It was November 2020. Denver Public Schools had just lost its superintendent, 31-year veteran DPS educator Susana Cordova. She moved to Dallas because the Denver school board had refused to give her a fair shake — even after she successfully navigated a major teacher strike.
Faced with a crisis of confidence in DPS, Mayor Michael Hancock took to his bully pulpit. Together with former Mayor Federico Peña, they penned a letter chastising the “dysfunctional” board for “undermining” Cordova and causing her resignation. The board “mistreated her in public board meetings,” the mayors asserted, “and interfered in the day-to-day management of the school system.”
“It is tragic to watch political fights among adult school board members with personal agendas and little focus on student success,” Hancock and Peña added, offering specific steps to “begin to regain some semblance of credibility among the broader community.” More than two years later, the political fights and internal strife among the DPS board have further deteriorated, making 2020 look tame by comparison.
See the full article by Jimmy Sengenberger, January 6, 2023