A long line of research has demonstrated that up to 60% of determinants of student academic success happen outside of schools. Crucially, those outside-of school influences - like socioeconomic stability, housing, and social capital - can be leveraged through already-existing City infrastructure like social service agencies, programs like the Denver Preschool Program or the Prosperity Denver Fund, and programs run through agencies like Parks & Recreation and Denver Public Library. I pledge to unify and coordinate these City assets behind the singular goal of supporting family and student success.

The mayor has a unique and powerful platform to build partnerships and align resources in a cross- sector way. We did it effectively in the Hickenlooper administration and will do so again in a Brough administration. I will be personally engaged in this work and will appoint a strong and accountable leader of the Mayor’s Office of Children’s Affairs to convene partners – across my administration and in the private sector – to identify priorities and establish metrics for success and impact. A few of my priority ideas for supporting student success outside of DPS include:

• Out-of-School Time Resources – Denver’s My Denver Card program serves as a unified access card to recreation centers, libraries, and more. We can build on this incredible platform by expanding it to young people ages 18-25 and to an even wider array of providers, such as summer camps, sports leagues, and career preparation pathways (e.g., CareerWise, Cross Purpose, etc.). By doing so, youth will have the agency to curate their own learning agendas while building their own path to a sense of purpose – both of which we know are crucial to addressing the mental health crisis among our young people.

• Student Internships & Apprenticeships – Expand opportunities for high school students through paid internships, apprenticeships and summer jobs with City agencies, which has the double benefit of allowing students to “earn while they learn” and gain exposure to public sector career opportunities, while also helping understaffed city agencies fulfill essential responsibilities.

• Community Safety – Work with our public safety officials to create a stronger culture built around national best practices, transparency, and accountability. Recruit and retain more officers to the force, particularly women and people of color, to fill our current levels of authorized strength and expand co-responder and STAR programs. Address the drivers of crime to improve safety throughout Denver.

• Housing – Build for-sale housing on city-owned property, incentivize the transition of vacant office space to residential units and increase density along major transportation corridors and by empowering homeowners to develop ADUs. Change the City’s approach to development review.

Every student needs their basic needs met before we can hope for them to engage in deep, purposeful learning. This means they need stable housing, food to eat, and access to healthcare. Their parents

need access to jobs with livable wages. My platform includes plans to create a safer, more affordable Denver for all and the plans I have put forward are intended to address these foundational issues directly. Anything else is merely a band-aid solution that cannot mitigate the harms caused by badly-designed, inequitable systems.

Parents and young people should not have to worry about their safety on the streets. This is especially true for our students of color and that is why rebuilding our public safety department is my top priority: rising crime impacts everyone and impacts every aspect of our city from economic development to transportation to education.

Many of Denver’s toughest challenges are interconnected, and education is a critical component to ensuring young people have an opportunity for success. Schools have become the home of wrap around services for our children and families. Thanks to partnerships with Denver Health and the business community, there are free clinics and grocery stores available for our communities. But, we need more. I will work with DPS and other partners to expand resources and services for children and their families. Further, I will ensure these families are connected to city programs- both existing and new ones we will build with DPS and parents.

This is an example of where the challenges we face as a city are all intertwined. From housing affordability to public safety to access to reliable transportation, every challenge Denver faces will have an impact on the educational well-being of our young people. One of the first challenges we have to face head-on is housing affordability. This is why I led the coalition to pass Proposition 123 and will use those resources to build 25,000 permanently affordable units to bring down the cost of living and ensure families don’t have to pay more than 30% of their income to rent. We know kids can’t learn if they aren’t housed, and we know families that are paying too much on rent are cutting back on food and other critical supports kids need. The wealth gap between Black and white families with children can be as large as 100 to 1, a clear detriment to success in education. I plan to build on my success from the Dearfield Fund for Black Wealth, which provides down-payment assistance to Black homebuyers in Denver, by expanding the program citywide to help close the wealth gap, get families into stable, secure housing, and give students the stability they need to thrive in school. We also know that the recent shootings outside DPS high schools underscores the need for more public safety, which is why I will put 200 more first responders onto the street, push for school leaders to be able to bring back SRO’s if they want them, and partner directly with DPD to provide that security if the school board won’t.

My vision to build a structural organizational relationship is based upon the concept that more alignment of services and supports for the whole child addresses upstream determinants. My vision for this structural relationship is that both DPS and Denver will be required to make intrinsic changes to meet their respective obligations.

I have been steadfast with saying since I announced my candidacy that Denver needs more Public Social Housing and a Public Banking System to pay for it and to democratize banking to those who need it most in our city. We need Rent Controls as stated above as soon as they can be implemented. We need more Food Justice and access to fresh, healthy food for our students and staff in the city. Better access to public travel and lower energy cost will help support better educational opportunities for young people and staff to teach them.

Denver's affordability crisis has made it increasingly challenging for many of our city's residents, including teachers, to find affordable and stable housing. As the next mayor of Denver, I believe that it's essential that we make our neighborhoods more affordable, so that people can live and thrive in Denver. One of the pillars of my Neighborhood Plan is improving access to affordable housing across Denver, across all neighborhoods, and especially for educators. It is essential for our students and for our communities that it is possible for teachers to live in the same areas that they work in.

Additionally, I believe that it is important to invest in teacher housing, both to support our educators and to strengthen our neighborhoods. I will explore the possibility of creating housing specifically for teachers, working with city officials, developers, and Denver Public Schools. With DPS seeking to close some schools, there are new opportunities to repurpose this land for teacher housing.

But more than this, having a strong economy with job opportunities is also a necessary component, along with transportation, public safety, and beyond for students to succeed. The reality is that it is incredibly difficult for young people to be successful in school if they are unsafe, food insecure, are in households that are housing insecure or with guardians who have difficulty finding jobs. These problems all come together, which is why my focus as Mayor is on my Neighborhood Plan, which puts the needs of local communities first. By doing this, we build a foundation on which students can succeed. 

It’s time to fundamentally change the balance of power in this city, so that working families are the ones shaping our policy. I have been presenting detailed plans since the start of the pandemic to address the housing crisis. We need to keep people in the homes they have by passing rent control and a vacancy tax, and by supporting community ownership of land through community land trusts and community development corporations. We also need to protect tenants’ rights by funding the right to counsel. Then, we need to increase housing for the unhoused and for working families. We need to create safe outdoor sites for the unhoused while we rapidly place them in Housing First programs that have been proven–in other cities and in Denver–to be most effective at reducing homelessness. Then, we need to provide heavy incentives and requirements for the construction of housing that’s affordable to those making under $60,000 a year, including seniors and the disabled.

I have a proven track record of supporting unions and workers’ rights, and as Mayor would support a public workers union and enforce labor protections. The need to reduce emissions is an opportunity for us to create jobs and improve lives by transforming our city. We need to build sustainable buildings, retrofit old buildings, expand and electrify public transit and build resilient infrastructure.

Environmental justice is inexorably linked with well being. I’ll continue to hold polluters accountable, ban fracking and replace lead pipes.

I have public health and safety plans that reduce contact with the criminal justice system by investing in community-led anti-violence programming, continuity of care for mental health and addiction including harm reduction, restorative justice and re-entry support.

This is just a small piece of my policy plan. Historically, local government has been working for corporations, not for the people. When our communities lead the way in policy, we have the power to change the fundamental structure of our society so that nobody goes hungry again.

Quite a broad question, best answered via the policy on each I have on my website, but a concise attempt to summarize: Shelter for our neediest first and then pathways to permanent housing with better life choices. Law enforcement so that our streets are safe and clean. Then our city will rebound economically and or citizen’s participation in this recovery will cure many of these ills and stabilize our community. I have built, procured, and financially structured affordable housing. My financial expertise will get the most out of our city budget for all.