Publicity Courtesy of Mr. Newkirk

Have you seen the news about Jeffco Schools since the last Jeffco Schools Budget Hearing meeting on Tuesday, May 26th?

 

First, there’s this:

http://coloradopols.com/diary/71452/jeffco-conservative-school-board-insults-parents-by-omission-on-talk-radio#sthash.7dnzPiRo.dpbs

 

You MUST listen to the radio show audio provided.

 

Newkirk goes on extremist talk radio, no inclusion of parents as stakeholders, allows our children’s teachers to be called “childish” and our children to be called “useful idiots.”   Then he and the talk show host “disingenuously call for an ‘adult debate’, while chiding teachers and mischaracterizing their alleged participation as ‘disgusting’, ‘mean’,  ‘vicious’ and ‘bad examples’ for students. ”  

 

You didn’t imagine it; listen again, that really happened!

 

This article calls it an agenda driven spin. We think it’s just ugly and insulting and a disservice to our children. The community is allowed to speak up whenever they think something is wrong and the Board (even the majority Newkirk, Witt, and Williams) is ACCOUNTABLE to the public!

 

Then there’s the excitement from the Budget Hearing Meeting on May 26th.  http://www.9news.com/story/news/education/2015/05/27/jeffco-board-member-makes-controversial-comparison/28030665/

 

“Jefferson County School Board member John Newkirk made a comparison that some are calling offensive,” reads the article.

 

Watch the video provided in the news article.  The audience attending the Budget Hearing literally gasped.  

 

Our inbox was instantly flooded with parents and community members in complete disbelief that Newkirk had just compared funding charter schools students with the pre-civil rights treatment of African Americans.

 

Sharing a letter from a charter school parent who was simply astounded by the comments at the last Board of Education Budget Hearing meeting on Tuesday:

 

From: Michele Minihane 
Date: Tue, May 26, 2015 at 11:18 PM 
Subject: Apologize. Please. 
To: board@jeffco.k12.co.us 


My daughter is lucky. She loves school and her teachers. She doesn’t get beat up at school or on the way to school. People don’t spit at her. No one threatens her or pushes her around. She does not live in fear of walking down the street. No one has tried to enslave her or kill her. Her life is nothing like the life of someone who experiences extreme discrimination and hatred. She does not experience the hardships that many black Americans have experienced historically in our great country and, in some cases, still experience. She has a great life. All this, and she attends a charter school in Jefferson County. 
Mr. Newkirk, I am horrified and deeply offended by your comment attempting to make a connection between how black Americans were treated in the 1960s and how we treat our charter students. 
Whether or not charter equalization happens, I urgently request that Mr. Newkirk sincerely apologize to our Jeffco community for his offensive comments. Likewise, Mr. Witt, Ms. Williams, and Mr. McMinimee would do well to apologize for their inaction. 
Sincerely,
Michele Minihane
Golden, CO
We at SJK do not oppose charter schools or funding and are proud to have volunteers from neighborhood schools, choice programs, option schools, charter schools and private schools. However, there is still a conversation that needs to be held regarding equity and equality and the difference thereof.  There is already inequity around the district beyond charter schools, which stems from inappropriate funding for public education at the state level.  That is the problem which needs to be addressed.