I have now spent about one week mil'ing over the fact that the 3A/B override and bond did not pass for the Douglas County School District. Changes are coming and a $16,000,000 budget cut is hanging in the air.

I am admittedly one of those disgustingly optimistic people that do not dwell on the negative for long before I view it as an opportunity for plan B, or perhaps we should call this one plan C. The brilliance of a backup plan is that being forced to think creatively can sometime result in some wonderful benefits that the plan A solution did not present.

I started by making a list of all perks and benefits that 3A/B would have brought with it for our school district. It suddenly dawned on me that this wish list is very similar to the ones I've seen for many of our public charter schools. But since funding for our district charter schools are different than to the traditional counterpart, the charter schools are often working around taxpayer increase to complete those projects. In many instances the charters have mastered thinking outside the box with such finesse it seems they are rarely inside the box.

How do the charter schools do this?--Parent power.

Our charter schools are parent driven, but district run. With the help of people like you and me, nearly 3,500 kids in Douglas County are getting a high quality education. With parent volunteers and creative solutions many charter schools are built, filled, and operating on a shoestring budget--yet yielding superb students that are ready for higher education and a bright future. The 2006-07 assessment reports are available on the DCSD website and it will show you that not a single student dropped out of one of our district's charter schools.

My friends, this type of success and efficiency does not need to be limited to our charter schools.

A little known fact is that our charter schools serve as a test lab for our school districts, because they have a whole heap more freedom in curriculum choices and teaching techniques due to fewer regulations. After one of these cutting edge tools are proven successful, our school districts can implement them into the neighborhood schools. Long gone are the days when charter schools were the unknown wildcard. Instead they are active contributors to our public education.

There is absolutely no reason to reserve ourselves by only implementing teaching tool success. The DCSD charter schools were not a part of the recent $22,000,000 budget slash since they operate their own budgets in the black and were not the cause for the fiscal gap in the greater school district projected cost difference. We should study the successful charter school's fiscal achievement and replicate some of this into a broader development. This way when the school district is back on the ballot it can prove frugality and sensible budgeting--the tax paying voter loves that!

To further prove the point, let me quote the DCSD superintendent Jim Christensen from the districts own home page:

"We are extremely disappointed with the results of this critical election. However, we are so grateful for the hundreds of parents, community members and volunteers who worked tirelessly on behalf of the students and staff of this School District,"

Did you read it? Dr. Christensen credits hundreds of parent and community volunteers for getting a lot accomplished for our schools--and he is right. Without parents little gets done within our school district.
I am not implying that our board of education sit around and pick their noses, but just imagine of how the ballot elections would look if the parents were not voting. Our interest and active particiation is required.
That's just one example to how our citizens make a difference, the list goes on. Since the charter schools are parent driven, they are created and sustained by parents.
There are roughly 3,000 charter parents in Douglas County, and this is one involved, go-getting bunch of people. These are the kind of people that see a need in our education and create school solutions. With collaboration between charters, the school district, and our parent resources we can create a wonderful environment with gains for all.

As the 2008 ballot guide also points out, Douglas County is one of the wealthiest areas to live. Compare it to the Denver school district where the largest bond in Colorado State History was just passed. Denver has failing schools, low income families and deal with adversities that are rare in our area.

If the economy can be blamed for 3A and B in Douglas County, is the economy that much better in Denver?

Not only did some of Colorado's poorest tax payers support the massive Denver educational bond increase, they are supportive of their school district--which is studying and duplicating existing school success stories.

There is also another potential cause I have heard for the failing of 3A/B--that Douglas County is republican land--and the voters do not want to give more money to the government.

Let me clarify that I am not making this a republican or democratic issue.
I am just pointing out some feedback.
As part of this argument I have also heard that this year's voter is not up for supporting a bail-out of a government branch with financial woes.
But if that was truly the case 5A for Douglas County Library growth would have passed as the DCL has no debt.
On either side of the politics you must love an entrepreneurial spirit.
Charter schools are like small businesses. We can study and learn from this small business, which is by the way, exactly what the charters want us to do. It is to the entire school district's advantage to research and implement existing success.
I realize I am leaving you hanging here, but this is an upcoming blog and too long of a topic to complete in this post.

I feel strongly that Douglas County is in a position to band together and lead a new era of effective financial leadership and teamwork in educational excellence. It is already being done among some of our schools.

We have seven functioning Douglas County School District Charter schools that desire to contribute to the community they serve and build a solid relationship with the Board of Education. So instead of reinventing the wheel, let's work together as an allied public school unit to achieve these goals without sacrificing educational standards for our students.

And to those of you, who are pooh-poohing this idea before listening to the entire petition, keep in mind that an additional $16,000,000 is a lot of money to cut out of our schools, so being a little open minded is not as large of a sacrifice.

To help me explain some of the ways that a charter school/neighborhood school alliance could be a terrific backup plan to 3A/B--I recruited the help from a familiar Christmas tune. After all, a coalition like this could only be a gift that keeps on giving.

So over the next several days, keep checking in with this blog, and warm up your singing voice. The first day of charter school Christmas in coming soon!