-profits’ to join our advisory committees and oversight boards, specifically with the bond and mill levy monies; consequently, these individuals with conflicts of interest must be removed from such positions. Finally, the hurtful normalization of school co-locations, restarts and closures must be stopped by and, I plan to be the one at the forefront of this fight. Seemingly, I do not support restricting a school or staff without a full public audit and a legitimate consent of students, families and teachers. The second of my priorities is launching meaningful policy for families which means ending the “choice” system and its admin-heavy, expensive support structure. Choice hurts the working class and people of color by making it difficult to maneuver the application process, often leaving them no other option other than a charter or a school too far from their neighborhood. Also, I believe schools should be equipped with a proportional number of knowledgeable staff that can explain, guide and empower families through the exact process associated with the English Language Acquisition program and/or the Response to Intervention (RTI) and Individual Educational Plan (IEP) systems which must include information about outside resources available to them. In conjunction with the second priority, I believe in reforming the School Performance Framework (SPF) so that students in poverty, students with disabilities and English-learning students are no longer used as an excuse to close the doors of their neighborhood schools. Value must be given to schools when students show mastery of subjects as measured by the Spanish state assessment and the proficiency levels gained by ELs on the ACCESS. There must be leeway given to students when transition from taking a state assessment in Spanish to English as there is an adjustment period in the changeover. Every parent and/or guardian has the right to opt out of standardized testing; accordingly they should not face persecution for executing this decision. Also, I believe schools should be equipped with a proportional number of knowledgeable staff that can explain and guide families through the exact process of an IEP and inform parents about the outside resources available to them. I know that providing schools with true wraparound services must be prioritized as a contributing factor in educating the whole child. These services in our schools are just as crucial as learning how to read and write, thus, we must make our schools safe and functional as community centers as this is how we will build trust from parents and guardians. My third priority is ending discriminatory school policies. This includes holding the district accountable for fidelity to the federal court order that has been established to help English learners. Correspondingly, test scores of ELs, not yet fluent, must not be included in school ratings. This practice can also be applied for our students with disabilities that are taking assessments. I will fight for a school culture must reflect a safe, anti-oppression zone for immigrants, refugees, students of color and LGBTQIA+ students. Now more than ever, it’s important that our schools offer a genderless restroom and locker facilities for those who wish to use them. I will cultivate respect for a student’s self-determined gender identity and update forms, systems, language and processes to support that identification. Another priority for me is protecting and defending collective bargaining rights of teachers. Almost 25 years ago, teachers came together to demand better working conditions and pay. Today, those two issues have resurfaced along with more challenges, like the inability for teachers to afford living in the city of Denver, often times our teachers have two jobs to make ends meet; also, experienced and tenured teachers live in fear that speaking against unfair treatment will result getting RIB’d. Our teacher evaluation system, LEAP, must be implemented fairly instead as a tool to push teachers out of the profession because of a personality conflict with the school’s leadership. Additionally, as a board member, I will move the classroom discipline issues out of the classroom and into the hands of restorative practitioners in order to allow for learning to continue. Finally, in order to hold school leadership accountable, I will ask that grievances be addressed with corrective action for principals fostering unhealthy school environments. The fifth item on my list of priorities for this term is advocating for fiscal responsibility of your tax dollars, especially with the approval of the recent bond and mill levy. Action items will include conducting a cost-benefit analysis of initiatives like choice, Success Express, charter schools and make certain that the schools listed to get improvements like air conditioning and modern HVAC systems see results. I believe in suspending construction on new schools when boundaries can be changed to meet school enrollments without incurring more debt. I will fight for an independent audit of the district’s finances so that we all know the areas where DPS is seeping monies due to things like out-of-court settlements owed to families of students with disabilities for failure to serve them correctly; unnecessarily quadrupling the size of administration personnel; squandering money to pay outside consultants and outlandish amounts in interest for rectifying SWAPS when mismanaging the teachers’ pension. The lack of transparency in the district’s finances is deceptive and insulting. Unfortunately, these misleading systematic techniques are also replicated at the school level, in some cases.[6][7] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
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 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Colorado. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | The rankings overgeneralize which issues are priorities and omit essential topics. For example, providing comprehensive language acquisition programs and supports for our non-native English speakers; developing teacher retention initiatives that focus on maintaining and recruiting teachers of color; the implementation of fully-funded restorative justice programs; increasing Per Pupil Rate of funding; valuing public education instead of pro-privatizing policies and, investing in culturally responsive training for administrators and teachers are important to me but are missing from these listed issues.[7] | ” |
| —Julie Bañuelos (October 5, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
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| No. A July 2017 report by the NAACP’s Task Force on Quality Education reiterated its call for a moratorium on new charters until there is accountability and transparency in their operations. What will you do in response to this, if (re)elected? One of my priorities, all along, has been a moratorium on new charters. Charters maintain zero-tolerance systems with authoritative discipline practices and sometimes depend on a visible police presence. Such practices compound the school to prison pipeline that perpetuates injustices toward our communities of color. Charters must be held to the same standards as their counterparts when it relates to disciplinary practices - instead of weakened oversight for the sake of high test scores. Our neighborhood schools deserve comprehensive and well-funded programs, and I commit to leveling the playing field. It’s time to put the brakes on new charter authorizations. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should always defer to school board decisions. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Testing and competition are components of our hurtful capitalistic culture. Students should not be molded to only know how to take and pass standardized tests. Students, like adults, have diverse interests and talents. As educators, we must lay the groundwork for students to reach their own potential. If that means going to college, then test preparation is helpful; but, fostering skills that can be transferred to honorable work that might include skilled trades, entrepreneurial possibilities, and/or civically engaged members of society.Providing wraparound services must be prioritized, and these services are just as crucial as learning how to read and write. We must make our schools safe and functional community centers, to build cooperation from families. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. In Denver, the LEAP system measures teacher performance, subsequently, tying the evaluative system to a teacher's merit pay. Teachers could earn more through professional development and the school’s School Performance Framework ratings. However, teachers that earned the most taught in schools of mainly affluent students. Teachers in high-poverty schools rarely saw increases based on the SPF. Today, paying our teachers a base salary large enough to live in Denver without having a second job has become a greater need. Therefore, merit pay as it currently exists requires a fair reformation. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. I do NOT support vouchers for private schools. With public education, citizens have the opportunity to engage and involve themselves in the democratic process of deciding what educational policies reflect the diverse backgrounds and needs of their community. More than often, district budgets are scare, consequently, private school vouchers siphon sparse monies from a system that reflects our democratic values. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be the last resort, especially because we know that this consequence is the reason why we continue to have a school-to-prison pipeline. Restorative Justice must be implemented with fidelity in order to support the education of the whole child/youth. In-school suspension can be an alternative only if there is an opportunity for reintegration to the school/class community. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Student-teacher ratio. BUT, as a former teacher and advocate of diverse communities with distinct needs, I can’t prescribe a hierarchy of factors that students, families and community members find most relevant given their situations. |
Banuelos also submitted responses to Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey in September 2017. Click [show] to read her earlier responses.
| Click [show] to see the candidate's earlier survey responses. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ballotpedia survey responsesJulie Bañuelos participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[8] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 25, 2017:
Ranking the issuesThe candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
Positions on the issuesThe candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
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Chalkbeat Colorado survey
Banuelos participated in the following survey conducted by Chalkbeat Colorado. The survey questions appear bolded, and Banuelos' responses follow below.
Tell us a bit about yourself. How long have you lived in the school district? What do you do for a living?
| “ | I grew up here in Denver, where my parents made their home after years of being immigrant farmworkers. My elementary school was Ebert, right outside of the public housing at 23rd and Tremont, where we lived while my father was studying to be an engineer. I spent my early formative years in Denver but once my dad graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, we moved out of state for a few years. My family returned to Colorado for the beginning of my sophomore year, and I graduated from William J. Palmer High School in Colorado Springs.
Thereafter, I attended Grinnell College with a degree in economics, held a career in the financial services industry but made my way back to Denver as a teacher. I spent 15 years in the classroom, first at Ebert Elementary, then at Sandoval and finally at Centennial. I left DPS in October 2016. Since then, I’ve been serving my community as a Family Service Worker with Catholic Charities of Denver.[7] |
” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[9] | ||
Tell us about your connection to the school district.
| “ | I spent 15 years in DPS as a teacher, a union leader and community advocate. I bring a unique voice to the at-large seat on the DPS board of education, one that draws from many intersectional communities. I come from a working-class immigrant family where I was brought up bilingual while living in a bicultural world. I attended my neighborhood schools, Gilpin and Ebert, in the Curtis Park Neighborhood.
It’s time to put a teacher’s perspective on the board, especially one that shares the experience of the majority of students in DPS. My platform is focused on protecting students, defending families, supporting teachers and monitoring district spending. Today in Denver, the path to a good education is full of all sorts of landmines. No matter how faithfully the residents of Denver approve new taxes to support schools, they see their money squandered away with ineffective outside consultants, siphoned away to charter schools and even spent on police in our elementary schools. The school district judges Denver’s school communities with the values of outsiders who see dollar signs instead of students. This district now uses the flimsiest of excuses to close down the schools of the communities that most need them, communities like mine at Ebert. DPS has even resorted to manipulating data but closing the door to children’s futures anyway. This destruction of our communities, this manufactured segregation, this wholesale attack on the livelihood of committed, experienced teachers, all for testing out market-based theories and increasing the power of the already powerful, has to come to an end. These are the injustices that fueled my reason for running in this election.[7] |
” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[9] | ||
The school board adopted a policy that calls for closing or replacing low-performing schools. Do you agree with it? Is there anything you’d change?
| “ | I completely disagree with this board policy. Closing or replacing 'low-performing schools' does nothing but demoralize students, families and teachers while manufacturing segregation. The real solution is to properly fund our school programs and to recalibrate the SPF so that certain students are no longer used as the pretext for co-location or closure.[7] | ” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[9] | ||
There are over 200 public schools in Denver. More than half are charter and innovation schools, which operate with increased autonomy. What are your thoughts about the district’s “portfolio” approach?
| “ | The portfolio approach is nothing more than a neoliberal strategy that represents elements of competitive market forces. Our students, families and teachers are not commodities in public education because learning is a human right not a time to profit.
Charters and innovations in the district’s portfolio strategy aim to diminish collective bargaining rights in the name of creating “quality schools” that focus standardized testing skills.[7] |
” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[9] | ||
How should DPS rate schools? What factors should be taken into account and how much weight should they be given? Do you agree with adding an “equity indicator” that bases ratings partly on how well schools are educating traditionally underserved students?
| “ | I believe in reforming the School Performance Framework (SPF) so that students in poverty, students with disabilities and English-learning students are no longer used as an excuse to close the doors of their neighborhood schools. The choice system, as we know it now, unfairly uses the premise of school effectiveness to skew a family’s decision on where to send their students.
The SPF does not account for English learning students (ELs) that demonstrate mastery of subjects as measured by the Spanish state assessment and the proficiency levels gained by ELs on the ACCESS. There must be leeway given to students when transitioning from taking a state assessment in Spanish to English as there is an adjustment period in the changeover. Most schools that are closed or experience co-location have a large number of ELs and/or students of color of working-class families, which often have a great need for resources that support work in developing the whole child before relying on the SPF to measure whether a school is successful or not. No, (I don't agree with adding an equity indicator). Equity would be best addressed by dismantling the discriminatory practices in the district. That includes: stop closing comprehensive neighborhood schools, because they’ve occurred mainly in working-class and communities of color; adhering to the court-ordered consent decree; and hiring/retaining teachers of color.[7] |
” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[9] | ||
Denver is gentrifying, and the district has formed a committee to investigate how those changes are impacting schools. What policies would you consider to combat the segregation and decreasing enrollment occurring in some schools?
| “ | The district’s track record for creating committees to investigate school-related issues have swayed toward favoring the board and superintendent's policies. One prime example is that of the School Quality Review (SQR). Although touted as an independent evaluation, in reality it isn’t. There are current studies and books that would serve the current district leadership well instead of going through the motions that it is doing something “big and significant.” For starters, the board and superintendent should read Peter Moskowitz's 'How to Kill a City.'[7] | ” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[9] | ||
What is DPS doing particularly well right now?
| “ | DPS created a colorful website, established monthly English learner advisory committee meetings, launched teacher and parent portal platforms and established EDUCA Radio. However, the district still must comply with the federal court order regarding English learners and improve retention of experienced teachers of color, which would improve student learning given the district pupil demographics.[7] | ” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[9] | ||
What is the most pressing thing the board should change?
| “ | Ending 'school choice' as we know it and its admin-heavy, expensive structure. Respecting the organic, first choice of parents, which often is their neighborhood school instead of closing or co-locating schools.[7] | ” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[9] | ||
Candidate website
Banuelos highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:
| “ | A common question I’ve fielded in the campaign is, 'what can one board member do?'
For too long, our school board members have forgotten their responsibility to be the prime movers of policy in the Denver Public Schools and have been passive rubber stampers of the initiatives championed by the Superintendent and the pro-corporate reform forces in town, which include groups like A+ Denver, Democrats for Education Reform and Stand for Children. That attitude doesn’t fit with my ideas on what a school board director should do. So what can one board member do? A lot, including:
ADDITIONALLY, I WILL WORK ON THE FOLLOWING AREAS: SUPPORTING TEACHERS
LAUNCHING MEANINGFUL POLICY FOR FAMILIES
ENDING PRIVATIZATION OF OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ADVOCATING FOR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS
ENDING DISCRIMINATORY SCHOOL POLICY
|
” |
| —Julie Banuelos (2017)[10] | ||
See also
2019 Elections
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Denver Public Schools
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook page
- Campaign Twitter page
Footnotes
- ↑ Denver Public Schools, "Running For School Board: Candidate Tracking," accessed September 2, 2017
- ↑ Denver Elections Division, "Election Summary Report," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "TRACER: Candidate Search," accessed December 15, 2017
- ↑ Julie Banuelos for Denver School Board, At-large, "Endorse," accessed October 23, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Julie Bañuelos's responses," October 5, 2017 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "BPsurvey" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Chalkbeat Colorado, "We sent surveys to all the 2017 Denver school board candidates. Read their answers here." October 5, 2017
- ↑ Julie Banuelos for Denver School Board, At-large, "Issues," accessed October 23, 2017
| Denver Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Denver County, Colorado | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Barbara O'Brien • Julie Banuelos • Robert Speth District 2: • Angela Cobian • Xochitl "Sochi" Gaytan District 3: • Incumbent, Mike Johnson • Carrie Olson District 4: • Incumbent, Rachele Espiritu • Auon'tai Anderson • Jennifer Bacon |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
