Community Identifies Need
Denver families learned this spring that DPS would face dramatic budget cuts due to the plunge in sales tax, income tax and other revenue streams brought on by the COVID 19 pandemic. Community leaders raised concerns the impact of the pandemic and looming cuts would disproportionately affect students of color, and those whose families earn low incomes.
Partner Response
RootED co-sponsored a series of webinars on school district budget decision making. The discussions covered how school board members could navigate the development of effective school district budgets. In this video, Denver community members shared insights on what they wanted school leaders to keep top of mind as they developed the 2020-2021 budget.
A coalition of education advocate organizations held a press conference June 28 to discuss strategies the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education should consider before making cuts to the budget. The school district was facing a budget shortfall of $65 million. A critical message the advocates delivered is that the adopted budget should not exacerbate long-standing inequities in the system, or use stop-gap measures that will ultimately hurt students in the long-term. It must prioritize the educational outcomes for students of color, students with special needs and those who come from low income households.
Impact
The message was live streamed on 9News and covered on CBS4 and Fox31.