The recent announcement that the new Denver Green School would be housed at the old Fallis Elementary School at 6700 East Virginia demonstrates that the “one size fits all” model of public education is coming to an end.

The Denver Green School is not a charter school but rather a so-called “performance school” to serve grades K-8 at build-out. The mission of the Denver Green School is “preparing all learners to lead the way toward a sustainable, bright green future.” As a performance school the Denver Green School will have a DPS general curriculum and teachers, but how they weave that curriculum into the daily lesson plans for a sustainable, bright green future will be a work in progress.

The thought of a whole cadre of children who are indoctrinated daily into the theology of Al Gore is either reassuring or terrifying depending on one’s own political beliefs. But no child will be required to go to the school as it is a school of choice for the Mayfair Park, George Washington, Rangeview and Park Forest neighborhoods. Like the growing number of charter schools, the Denver Green School students will have to take the standardized CSAP test and will be subject to the national No Child Left Behind Act, so there is some accountability if it is only to see whether they can teach to a standardized test.

Will the children at the Denver Green School be politically indoctrinated? Yes, of course, but it happens every day in public schools anyway. If a parent sends his or her child to the school they undoubtedly concur with the political indoctrination being promoted by the Denver Green School. What type of individuals will the school produce? Well, the highly conservative public schools of the 1950s produced many of the 1960s radicals. Who knows, the Denver Green School may produce a group of fervent global warming skeptics.

We applaud the increasing number of choices that are being presented to families in the DPS system and across the state. A critical element in a child’s successful education is the involvement of the parents, and parents are more likely to be involved if the school at least, in part, reflects their values. If you think that your child needs a more rigorous regimen than is standard, there is KIPP Sunshine Academy at 375 South Tejon Street which has longer academic days and sessions during the summer. If your child has dropped out of school, but is considering going back to school, there is Life Skills of Denver at 100 Cherokee Street, which specializes in dropouts who have not found success in a traditional educational setting.

The latter two schools are charter schools which now educate some eight percent of the state’s K-12 students. Whether it’s traditional public schools with specialized curriculums for different needs of a student body, or “performance schools,” or “charter schools,” or “home schooling,” the “one size fits all” type of education is quickly disappearing as much as some in the educational establishment dislike that fact. Giving parents a choice allows them to be an integral part of their child’s education. Some of the new schools will be successful and some will be abject failures. But if a school is failing to meet the educational needs of a child at least the parents can vote by having the child go elsewhere.

Whether or not the Denver Green School represents a step toward a sustainable bright green future, who knows, but it surely represents a brighter, sustainable future for public education.

— Editorial Board