2016 – Formation of Our Denver Our Schools (ODOS)
Our Denver Our Schools (ODOS) was formed in April 2016 not long after the November 2015 DPS school board election. In that race, billionaires continued their hijacking of the outcome by spending significant amounts of dark money to win the three races against those supporting local neighborhood schools. A group of concerned citizens met, prioritized values, established goals, and committed to building a counter movement against the “education reform” policies that had been instituted in DPS for over a decade. ODOS decided to focus on designing ways to inform voters about these issues, with a priority that the district should invest in neighborhood schools and not open more charter schools.
* Jeannie Kaplan’s Research and Background Work
Jeannie Kaplan, former DPS school board member from 2005-2013, began writing about the events leading up to the formation of ODOS in 2014, the year after she left the DPS school board. Jeannie documented the history of how DPS became the “premier” portfolio model school district and how it followed a philosophy of “education reform” beginning with the hiring of Michael Bennet as the Superintendent in 2005.
Her blogs were often featured in Diane Ravitch’s Network for Publication blog and sometimes in local media. She explained the disruption to local communities that were upended when schools were closed, and how charter schools were approved to open in their place. She also documented the problems for teachers and students that occurred during this period of “education reform.” Her writings were one of the main sources of information for ODOS as the group worked to reclaim the district for families in neighborhood schools. Her articles are in the Resources section on the website.
“Education reform should serve communities, not corporations.” – Jeannie Kaplan
2019 – Board Modifies “Education Reform” Policies
In 2019, ODOS celebrated the election of three new board members and hoped the board would pull back on some of the education reforms. In 2021, the board became a 7-0 teacher union-endorsed board and approved several changes to the past reforms that had been in place.
However, while some changes were made and charter growth ebbed somewhat, some of the board members retreated on their commitment to all aspects of the values ODOS espoused.
2023 – Expanded Use of Dark Money in School Board Election
In 2023, the billionaire-backed organizations promoting education reform and charter schools spent over $2.2 million in the November school board election and won three of the seats. The following news clips and links explain in more depth the background and events that occurred since Our Denver Our Schools formed in 2016.
2025 – Continuing Advocacy and Challenges
In 2025, voters face a similar scenario to 2023. Huge amounts of dark money are pouring into the race to support four candidates backed by Denver Families for Public Schools, an organization funded by several billionaires. The ODOS website describes the current situation in Denver and also provides information on the current state of school privatization across the country.