Denver’s city auditor wrote a letter last week to the superintendent of Denver schools to complain about the school district’s treatment of Hispanic students.

In his first sentence, he noted that “it is incumbent upon us to learn all we can about issues affecting our community before making grand pronouncements either on behalf of or in opposition to stated position.”

And then he repeatedly misspelled the superintendent’s name.

That’s not surprising, since Auditor Don Mares has never had a discussion with the superintendent in his search for learning all he can about the schools.

His letter, written on the auditor’s official city stationery, implies that he is writing as part of his responsibilities, as he twice refers to himself as an elected official.

The truth is that the city auditor has no official connection whatsoever with the schools. His authority or power doesn’t extend to the school district.

It becomes clear in the letter that Mares is writing the letter to champion the grievances of two activist Hispanic organizations – Los Padres Unidos and the Latino Education Coalition – which might be important if the auditor seeks election to the mayor’s office.

It also becomes clear he doesn’t know what he is talking about in the letter.

Mares says that since 1995, the school district “has done little or nothing” to improve the education of Latino students in Denver.

He ignores the fact that during that time, dropout rates of Hispanic students have dropped steadily, reading scores of Hispanic students have improved steadily and other measures of achievement have shown progress.

He also ignores – or isn’t aware of – a plan being developed to dramatically improve the academic climate for Hispanic students in Denver, including more investment of money and personnel. Superintendent Irv Moskowitz (check that spelling, Mr. Auditor) promises that the plan for bilingual education in Denver “will be one of the most progressive programs in the nation.”

Mares notes that he is “a member of the Hispanic/Latino community,” yet he aligns himself squarely with the two most militant groups involved in the debate over bilingual education. More moderate Hispanics believe that the bilingual education program in Denver has retarded the academic growth of Hispanic students far more than it has assisted them.

Mares writes that “over the past several months I have taken the opportunity to meet and talk with members of the Hispanic community,” but he lists only the two activist groups whose positions he apparently has embraced.

He last met with school administrators about a year ago, and he left a clear impression that he was pleased with the direction the school district was taking.

In his exhaustive search on the bilingual issue, the auditor seems to have done about as much research as he did into the spelling of the superintendent’s name, and with similar results.

The next time the auditor has idle time on the job and is strategizing his run in the mayor’s race, he ought to keep in mind the pledge on his official auditor’s stationery:

We are committed to providing quality service and full accountability.

Last week, it was a hollow pledge. Chuck Green’s commentaries appear here on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.



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