Washington, DC – Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado and former Superintendent of Denver Public Schools (DPS), released the following statement on the announcement that the number of Denver schools performing poorly has been cut by more than half since 2008:
“I want to congratulate every student, teacher, parent and principal at DPS for this great improvement in performance levels. Their hard work is paying off. There is still a lot of work left to do, but it is great to see that our commitment to improving opportunities for all our kids is making a difference.
“While there still are too many low-performing schools, these rankings show that we are moving in the right direction. They also show that when we focus on the needs of our kids and on proven education strategies, we can provide an opportunity for all children in this country to receive an education that will prepare them for success in the 21st century economy.”
In this year’s School Performance Framework rankings, the number of lowest-performing schools—those considered “accredited on probation”—decreased to 14 from 31 in 2008 when the ranking system began.