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Transform Education Now (TEN) was founded on a simple premise: all of Colorado’s children deserve a high quality education and the community must come together to demand it. For the past two years, TEN has built systems of access to high quality schools, held districts accountable for student achievement and advocated for equitable education in partnership with Colorado parents and communities. Today, we are excited to announce that we are officially joining 50CAN as a core branch of this vibrant and powerful network of advocates!
After living, teaching and organizing in the Denver metro area for the last 10 years, we recognized the incredible power of parent partnership in improving education systems and the need for stronger systems of community empowerment to challenge an unjust status quo.
Parents in Colorado are desperate for a real, immediate solution to the current education system – and we can’t wait. We have talked to parents, who have sat in our living rooms with their heads in their hands, saying, “I know my son can’t read, and I keep telling my school, but they tell me that he is behaving just fine.”
In Adams 14, one of TEN’s focus districts, parents came to us because their children did not have permanent teachers. Last year, in the same district, students went without a math teacher for three months. This is not fair to students or families, and we cannot afford to maintain the status quo:
- 1 out of 10 students in Adams 14 are prepared for college when they graduate high school.
- 3 out of 10 students in Adams 14 are reading on grade level.
- In Denver Public Schools, only 5 out of 10 students are attending a school that is meeting district expectations.
We bring a spirit of urgency to this work: we will not stop until 10 out of 10 students are receiving the education that they deserve. TEN is bringing about change with the help of parents. We lift up their stories with data and empower families to spur action within their communities. But given the number of dramatic changes necessary and the urgency with which they must be pursued, we know that if we are going to secure the brighter future that Colorado’s students need and deserve, we need help.
We believe deeply in the expertise of community and the richness of our ecosystem to get this right. We believe in collaboration and creative solutions. And we believe in holding the experience of students and their parents at the center of our work, because they are the ones best poised to make change.
Together with 50CAN, we will have the strategic support and technical assistance to focus on what matters most: the students, parents and communities we serve. We are excited for the next era of TEN, and welcome you to join us as we reshape the future for all of Colorado’s students.