Denver Advisory Committee Trashes Great Work Charter Application
Great Work Montessori School (GWMS) has submitted this 738-page charter school application to the Jefferson County (Denver) Board of Education (Jeffco) in order to gain approval for the school.
The Jeffco Board is scheduled to vote on the GWMS charter on November 03, 2016.
On October 29, 2016, I tried to access this link for what was supposedly a 61-page Jefferson County District Accountability Review (DAC) of the Great Work Montessori charter application. However, the link does not work. (I later learned it still works for others. Go figure.)
It seems that later the same day, the DAC issued another, briefer, report on the Great Work Montessori charter application, this one only 10 pages long and named the “final GWMS review.”
The 10-page, “final” DAC report is a scathing commentary on a charter school that, among other issues, caters to Arkansas-based Walton Family Foundation (WFF) control at the expense of local, parental control (e.g., parental involvement on the board is clearly cosmetic, with parent board members having limited terms, no voting majority, and able to be dismissed from the board without reason).
From the October 29, 2016, DAC review of the GWMS charter application:
GOVERNANCE:There are concerns about a self-perpetuating board that disenfranchises parents.Board does not ensure parental/local control: GWMS governance shows a board that does not ensure local parents or even local community members can obtain a majority of the available seats. Anyone, from any area, regardless of ties to the school, can become a board member.
- “There are no minimum number of parents on the board.” (p76)
- “Future board members will be recruited in a manner consistent with identified priorities for areas of expertise, strengths, and sector experience.” (p. 81)
It takes until the FOURTH year (and final charter contract year) of theDenver Advisory Committee Trashes Great Work Charter Application | deutsch29:
