Michael Bennet was DPS Superintendent from 2005 to 2009. He left for the US Senate before the consequences of his reform agenda became fully visible. Now he's running for governor on the strength of that record. Here is what actually happened.
The Numbers
The Reform Agenda
Bennet arrived at Denver Public Schools in 2005, appointed by the DPS Board of Education under pressure from Mayor John Hickenlooper. He came from the Anschutz Investment Company with no education background. His mandate was to run the district like a business.
Under his watch, DPS launched the reform playbook that would define the next two decades of Denver education:
Charter School Expansion
Bennet opened the door to the portfolio model, treating schools like interchangeable assets to be opened, closed, and replaced based on performance metrics
ProComp Teacher Pay
A performance-based compensation system that relied on bonuses rather than raising base salaries, creating uncertainty for teachers who could never count on consistent earnings
Centralized Data-Driven Decisions
A growing analytical apparatus that expanded the central office while pushing accountability down to individual schools
Administrative Infrastructure
An expanding bureaucracy of cabinet members, analysts, and communications staff that would eventually consume $50 million annually
Bennet's supporters describe this as modernization. His critics describe it as the beginning of a system that prioritized data, branding, and charter expansion over neighborhood schools and teacher stability.
What Happened After He Left
Bennet departed for the US Senate in January 2009. The reform agenda he set in motion continued under subsequent superintendents. The outcomes:
Bennet appointed DPS Superintendent by school board under pressure from Mayor Hickenlooper. No education background.
Reform agenda launches: charter expansion, ProComp, central office growth, portfolio model.
Bennet leaves for US Senate before consequences become visible.
48+ school closures. $2B debt accumulated. Administrative overhead reaches $50M. $750M Wall Street deal.
Denver teachers strike for the first time in 25 years. Core issue: ProComp, the system Bennet created.
48+ School Closures
The portfolio model Bennet championed treated neighborhood schools as expendable. Mary Seawell has documented the school-to-closure pipeline that disproportionately affected communities of color and low-income neighborhoods in Denver. Schools were starved of resources, labeled "failing" based on standardized metrics, and then closed — their students scattered to charter replacements or distant alternatives.
$2 Billion in Debt
Stop DPS Debt Now has tracked the district's borrowing, including a $750 million Wall Street deal that mortgaged the district's future. The debt load grew as the district expanded its administrative apparatus while closing the schools that served the most vulnerable students.
The Teacher Strike
In February 2019, Denver teachers went on strike for the first time in 25 years. The core issue was ProComp — the performance-based pay system Bennet had championed as superintendent. Teachers were tired of a compensation model that relied on bonuses rather than predictable base salary increases. The strike lasted three days. 79% of Denver voters said teacher pay was too low. 82% supported teachers over the district.
The 2019 Payroll Leak
In January 2019, a leaked payroll database from DPS made its way to North Denver News. The data revealed the true scope of the administrative bureaucracy that the reform era had built:
For context: the Governor of Colorado's cabinet has roughly 24 members. DPS, a single school district, had 46. The district was spending $2 million on communications while telling teachers it couldn't afford to raise their base salaries.
The Endorsement Machine
The DPS reform era was not driven by one person alone. Stand for Children, the national education lobbying organization, spent over $300,000 in 2019 DPS school board races and endorsed candidates across 18 races in the 2014 cycle. The "reform" majority on the DPS board that approved school closures was built in part through Stand for Children's endorsement and spending machine.
Dr. Nate Easley, who served as a swing vote on the DPS board during critical closure decisions, represents the complexity of the era. Board members were caught between the reform agenda's momentum and the communities that were losing their neighborhood schools.
Why This Matters Now
Michael Bennet is running for governor on his record. That record includes Denver Public Schools. When he says he can lead Colorado, voters have a right to examine how he led the state's largest school district.
The reform agenda he launched at DPS produced measurable outcomes: charter expansion, administrative bloat, school closures, teacher frustration, and a strike. These are not opinions — they are documented facts. The question is whether those outcomes represent successful management or a cautionary tale about what happens when you run a school district like a business.
Bennet left DPS for the Senate before the consequences landed. Now he wants to leave the Senate for the governor's mansion. The pattern is consistent: move on before accountability arrives.
Further Reading
School Closures at DPS
Mary Seawell's documentation of the closure pipeline
Stop DPS Debt Now
Tracking the district's $2B debt and $750M Wall Street deal
Stand for Children Watch
The endorsement machine behind the reform board
Dr. Nate Easley
The swing vote on the DPS board
Denver Teachers Strike
The 2019 strike over ProComp
DPS Payroll Leak
$50 million in overhead exposed
North Denver News
Original payroll leak reporting
