K-12 Policy

Redesigning Denver’s Schools: The Rise and Fall Of Superintendent Tom Boasberg

Education Next: In October 2018, when Tom Boasberg stepped down as superintendent of Denver Public Schools (DPS) after 10 years on the job, he was no doubt frustrated to see his longtime critics rejoice. What likely disappointed him most, though, was that some of his strongest supporters abandoned him, too.

Boasberg’s opponents were happy to see him go because they think he “destroyed public education” in Denver by transforming the 92,000-student district in ways they disdain. Some of his once-strongest supporters lost confidence in his leadership because they don’t think he transformed it enough. And everyone seems to blame him for not closing the city’s wide and persistent achievement gap between middle-income, largely white students and lower-income and minority students.

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