March 17, 2025 • 35 mins
Heidi Ganahl fills in for Dan, who's in court all week working a case, and welcomes Kim Gilmartin and Ellie Reynolds into the studio to discuss their fight for a charter school in Douglas County that is meeting plenty of resistance from the Left.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Dan Capless and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Well, hello everyone, Happy Monday, Happy Saint Patrick's Day. I
am so excited. It's one of my favorite holidays. Look
at the Irish all of you. It's Heidigan All. I'm
filling in for Dan Caplis. I am thrilled to be here.
We've got so much to talk about. I've tried to
pack in as much as i can into the agenda today,
and I've got some great guests coming up. I've got
(00:37):
a Ray Scott, who is a previous state senator and
now is a regent at the University of Colorado.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
That's at five point thirty five.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
We're going to talk about all things DEI at our
wonderful state university.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Go see you, well, in this case.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Not so much go see you, but we're also going
to talk about John Adams Charter School, a new charter
school that a couple of my friends are trying to
get going down in Douglas County and they're running into
a few stumbling blocks, including the Democrats who are rabbid.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
About this school coming in.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's at four thirty five, and Ryan, I want to
start out by talking about the incredible news nationally, because
Colorado not so much. But I love starting off on
a good note, and I like to say that every
day is Christmas right now with President Donald Trump in charge.
And actually I think Congress and Senate they're good to
(01:28):
kind of playing along right now.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Nothing too much to complain about. I'm sure there will be.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
But I was looking through the notes, and the approval
ratings for Democrats are just tanking right now. And I
mean I looked at this number, twenty nine percent Democrat
party approval number with CNN, twenty seven percent with NBC.
That's really really bad, and then horrible numbers for congressional
(01:53):
Democrats sixty eight percent disapprove, twenty one percent approve.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
That that's bad.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
And then you look at the right direction pulling numbers
with how many people in the country think we're headed
in the right direction?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Forty four percent say we're headed in the right direction.
It doesn't sound.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
High at first, but that's the highest number since January
of two thousand and four under George Bush.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Hey, you remember when we were younger, Heidi, And I
know is long ago and far away in another galaxy,
but you could read that choose your own adventure books.
Yeah yeah, And I give you an option right now.
So for the listeners at home, you can know that Hidi's.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Going to make this choice.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
And based on the numbers you just stated, you can
go one of two directions. Here, Steve Kornaki MSNBC or
Harry Entton CNN your pick, and then I'll play one
of them.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Let's play Harry en Okay, he's funny.
Speaker 5 (02:45):
He had the good choice.
Speaker 6 (02:47):
Why are Democrats full of despair? All I have to say, Democrats,
call your office. You know where march madness times terrible, terrible, terrible,
to quote the great Charles Barkley. If you Democratic Party
favorably CNNSRS look at this twenty nine percent, NBC News.
You want to go lower than nut how about twenty
seven percent? Both are record lows, the lowest going back
(03:10):
to nineteen ninety two, and CNN pulling the lowest going
back on record to nineteen ninety and NBC News polling
the majority of Americans hold an unfavorable or negative view
of the Democratic Party. At this point, all I can
say is, I'm a big fan of the oldiest. So
I'm going to quote Chubby Checker.
Speaker 7 (03:28):
How low can you go?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Oh my goodness that that's awesome, right, you means so funny,
he is hilarious. I want to go have a beer
with him. So, yeah, just talk about the Democrats, you know. Also,
I was it last night? This time is going by
so fast right now? Where the Democrat judge, I mean,
the basically activist judge tried to stop the flight to
Venezuela to get rid of all the gang members?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Am I mess up? On my time?
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Was that last night? It's over the last forty eight
seventy two hours? Yeah, Well, they come in that up
in droves on this topic. And there's just judges popping
up in circuit courts around the country that are hard
leftists Obama or Clinton appointees. San Francisco, DC. And I
guess they're running the country, Heidi, because they have the
power to override any decision the President of the United
(04:17):
States makes in the executive branch.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, our lovely press person, Caroline, she smacked back at
that today and said absolutely not. We're not cow telling
to these activist district level you know judges.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And actually was El Salvador.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
The plane was headed to and I loved the guy
who leads El Salvador popped back o.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Kaylee, yes, and he said, oops, too late, too late,
the plane's already ending. Did I do that little racle
for you there too? Dang, you can make a career
in those impersonations.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
I just remember TGIF ABC Fridays.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh well, you don't Family Matters?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Oh yes, I couldn't remember the name.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Of the show.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, yeah, Oh, we're going to go down that path again.
Remember last time we listed like every great.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Eighties movie ever.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
I might do that again.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Saturday Morning cartoons those were the best.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, old fruity pebbles, Oh yeah, fruity pebbles, frosted flakes,
pop tarts.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Pop tarts were my favorite.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
Oh heck yeah, what.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Kind of pop tarts do you like?
Speaker 5 (05:22):
I like the frosted blueberry.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Okay, I like frosted cherry or the brown sugar those
have grown on me.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
I like the fruit ones, but that's just me. In general.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
A lot of people like the cinnamon ones that those
are really popular, or the other ones that are, you know, chocolate,
Rocky Road or whatever's going on with it.
Speaker 5 (05:39):
I like the fruit, Give me the fruit.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, I don't complain about many pop tarts. I'll eat
any pop tart any day.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
There's a movie about it.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
There's a movie about Frosted.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Yeah, unfrosted Jerry Seinfeld Netflix movie What. It's not the greatest,
but like, he's in it, Jim Gaffigan's in it. There's
a whole lot a bunch of stars are in it,
and it's about kind of fick tities portrayal of the
invention of pop tarts by Kelloggs and Battle Creek, Michigan.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Really, well, I might have to watch that.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Yeah, it's worth it. I mean, you know, it's kind
of fun.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I'm watching White Lotus right now. Do you guys watch
and oh it's so good. It's so good.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You guys are gonna hate me. What. I don't even
like pop tarts?
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Kelly, Yeah, she's kind of out of here. Well there's
that she doesn't like. This is really gonna Jason. She
can't stand barbecue.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
No, no, no, I don't know what.
Speaker 8 (06:34):
If you go.
Speaker 9 (06:35):
I don't like barbecue. I don't like anything smoked. I
don't like bacon. I don't like chocolate. I don't like anything.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Sweet like bacon and chocolate.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
Those were American staples.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
What do you eat?
Speaker 3 (06:46):
For goodness sake?
Speaker 9 (06:47):
I eat salads, vegetables, chicken and pork and fish's healthy.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
She does well, You guys know, I'm going through all
this health stuff, and true they're all about, like me,
eating healthy and changing my diet and working out. This
is the worst part about this. So for those who
don't know, I'm gonna be fine. They caught it early.
But I got diagnosed with breast cancer about six months ago.
I have my big surgery in April, so I'll be
down for the count for a little while. But the
(07:16):
worst part of it is you've got to eat healthy.
No more sugar, no more carbs, nothing fun, nothing fun.
That's on the instructions they give it. It literally is
right the pre surgery. It's no fun. You no joy
in your life?
Speaker 5 (07:32):
No joy? Yeah, maybe a hot can you have a
hot pocket? No, you probably can't.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
GMOs like all this stuff they put in the red
dye number four like all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
So maybe you should just consult with RFK Junior and
make Heidi healthy against.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
You are punchy today. This is what your third show.
Speaker 10 (07:52):
Of the day.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Yes, why I was in for us earlier and yes.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Oh my gosh, I don't want to get healthy. My
husband super healthy, like he's over the top healthy, and
I just roll my eyes and like, I'm gonna eat
my junk food whatever. I'm gonna live a few years shorter,
but that's okay. You know, I'm gonna eat my in
and out burger, And hey, yeah, you are breakfast is
my downfall.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Like donuts.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I love donuts and the town I grew up in, Monument. Actually,
one of my best friends is the founder that I
grew up with. I don't talk to him as much now,
is Trey Shannon, who started Voodoo Donuts.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Oh yeah, good stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So we used to get around about how we made
it on donuts and dogs of course with camp Bowow,
and we would sit around in shop class and drop
these business plans, with these extravagant things that we actually
created a comic book series called Mister Rolaid and Miss
Elkie Seltzer.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
It was fun. Sorry, we're going off on a tangent.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
No, we love this. That's why you are here.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Well, there are two other things I want to say
before break that are really really cool nationally, before.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
We head off and talk about Colorado, which is a
depressing topic. After the break.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Inflation is down, down, down, it's going down. The tariffs
are working, he's negotiating some magic deals. And the border crossings,
what are they like twenty a day now? I mean,
it's insane. And somebody was telling me that the priority
of the border has gone down to number four in America,
and I'm like, well, duh, if you get rid of
(09:21):
the problem, it's not a priority anymore, is it? At
least letting them come in.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
I think it's all great news. I'm excited about what's
happening nationally. And after the break, we're going to come
back and talk about Colorado and how to turn things around.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Darn't it?
Speaker 5 (09:39):
And now back to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Now, Colorado's handling to the immigration crisis, as you know,
has been roundly criticized by the new Trump administration.
Speaker 11 (09:48):
Just last week, Denver's mayor was in the hot seat
on Capitol Hill, grilled in front of members of Congress
over the city's immigration policies. Mike Johnston was joined by
other Democratic mayors to testify before the Household Site and
Government Reform Committee. Now, state lawmakers want to allow undocumented
immigrants to obtain a driver's license very.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Seventh christ Lopez explains why they say this move could
make all the safer.
Speaker 7 (10:11):
This bill is going to help a lot of undocumented people.
Speaker 12 (10:16):
A new law going into effect on March thirty first,
will fast track the process for immigrants to obtain a
driver's license.
Speaker 7 (10:23):
But not only are they going to know the rules
and the laws of the road, but they're going to
be able to get insurance on their cars and plates. Rye.
Speaker 12 (10:32):
Val Days, a driving instructor at the American Driving Academy
in Aurora, says it'll benefit the whole state.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
Many people are already driving without driver's licenses, so this
gives them the opportunity to be able to drive safely
and legally.
Speaker 12 (10:47):
Colorado already allows undocumented immigrants to obtain their driver's licenses,
but they must live in the state for two years
and provide a Social Security or I ten number. This
new law will streamline in that process by getting rid
of those and several other requirements, and now it is
going to be simply just a passport and current proof
(11:08):
of address. For immigrants like I'm my Bias, it'll be
an immediate process as long as they have an ID
from their home country and proof of address in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
But not everyone agrees with these changes.
Speaker 8 (11:22):
The biggest concern I have is no different than last year.
It's the public aspect, public safety aspect of allowing all
of these people from all over the world to come
in and get licenses.
Speaker 12 (11:35):
Former state Representative Richard Holtorf has spoken out about this
bill ever since it was first introduced.
Speaker 8 (11:42):
With respect to labor, It'll help these immigrants to get
to and from work, but the underlying question is, you
know how many folks of that class should be in
our country and how did they get here?
Speaker 12 (11:56):
He says, Now that it's officially happening, it'll require a
lot of work.
Speaker 8 (12:00):
We have to focus on making sure that the branding
and testing is done in their native.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
Language, and that comes at great expense.
Speaker 7 (12:07):
Overall, this is going to be such a great thing.
Like I said, people are already driving without driver's licenses.
This makes it so that they do have a driver's license,
they are evaluated by a driving school and seen as
safe to drive on the roads.
Speaker 12 (12:24):
Applicants must still pass a vision exam, a written test,
a driving test, and they must pay a fee reporting
an aurora.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I'm Christian Lopez and verse seven.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Thank you Christian Lopez and Denver seven for that report on.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
A new Colorado law.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
This is Heidi Ganal filling in for Dan Kaplis, and
I'm going to start a new.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Kind of segment when I come on.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Ryan called bad behaving Democrats in the legislature and they're
putting in laws that are really not keeping us safe,
for making Colorado better for the people who live here,
including this vast track process for illegal immigrants, not undocumented people.
They are here illegally and we're handing them a driver's
license and they're also being registered to vote unless they
(13:11):
opt out of that when they get their driver's license.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
They have to intentionally opt out of that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Now we can't get a straight answer out of the
DMV on whether they're actually going through these or the
Secretary States going through these and making sure that they're
not receiving ballots.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
It would be nice if we could, but.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Like everything else Jenna Griswold does, it's all hush hush
and secret, and our little election Integrity Group can't get
an answer about this. But again, these are illegal immigrants
that we're giving driver's licenses to without the requirement of
living here for two years and having any kind of
I don't know, formal like, yeah, we're okay to be here.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
That's not okay with me.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
And I think a lot of people in Colorado, Ryan,
I don't know how you feel about this.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Well, I mean think you kind of gave up the
game going on here. It's a bait and switch of sorts.
They're going to tell you, like you heard in the package,
that oh, they're driving illegally anyway, and they're causing a
bunch of accidents, we might as well get them properly
trained and give them a license. And I just think
that's a fool's Errand for one, you're mentioning the fact,
(14:18):
and it's a very particular detail that should matter. We're
talking about people that are here in the country illegally.
Should they get a legal form of a document for
identification purposes? No, they should not get the equivalent that
a legal immigrant would get. And this is a way
not only to fast track a driver's license that may
or may not be legitimate, in extending to a person,
(14:42):
as I talked about with Sheriff Steve Reimswold County, that
might not know English at all. And this led to
the big accident that we saw the semi driver who
shouldn't have been licensed CDL, that was out of control,
that burned through his brakes, that missed the off ramps
that you can take as a run way semi. But
(15:02):
he couldn't read English, so he didn't know what the
sign said, and he continued until he incinerated five people
on I seventy. And then we saw Kim Kardashian make
a phone call to Governor Jared Polis and earn a
reprieve for this guy and have his sentence drastically reduced.
So this is a scheme to get illegal immigrants a
(15:23):
form of government issued ID that will make it easier
for them to.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
Vote in elections illegally. Sorry, that's the end of the
story right there.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Well, and Ryan's something I'm learning more and more about.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
And this is a federal issue that our congress folks
will have to deal with. But the Census, the Census
doesn't care if you are here legally or illegally.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
You count anyway.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And that's an incredibly important issue when you're counting up
people to award more congressional seats, more power in the
Capitol federally. And I don't know if anybody's doing anything
about that. I doubt it, but at some point we've
got to address that. Another thing that's going on, bad
behaving Democrats is and potentially we don't know for sure,
(16:05):
but Loraina Garcia, who was actually just quoted in the
news at the top of the hour how concerned she
is about what's happening federally, she needs to explain something.
On Twitter, there's been a big threat about how she
runs a nonprofit and it's called Colorado's Statewide Parent Coalition.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
It says it's her nonprofit.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Since taking office in January twenty three, the state funding
for this nonprofit has skyrocketed from just nine hundred and
ninety dollars in twenty twenty two to one point two
almost one point three million in fiscal year twenty five,
which covers twenty four That's a more than twelve hundred
fold increase in just two years, and the money comes
from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. It's part of
(16:47):
the state's Circle Grants program, But what the heck is
going on there?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I'd like to know what that money is for.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Apparently some of her family members work for the nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And then there's more.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
There's another nonprofit that she's involved with, Elephant Circle, where.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
She sits on the board, and that has scene at.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
State funding jump from zero before twenty twenty three to
sixty five thousand dollars in the year's following your appointment.
So there's just some weird stuff going on with non
governmental organizations or NGOs they're called. That's kind of what
DOGE is going after. And of course we need Doge
in Colorado. We're trying to expose as much as we
can through the social media channels, but we need help.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
You guys.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
If you find stuff that's interesting or weird like this,
you know, pop me on Twitter, like mark me, what
do you call it?
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Tag me and I'll look into it.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I've got a new handled, Doge Colorado that I'm trying
to collect a lot of these stories, and you can
tag that as well. And then finally I'm gonna stay
on this story. But Regent wanted. James is causing some
discomfort with some folks about some ads and some funding
that she got pulled from Seawanshoots, So stay tuned on
that front. We're gonna have Kim gil Martin and Ellie
(17:59):
Breynold's back right after the break to talk about John
Adams Charter School. This is Heidi get All filling in
for Dan Caplis.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
You're listening to the Dankaplass Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Hello everyone, and happy Saint Patrick's day. I hope you're
going to have a wonderful evening eating some corn beef.
My mom made a beautiful dish last night for all
of us corn beef and cabbage, or just celebrating your
good luck right now. And boy, I'm here with Kim Gilmartin,
my friend, and she's a warrior on the school choice front.
And she and Ellie Reynold's another friend of mine that
(18:45):
are trying to start a charter school in Douglas County.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
You need a little good luck right now. They need
a good.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Luck term some luck of the Irish to get this
school across the finish line. They're in a battle right
now with the opponents in Douglas County who are not
being so nice.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
They're using some dirty tactics and.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Trying to stop this amazing school from coming into the community.
So Kim, tell me a little bit about what the
landscape is in Douglas County and what's happening with this
charter school.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Yeah, thanks for having me on. Heidi.
Speaker 10 (19:16):
Well, I have a lot of experience opening classical charter schools.
I'm one of the co founders of the Ascent Classical
Academy charter schools. There are four of them in Colorado.
All my children attended either Golden View or a Saint
Classical Academy of Douglas County. I love the model, and
about a couple of years ago, I started talking to
(19:39):
some people out of California that have built a nice
network of classical charter schools called the John Adams Academies,
and I wanted to bring one of their schools to
Colorado because I knew that there were a lot of
parents who we have long.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Wait lists for these classical charter schools.
Speaker 10 (19:56):
And I thought, well, if we could get a mentor
like this that's done it, well, let's try to do that.
We had a lot of families in Douglas County. There
was an opportunity in Sterling Ranch for a school. We
knew there were a lot of families who wanted it there.
I connected with Elie Reynolds, who lives there, and we
decided to put an application in. But what we decided
(20:18):
to do was to ask the Douglas County School Board
if they would allow us to apply to the Charter
School Institute. I have a lot of experience with the
Charter School Institute. They're a great authorizer. They are the
state authorizer, and just because of some of the political
you know, back and forth the pendulum in Douglas County,
we thought it would be safer to do that. Plus
(20:39):
I know that they're very rigid and good authorizer. So
in December, the Douglas County School Board majority voted to
release our application.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So kim, first of all, an authorizer. I'd like to
explain to people that SESI is like its own school
district for charter schools that kind of lays over the state.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Is that a good explanation.
Speaker 10 (20:58):
Yes, it's just an ALTI ternative authorizer. Many states in
many states in this country have multiple.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Pathways to charter school authorization.
Speaker 10 (21:07):
Colorado has all of the school districts have exclusive chartering authorities.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
So if you want to go to the state authorizer.
Speaker 10 (21:14):
You simply have to ask for a release from the district,
and the district the school board has the right to
vote on that. It's a simple resolution, and that's what
that's what we did. And CSI authorizes. I think they've
authorized about fifty or more charter schools in the state.
They've denied almost a fifty percent of the applications that
(21:34):
have come before them, So they are very rigid and
a very thorough authorizer.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
So now I want you to tell our listeners a
little bit about classical education because I fall in love
with this model too. When you asked me a long
time ago to join you on the board of Golden
View Classical Academy, and I remember walking into the classroom
and thinking, oh.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
My gosh, these kids love learning.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
They love being here, and they're learning history and they're
learning you know, science, And I mean, you think that's
a foregone conclusion that happens in most schools, but it
really doesn't happen in all schools.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
So tell me a little bit about the classical model.
Speaker 10 (22:07):
Yeah, it really is different. And just like you, I
walked in there. My kids were in the neighborhood school,
and what I saw at Golden View is very different
than what I had seen everywhere else.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
So the differences are that a.
Speaker 10 (22:20):
Classical education is sort of the way our I always say,
it's the way our great our grandparents are our great
grandparents may have been educated.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
But it goes obviously farther way.
Speaker 10 (22:29):
Farther back than that, and it's a it's a very
structured approach to learning. This is a curriculum that is
content rich. We use the Core Knowledge curriculum. It's it's
going back to sort of the basics. So you have phonics,
explicit phonics, which is the best way to teach kids
to read and write. We are doing a direct instruction
(22:53):
where the teacher stands in front of the classroom and
and is the and parter of knowledge to the kids.
So this is teacher centered learning. We have kids that
are reading books, the great books, what we call the
great books, you know, classic literature. They're writing cursive, they're
learning grammar, they're learning Latin right, They're learning Latin. Even
(23:15):
in the early years. We teach them about the Greek
and Latin roots of words, so they really have a
good understanding of our English language. They're doing sentenced diagramming.
We use Singapore Math, which is one of the best
math programs in the world. I think a lot of
charter schools and corenoledge schools use those. It's low technology,
(23:35):
so we don't have much technology in the classrooms now.
Of course they're going to have some of that as
they get older, but no, this is about children learning
from the teacher, learning from books, reading, writing, thinking, learning
how to speak. Well, these are the foundations and handwriting
I remember that, yep. Cursive, yeah, and just writing, you know,
(23:57):
with utensily writing with pencil and pen and paper.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
That's what we're going back to, Kim. How many classical
schools are there in Colorado right now?
Speaker 10 (24:05):
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Or at least estimate?
Speaker 10 (24:07):
Oh, you know, so there are classical private schools, and
they are classical charter schools. I'd say for classical charter
schools that are probably somewhere around ten for private schools
maybe double that.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
And so here we are.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
You're trying to get this school through in Douglas County
and Sterling Ranch and Ellie's going to join us after
the break so we can talk more specifically about the
school and what's happening.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Because a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Of the people who don't think the way we do
about education. Are really really upset about this school being
placed in Sterling Ranch, And what's your take on that?
Why is Douglas County? Why is this happening in Douglas County.
I thought Douglas County.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Was a really charter school, charter friendly school district. Well,
I did too. I will tell you that we have.
Speaker 10 (24:59):
I have in all of the work that I've done
and opening four different five different classical charter schools in Colorado,
and I've actually put applications into eight different school districts.
Three of them were not approved. You and I worked
together on the Boulder Valley.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Oh my goodness, that was crazy.
Speaker 10 (25:13):
It was was that was one of the uglier, uglier
denials we've been through because there was just such opposition
and vitriol on the other.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Side and lies a lot of what's going on.
Speaker 10 (25:25):
And I didn't think that that would be the case
in Douglas County. I had heard that there was a
group of people in Sterling Ranch who were very much
against any charter really coming in. But until we once
we got this release and we started promoting to families,
hey we're going to be putting an application into the
state and we're garnering support.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
We really saw these.
Speaker 10 (25:47):
People come come out and recently, the founders, the organizing
effort of our school, we had a parent information meeting
in Sterling Ranch and I was shocked to see how
many people in the opposite came to that meeting and
the questions they were asking were They were just very
There's a lot of wrong information that was out there,
(26:10):
a lot of inflammatory rhetoric, And all I can say, Heidi,
is that these are people who simply do not want
charter schools to exist.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
They don't want school choice either.
Speaker 10 (26:22):
They don't There is a neighborhood school that is planned
to come into district school. As you know, the Douglas
County School District passed a bond just this last November,
and so now Sterling Ranch will get a neighborhood school.
And that's wonderful because we all believe that we need
to have multiple ch options out there. But the problem
is that this is a development that's been around for
(26:44):
ten years now, hasn't had one school, and at full buildout,
it's going to have about twelve thousand homes. There is
more than enough room to have multiple schools, and this
is just going to be another option for Sterling Ranch.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Well, Kim, I'm really excited about the school. There's a
lot of a lot of folks who are really excited
about the school, especially in Douglas County. We like options,
and we know most of us understand that kids learn
in different ways. I have four kids, you have three, right, actually, yeah,
and they all learn differently. And I think each one
(27:17):
of my four could probably go to different schools, and
three of them do. But I think we need options
right now because the cookie cutter approach to education isn't
cutting it. Let's wrap up this segment by just real quick,
tell us what scores look like with classical charter schools.
Are they better, worse the same? What's your take there,
because I know that's an argument.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Right there are the scores very all over the place.
Speaker 10 (27:40):
If you look at like a Liberty Common up in
Fort Collins, that school has been around for twenty almost
twenty five years.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Their scores are great. They have the highest SAT.
Speaker 10 (27:50):
Scores in the state of Colorado right now. Now, not
every classical charter school is going to be right where
Liberty Common is. Because when you are new and you've
only been around for five years and you're opening with
grades K eight. You've got kids coming in from all
different backgrounds and all different kinds of learning levels and
different district schools, so it's it's it's going to take
(28:11):
a little bit of time to get them there, but
our goal is to get the skit the kids to
a level that they need to be at least to
the district level and beyond.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
And get ready for college, prepp or whatever they want
to do in the world. Then be critical thinkers. That's
what I love about it. That's right.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, all right, Kim, this is Hidi Ganal filling in
for Dan Caplis. We're going to be back with Kim
gil Martin and also Ellie Reynolds after the break to
talk about John Adams Charter School in Douglas County, Sterling's
Ranch specifically.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
We'll see you after the break.
Speaker 5 (28:42):
And now back to the Dan Caplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Well luck at the Irish too, youah, happy Saint Patrick's Day.
This is Heidi Ganal filling in for Dan Caplis, and
I have Kim gil Martin and Ellie Reynolds with me
right now to talk about a battle that's brewing in
Douglas County over a new classical charter school called the
John Adams Academy, and boy, are some people misbehaving down
(29:06):
there and seeing some really crazy stuff.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
I want to read you a couple media.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Posts before I hand it over to Ellie to talk
personally about what's happening.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
The most chilling claimed that the.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
John Adams School probably raised great Nazi children and suggested
that the right loves the poorly educated.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Also that the school was a.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Right wing propagandast school that was going to produce mini
Trump's and mini Boberts.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Ellie, where do we even start with this?
Speaker 13 (29:33):
I think first we start with the fact that people
are using outrage and protests and vitriol language and putting
it into a place that it doesn't need to go.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
We are trying to form.
Speaker 13 (29:44):
A classical charter academy in Sterling Ranch, Colorado, which is
in Douglas County, and ultimately we're doing it for children
to have choice, regardless of whatever that choice is, and
for their parents to have choice in their education. So ultimately,
when the name or people in the community, I would
say it's larger Douglas County who might be opposed to
(30:05):
school choice they're using this as maybe some piece of
protests or way to fight back on the administration, and
unfortunately it's hurting our kids.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Well, Ellie, I think that the most I don't know,
puzzling thing to me is it doesn't seem like our
supposed charter friendly superintendent, Aaron Kine, is on board with
this school.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Tell me a little bit about how we got here
with Aaron.
Speaker 13 (30:31):
Yeah, we got here because we went to go ask
for the district for a release to go to a
state authorizer, and while we were in the district, we
ultimately felt like it was a hostile environment and that
they didn't want another charter and so therefore we asked
to go to the state. We were successful in getting
that release from the four conservatives on the school board,
(30:52):
so that is important to note. But ultimately we have
seen teachers and people in the neighborhood working with the
superintendent really on mobilizing against our school, and it's sad
to see. It's sad to see that a district who
used to be pro charter is working behind the scenes
against us on a school that will have such a
(31:15):
great education and impact for our kids.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Well, and Ellie and Kim, this isn't just about mobilizing
like this is getting nasty, So I want the listeners
to know what the day to day stuff that's going on.
It's really scary and not okay, especially when we're talking.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
About a school and families that have little ones. Ellie,
what's been going on?
Speaker 13 (31:35):
Yeah, I mean, so to start, I'm a mom who
is a founding board member of this charter because I
truly believe in the education. It's something I want for
my children. And I have a four year old son,
so I'm a parent that will send my child there,
and I have another one on the way, so I'm
most pregnant right now. And it hasn't stopped the vitriol
(31:56):
at all in my neighborhood. On the daily, I receive
about eighty messages to comments really pushing back on the school.
And if it's not one thing, it's another. And at
the end of the day, it ultimately has to do
with the fact that they don't want a charter, they
don't want choice. And I think it's even gotten to
the point where we've held public meetings people have said
(32:17):
they were going to burn it down. While I've been
up at the top just talking about the school as
well as we've had to file complaints with the Sheriff's office.
I've went to the extent to hiring a security company
to make sure that me and my family are safe.
And it's all because I just want to have a
different option for not only my kids, but maybe kids
(32:39):
and parents in the neighborhood that want a different option
besides the public neighborhood school going in.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
And let's make it really clear, Kim, we talked a
little bit about this, but there was.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
A bond measure approved.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
There is the money funding the capability to open another
a second neighborhood school.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
There's plenty of room for both options. Correct.
Speaker 10 (33:00):
Yes, Actually, that's a good point that you bring up,
because we specifically waited to ask the board for a
vote until after the MOLO either passed or failed. We
didn't want in any way for the community to think
that by putting this charter in they would be tanking
their bond and wouldn't be able to get it passed,
(33:21):
because people would then think, well, we've got a school now.
It was we want you to get your neighborhood school.
We help your bond passes, and it did, and we
said okay, now, we would like to be able to
put an application in to the state, and that's.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
What we did.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
And what I told a lot of people who are
watching is I said, you wait, they won't be happy
even though we waited. The opposition will come out to
oppose it, because truly they are ideologically opposed to school choice,
and they are especially ideologically opposed to a school, a
classical charter school.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
So before we run out of time, and then we
can talk more about why classical charter schools get this
tag as right leaning. How can people help right now?
What can they do to help and support you, because
obviously the other side's very organized, and we need to
be organized too.
Speaker 13 (34:10):
Yeah, I think it starts with organization on the other
side of school choice, and I would argue that it's
really on the teachers union side. Started when they wrote
a blog post. They sent it all around to their
neighbors and their friends saying that this school was a
mega school and that it was right wing and doctrination,
and it ignited people on one side of the aisle,
(34:34):
and it wasn't able to really focus on the academy
or the option for the school in the first place.
And so what we need to do is something very similar.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
We have to get the word out.
Speaker 13 (34:44):
We have to be able to say that. We also
need to be able to push these stories and get
our folks mobilized.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Thanks Ellie, Thanks Kim.
Speaker 8 (34:52):
All.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
After the break I'll give you a little bit more
information about how to help and support this school. This
is Heidiganol filling in for Dan kaplis Happy Saint Patrick's Day.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
We'll see you after the break.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
H
This is Dan Capless and welcome to today's online podcast
edition of The Dan Caplis Show. Please be sure to
give us a five star rating if you'd be so kind,
and to subscribe, download and listen to the show every
single day on your favorite podcast platform.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Well, hello everyone, Happy Monday, Happy Saint Patrick's Day. I
am so excited. It's one of my favorite holidays. Look
at the Irish all of you. It's Heidigan All. I'm
filling in for Dan Caplis. I am thrilled to be here.
We've got so much to talk about. I've tried to
pack in as much as i can into the agenda today,
and I've got some great guests coming up. I've got
(00:37):
a Ray Scott, who is a previous state senator and
now is a regent at the University of Colorado.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
That's at five point thirty five.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
We're going to talk about all things DEI at our
wonderful state university.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Go see you, well, in this case.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Not so much go see you, but we're also going
to talk about John Adams Charter School, a new charter
school that a couple of my friends are trying to
get going down in Douglas County and they're running into
a few stumbling blocks, including the Democrats who are rabbid.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
About this school coming in.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
That's at four thirty five, and Ryan, I want to
start out by talking about the incredible news nationally, because
Colorado not so much. But I love starting off on
a good note, and I like to say that every
day is Christmas right now with President Donald Trump in charge.
And actually I think Congress and Senate they're good to
(01:28):
kind of playing along right now.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Nothing too much to complain about. I'm sure there will be.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
But I was looking through the notes, and the approval
ratings for Democrats are just tanking right now. And I
mean I looked at this number, twenty nine percent Democrat
party approval number with CNN, twenty seven percent with NBC.
That's really really bad, and then horrible numbers for congressional
(01:53):
Democrats sixty eight percent disapprove, twenty one percent approve.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
That that's bad.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
And then you look at the right direction pulling numbers
with how many people in the country think we're headed
in the right direction?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Forty four percent say we're headed in the right direction.
It doesn't sound.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
High at first, but that's the highest number since January
of two thousand and four under George Bush.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Hey, you remember when we were younger, Heidi, And I
know is long ago and far away in another galaxy,
but you could read that choose your own adventure books.
Yeah yeah, And I give you an option right now.
So for the listeners at home, you can know that Hidi's.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
Going to make this choice.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
And based on the numbers you just stated, you can
go one of two directions. Here, Steve Kornaki MSNBC or
Harry Entton CNN your pick, and then I'll play one
of them.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Let's play Harry en Okay, he's funny.
Speaker 5 (02:45):
He had the good choice.
Speaker 6 (02:47):
Why are Democrats full of despair? All I have to say, Democrats,
call your office. You know where march madness times terrible, terrible, terrible,
to quote the great Charles Barkley. If you Democratic Party
favorably CNNSRS look at this twenty nine percent, NBC News.
You want to go lower than nut how about twenty
seven percent? Both are record lows, the lowest going back
(03:10):
to nineteen ninety two, and CNN pulling the lowest going
back on record to nineteen ninety and NBC News polling
the majority of Americans hold an unfavorable or negative view
of the Democratic Party. At this point, all I can
say is, I'm a big fan of the oldiest. So
I'm going to quote Chubby Checker.
Speaker 7 (03:28):
How low can you go?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Oh my goodness that that's awesome, right, you means so funny,
he is hilarious. I want to go have a beer
with him. So, yeah, just talk about the Democrats, you know. Also,
I was it last night? This time is going by
so fast right now? Where the Democrat judge, I mean,
the basically activist judge tried to stop the flight to
Venezuela to get rid of all the gang members?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Am I mess up? On my time?
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Was that last night? It's over the last forty eight
seventy two hours? Yeah, Well, they come in that up
in droves on this topic. And there's just judges popping
up in circuit courts around the country that are hard
leftists Obama or Clinton appointees. San Francisco, DC. And I
guess they're running the country, Heidi, because they have the
power to override any decision the President of the United
(04:17):
States makes in the executive branch.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, our lovely press person, Caroline, she smacked back at
that today and said absolutely not. We're not cow telling
to these activist district level you know judges.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
And actually was El Salvador.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
The plane was headed to and I loved the guy
who leads El Salvador popped back o.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Kaylee, yes, and he said, oops, too late, too late,
the plane's already ending. Did I do that little racle
for you there too? Dang, you can make a career
in those impersonations.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
I just remember TGIF ABC Fridays.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Oh well, you don't Family Matters?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Oh yes, I couldn't remember the name.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
Of the show.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, yeah, Oh, we're going to go down that path again.
Remember last time we listed like every great.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Eighties movie ever.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
I might do that again.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Saturday Morning cartoons those were the best.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Yeah, old fruity pebbles, Oh yeah, fruity pebbles, frosted flakes,
pop tarts.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Pop tarts were my favorite.
Speaker 5 (05:20):
Oh heck yeah, what.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Kind of pop tarts do you like?
Speaker 5 (05:22):
I like the frosted blueberry.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Okay, I like frosted cherry or the brown sugar those
have grown on me.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
I like the fruit ones, but that's just me. In general.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
A lot of people like the cinnamon ones that those
are really popular, or the other ones that are, you know, chocolate,
Rocky Road or whatever's going on with it.
Speaker 5 (05:39):
I like the fruit, Give me the fruit.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah, I don't complain about many pop tarts. I'll eat
any pop tart any day.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
There's a movie about it.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
There's a movie about Frosted.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Yeah, unfrosted Jerry Seinfeld Netflix movie What. It's not the greatest,
but like, he's in it, Jim Gaffigan's in it. There's
a whole lot a bunch of stars are in it,
and it's about kind of fick tities portrayal of the
invention of pop tarts by Kelloggs and Battle Creek, Michigan.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Really, well, I might have to watch that.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Yeah, it's worth it. I mean, you know, it's kind
of fun.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I'm watching White Lotus right now. Do you guys watch
and oh it's so good. It's so good.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You guys are gonna hate me. What. I don't even
like pop tarts?
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Kelly, Yeah, she's kind of out of here. Well there's
that she doesn't like. This is really gonna Jason. She
can't stand barbecue.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
No, no, no, I don't know what.
Speaker 8 (06:34):
If you go.
Speaker 9 (06:35):
I don't like barbecue. I don't like anything smoked. I
don't like bacon. I don't like chocolate. I don't like anything.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Sweet like bacon and chocolate.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
Those were American staples.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
What do you eat?
Speaker 3 (06:46):
For goodness sake?
Speaker 9 (06:47):
I eat salads, vegetables, chicken and pork and fish's healthy.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
She does well, You guys know, I'm going through all
this health stuff, and true they're all about, like me,
eating healthy and changing my diet and working out. This
is the worst part about this. So for those who
don't know, I'm gonna be fine. They caught it early.
But I got diagnosed with breast cancer about six months ago.
I have my big surgery in April, so I'll be
down for the count for a little while. But the
(07:16):
worst part of it is you've got to eat healthy.
No more sugar, no more carbs, nothing fun, nothing fun.
That's on the instructions they give it. It literally is
right the pre surgery. It's no fun. You no joy
in your life?
Speaker 5 (07:32):
No joy? Yeah, maybe a hot can you have a
hot pocket? No, you probably can't.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
GMOs like all this stuff they put in the red
dye number four like all that stuff.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
So maybe you should just consult with RFK Junior and
make Heidi healthy against.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
You are punchy today. This is what your third show.
Speaker 10 (07:52):
Of the day.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Yes, why I was in for us earlier and yes.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Oh my gosh, I don't want to get healthy. My
husband super healthy, like he's over the top healthy, and
I just roll my eyes and like, I'm gonna eat
my junk food whatever. I'm gonna live a few years shorter,
but that's okay. You know, I'm gonna eat my in
and out burger, And hey, yeah, you are breakfast is
my downfall.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Like donuts.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I love donuts and the town I grew up in, Monument. Actually,
one of my best friends is the founder that I
grew up with. I don't talk to him as much now,
is Trey Shannon, who started Voodoo Donuts.
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Oh yeah, good stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So we used to get around about how we made
it on donuts and dogs of course with camp Bowow,
and we would sit around in shop class and drop
these business plans, with these extravagant things that we actually
created a comic book series called Mister Rolaid and Miss
Elkie Seltzer.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
It was fun. Sorry, we're going off on a tangent.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
No, we love this. That's why you are here.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Well, there are two other things I want to say
before break that are really really cool nationally, before.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
We head off and talk about Colorado, which is a
depressing topic. After the break.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Inflation is down, down, down, it's going down. The tariffs
are working, he's negotiating some magic deals. And the border crossings,
what are they like twenty a day now? I mean,
it's insane. And somebody was telling me that the priority
of the border has gone down to number four in America,
and I'm like, well, duh, if you get rid of
(09:21):
the problem, it's not a priority anymore, is it? At
least letting them come in.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
I think it's all great news. I'm excited about what's
happening nationally. And after the break, we're going to come
back and talk about Colorado and how to turn things around.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Darn't it?
Speaker 5 (09:39):
And now back to the Dan Kaplis Show podcast.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Now, Colorado's handling to the immigration crisis, as you know,
has been roundly criticized by the new Trump administration.
Speaker 11 (09:48):
Just last week, Denver's mayor was in the hot seat
on Capitol Hill, grilled in front of members of Congress
over the city's immigration policies. Mike Johnston was joined by
other Democratic mayors to testify before the Household Site and
Government Reform Committee. Now, state lawmakers want to allow undocumented
immigrants to obtain a driver's license very.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Seventh christ Lopez explains why they say this move could
make all the safer.
Speaker 7 (10:11):
This bill is going to help a lot of undocumented people.
Speaker 12 (10:16):
A new law going into effect on March thirty first,
will fast track the process for immigrants to obtain a
driver's license.
Speaker 7 (10:23):
But not only are they going to know the rules
and the laws of the road, but they're going to
be able to get insurance on their cars and plates. Rye.
Speaker 12 (10:32):
Val Days, a driving instructor at the American Driving Academy
in Aurora, says it'll benefit the whole state.
Speaker 7 (10:39):
Many people are already driving without driver's licenses, so this
gives them the opportunity to be able to drive safely
and legally.
Speaker 12 (10:47):
Colorado already allows undocumented immigrants to obtain their driver's licenses,
but they must live in the state for two years
and provide a Social Security or I ten number. This
new law will streamline in that process by getting rid
of those and several other requirements, and now it is
going to be simply just a passport and current proof
(11:08):
of address. For immigrants like I'm my Bias, it'll be
an immediate process as long as they have an ID
from their home country and proof of address in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
But not everyone agrees with these changes.
Speaker 8 (11:22):
The biggest concern I have is no different than last year.
It's the public aspect, public safety aspect of allowing all
of these people from all over the world to come
in and get licenses.
Speaker 12 (11:35):
Former state Representative Richard Holtorf has spoken out about this
bill ever since it was first introduced.
Speaker 8 (11:42):
With respect to labor, It'll help these immigrants to get
to and from work, but the underlying question is, you
know how many folks of that class should be in
our country and how did they get here?
Speaker 12 (11:56):
He says, Now that it's officially happening, it'll require a
lot of work.
Speaker 8 (12:00):
We have to focus on making sure that the branding
and testing is done in their native.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
Language, and that comes at great expense.
Speaker 7 (12:07):
Overall, this is going to be such a great thing.
Like I said, people are already driving without driver's licenses.
This makes it so that they do have a driver's license,
they are evaluated by a driving school and seen as
safe to drive on the roads.
Speaker 12 (12:24):
Applicants must still pass a vision exam, a written test,
a driving test, and they must pay a fee reporting
an aurora.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I'm Christian Lopez and verse seven.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Thank you Christian Lopez and Denver seven for that report on.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
A new Colorado law.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
This is Heidi Ganal filling in for Dan Kaplis, and
I'm going to start a new.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Kind of segment when I come on.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Ryan called bad behaving Democrats in the legislature and they're
putting in laws that are really not keeping us safe,
for making Colorado better for the people who live here,
including this vast track process for illegal immigrants, not undocumented people.
They are here illegally and we're handing them a driver's
license and they're also being registered to vote unless they
(13:11):
opt out of that when they get their driver's license.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
They have to intentionally opt out of that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Now we can't get a straight answer out of the
DMV on whether they're actually going through these or the
Secretary States going through these and making sure that they're
not receiving ballots.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
It would be nice if we could, but.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Like everything else Jenna Griswold does, it's all hush hush
and secret, and our little election Integrity Group can't get
an answer about this. But again, these are illegal immigrants
that we're giving driver's licenses to without the requirement of
living here for two years and having any kind of
I don't know, formal like, yeah, we're okay to be here.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
That's not okay with me.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
And I think a lot of people in Colorado, Ryan,
I don't know how you feel about this.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Well, I mean think you kind of gave up the
game going on here. It's a bait and switch of sorts.
They're going to tell you, like you heard in the package,
that oh, they're driving illegally anyway, and they're causing a
bunch of accidents, we might as well get them properly
trained and give them a license. And I just think
that's a fool's Errand for one, you're mentioning the fact,
(14:18):
and it's a very particular detail that should matter. We're
talking about people that are here in the country illegally.
Should they get a legal form of a document for
identification purposes? No, they should not get the equivalent that
a legal immigrant would get. And this is a way
not only to fast track a driver's license that may
or may not be legitimate, in extending to a person,
(14:42):
as I talked about with Sheriff Steve Reimswold County, that
might not know English at all. And this led to
the big accident that we saw the semi driver who
shouldn't have been licensed CDL, that was out of control,
that burned through his brakes, that missed the off ramps
that you can take as a run way semi. But
(15:02):
he couldn't read English, so he didn't know what the
sign said, and he continued until he incinerated five people
on I seventy. And then we saw Kim Kardashian make
a phone call to Governor Jared Polis and earn a
reprieve for this guy and have his sentence drastically reduced.
So this is a scheme to get illegal immigrants a
(15:23):
form of government issued ID that will make it easier
for them to.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
Vote in elections illegally. Sorry, that's the end of the
story right there.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Well, and Ryan's something I'm learning more and more about.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
And this is a federal issue that our congress folks
will have to deal with. But the Census, the Census
doesn't care if you are here legally or illegally.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
You count anyway.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And that's an incredibly important issue when you're counting up
people to award more congressional seats, more power in the
Capitol federally. And I don't know if anybody's doing anything
about that. I doubt it, but at some point we've
got to address that. Another thing that's going on, bad
behaving Democrats is and potentially we don't know for sure,
(16:05):
but Loraina Garcia, who was actually just quoted in the
news at the top of the hour how concerned she
is about what's happening federally, she needs to explain something.
On Twitter, there's been a big threat about how she
runs a nonprofit and it's called Colorado's Statewide Parent Coalition.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
It says it's her nonprofit.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Since taking office in January twenty three, the state funding
for this nonprofit has skyrocketed from just nine hundred and
ninety dollars in twenty twenty two to one point two
almost one point three million in fiscal year twenty five,
which covers twenty four That's a more than twelve hundred
fold increase in just two years, and the money comes
from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. It's part of
(16:47):
the state's Circle Grants program, But what the heck is
going on there?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
I'd like to know what that money is for.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Apparently some of her family members work for the nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And then there's more.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
There's another nonprofit that she's involved with, Elephant Circle, where.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
She sits on the board, and that has scene at.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
State funding jump from zero before twenty twenty three to
sixty five thousand dollars in the year's following your appointment.
So there's just some weird stuff going on with non
governmental organizations or NGOs they're called. That's kind of what
DOGE is going after. And of course we need Doge
in Colorado. We're trying to expose as much as we
can through the social media channels, but we need help.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
You guys.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
If you find stuff that's interesting or weird like this,
you know, pop me on Twitter, like mark me, what
do you call it?
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Tag me and I'll look into it.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I've got a new handled, Doge Colorado that I'm trying
to collect a lot of these stories, and you can
tag that as well. And then finally I'm gonna stay
on this story. But Regent wanted. James is causing some
discomfort with some folks about some ads and some funding
that she got pulled from Seawanshoots, So stay tuned on
that front. We're gonna have Kim gil Martin and Ellie
(17:59):
Breynold's back right after the break to talk about John
Adams Charter School. This is Heidi get All filling in
for Dan Caplis.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
You're listening to the Dankaplass Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Hello everyone, and happy Saint Patrick's day. I hope you're
going to have a wonderful evening eating some corn beef.
My mom made a beautiful dish last night for all
of us corn beef and cabbage, or just celebrating your
good luck right now. And boy, I'm here with Kim Gilmartin,
my friend, and she's a warrior on the school choice front.
And she and Ellie Reynold's another friend of mine that
(18:45):
are trying to start a charter school in Douglas County.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
You need a little good luck right now. They need
a good.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Luck term some luck of the Irish to get this
school across the finish line. They're in a battle right
now with the opponents in Douglas County who are not
being so nice.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
They're using some dirty tactics and.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Trying to stop this amazing school from coming into the community.
So Kim, tell me a little bit about what the
landscape is in Douglas County and what's happening with this
charter school.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Yeah, thanks for having me on. Heidi.
Speaker 10 (19:16):
Well, I have a lot of experience opening classical charter schools.
I'm one of the co founders of the Ascent Classical
Academy charter schools. There are four of them in Colorado.
All my children attended either Golden View or a Saint
Classical Academy of Douglas County. I love the model, and
about a couple of years ago, I started talking to
(19:39):
some people out of California that have built a nice
network of classical charter schools called the John Adams Academies,
and I wanted to bring one of their schools to
Colorado because I knew that there were a lot of
parents who we have long.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Wait lists for these classical charter schools.
Speaker 10 (19:56):
And I thought, well, if we could get a mentor
like this that's done it, well, let's try to do that.
We had a lot of families in Douglas County. There
was an opportunity in Sterling Ranch for a school. We
knew there were a lot of families who wanted it there.
I connected with Elie Reynolds, who lives there, and we
decided to put an application in. But what we decided
(20:18):
to do was to ask the Douglas County School Board
if they would allow us to apply to the Charter
School Institute. I have a lot of experience with the
Charter School Institute. They're a great authorizer. They are the
state authorizer, and just because of some of the political
you know, back and forth the pendulum in Douglas County,
we thought it would be safer to do that. Plus
(20:39):
I know that they're very rigid and good authorizer. So
in December, the Douglas County School Board majority voted to
release our application.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So kim, first of all, an authorizer. I'd like to
explain to people that SESI is like its own school
district for charter schools that kind of lays over the state.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Is that a good explanation.
Speaker 10 (20:58):
Yes, it's just an ALTI ternative authorizer. Many states in
many states in this country have multiple.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Pathways to charter school authorization.
Speaker 10 (21:07):
Colorado has all of the school districts have exclusive chartering authorities.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
So if you want to go to the state authorizer.
Speaker 10 (21:14):
You simply have to ask for a release from the district,
and the district the school board has the right to
vote on that. It's a simple resolution, and that's what
that's what we did. And CSI authorizes. I think they've
authorized about fifty or more charter schools in the state.
They've denied almost a fifty percent of the applications that
(21:34):
have come before them, So they are very rigid and
a very thorough authorizer.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
So now I want you to tell our listeners a
little bit about classical education because I fall in love
with this model too. When you asked me a long
time ago to join you on the board of Golden
View Classical Academy, and I remember walking into the classroom
and thinking, oh.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
My gosh, these kids love learning.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
They love being here, and they're learning history and they're
learning you know, science, And I mean, you think that's
a foregone conclusion that happens in most schools, but it
really doesn't happen in all schools.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
So tell me a little bit about the classical model.
Speaker 10 (22:07):
Yeah, it really is different. And just like you, I
walked in there. My kids were in the neighborhood school,
and what I saw at Golden View is very different
than what I had seen everywhere else.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
So the differences are that a.
Speaker 10 (22:20):
Classical education is sort of the way our I always say,
it's the way our great our grandparents are our great
grandparents may have been educated.
Speaker 3 (22:27):
But it goes obviously farther way.
Speaker 10 (22:29):
Farther back than that, and it's a it's a very
structured approach to learning. This is a curriculum that is
content rich. We use the Core Knowledge curriculum. It's it's
going back to sort of the basics. So you have phonics,
explicit phonics, which is the best way to teach kids
to read and write. We are doing a direct instruction
(22:53):
where the teacher stands in front of the classroom and
and is the and parter of knowledge to the kids.
So this is teacher centered learning. We have kids that
are reading books, the great books, what we call the
great books, you know, classic literature. They're writing cursive, they're
learning grammar, they're learning Latin right, They're learning Latin. Even
(23:15):
in the early years. We teach them about the Greek
and Latin roots of words, so they really have a
good understanding of our English language. They're doing sentenced diagramming.
We use Singapore Math, which is one of the best
math programs in the world. I think a lot of
charter schools and corenoledge schools use those. It's low technology,
(23:35):
so we don't have much technology in the classrooms now.
Of course they're going to have some of that as
they get older, but no, this is about children learning
from the teacher, learning from books, reading, writing, thinking, learning
how to speak. Well, these are the foundations and handwriting
I remember that, yep. Cursive, yeah, and just writing, you know,
(23:57):
with utensily writing with pencil and pen and paper.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
That's what we're going back to, Kim. How many classical
schools are there in Colorado right now?
Speaker 10 (24:05):
Do you know?
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Or at least estimate?
Speaker 10 (24:07):
Oh, you know, so there are classical private schools, and
they are classical charter schools. I'd say for classical charter
schools that are probably somewhere around ten for private schools
maybe double that.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
And so here we are.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
You're trying to get this school through in Douglas County
and Sterling Ranch and Ellie's going to join us after
the break so we can talk more specifically about the
school and what's happening.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Because a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Of the people who don't think the way we do
about education. Are really really upset about this school being
placed in Sterling Ranch, And what's your take on that?
Why is Douglas County? Why is this happening in Douglas County.
I thought Douglas County.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Was a really charter school, charter friendly school district. Well,
I did too. I will tell you that we have.
Speaker 10 (24:59):
I have in all of the work that I've done
and opening four different five different classical charter schools in Colorado,
and I've actually put applications into eight different school districts.
Three of them were not approved. You and I worked
together on the Boulder Valley.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Oh my goodness, that was crazy.
Speaker 10 (25:13):
It was was that was one of the uglier, uglier
denials we've been through because there was just such opposition
and vitriol on the other.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Side and lies a lot of what's going on.
Speaker 10 (25:25):
And I didn't think that that would be the case
in Douglas County. I had heard that there was a
group of people in Sterling Ranch who were very much
against any charter really coming in. But until we once
we got this release and we started promoting to families,
hey we're going to be putting an application into the
state and we're garnering support.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
We really saw these.
Speaker 10 (25:47):
People come come out and recently, the founders, the organizing
effort of our school, we had a parent information meeting
in Sterling Ranch and I was shocked to see how
many people in the opposite came to that meeting and
the questions they were asking were They were just very
There's a lot of wrong information that was out there,
(26:10):
a lot of inflammatory rhetoric, And all I can say, Heidi,
is that these are people who simply do not want
charter schools to exist.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
They don't want school choice either.
Speaker 10 (26:22):
They don't There is a neighborhood school that is planned
to come into district school. As you know, the Douglas
County School District passed a bond just this last November,
and so now Sterling Ranch will get a neighborhood school.
And that's wonderful because we all believe that we need
to have multiple ch options out there. But the problem
is that this is a development that's been around for
(26:44):
ten years now, hasn't had one school, and at full buildout,
it's going to have about twelve thousand homes. There is
more than enough room to have multiple schools, and this
is just going to be another option for Sterling Ranch.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Well, Kim, I'm really excited about the school. There's a
lot of a lot of folks who are really excited
about the school, especially in Douglas County. We like options,
and we know most of us understand that kids learn
in different ways. I have four kids, you have three, right, actually, yeah,
and they all learn differently. And I think each one
(27:17):
of my four could probably go to different schools, and
three of them do. But I think we need options
right now because the cookie cutter approach to education isn't
cutting it. Let's wrap up this segment by just real quick,
tell us what scores look like with classical charter schools.
Are they better, worse the same? What's your take there,
because I know that's an argument.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Right there are the scores very all over the place.
Speaker 10 (27:40):
If you look at like a Liberty Common up in
Fort Collins, that school has been around for twenty almost
twenty five years.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Their scores are great. They have the highest SAT.
Speaker 10 (27:50):
Scores in the state of Colorado right now. Now, not
every classical charter school is going to be right where
Liberty Common is. Because when you are new and you've
only been around for five years and you're opening with
grades K eight. You've got kids coming in from all
different backgrounds and all different kinds of learning levels and
different district schools, so it's it's it's going to take
(28:11):
a little bit of time to get them there, but
our goal is to get the skit the kids to
a level that they need to be at least to
the district level and beyond.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
And get ready for college, prepp or whatever they want
to do in the world. Then be critical thinkers. That's
what I love about it. That's right.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
Yeah, all right, Kim, this is Hidi Ganal filling in
for Dan Caplis. We're going to be back with Kim
gil Martin and also Ellie Reynolds after the break to
talk about John Adams Charter School in Douglas County, Sterling's
Ranch specifically.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
We'll see you after the break.
Speaker 5 (28:42):
And now back to the Dan Caplis Show podcast.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Well luck at the Irish too, youah, happy Saint Patrick's Day.
This is Heidi Ganal filling in for Dan Caplis, and
I have Kim gil Martin and Ellie Reynolds with me
right now to talk about a battle that's brewing in
Douglas County over a new classical charter school called the
John Adams Academy, and boy, are some people misbehaving down
(29:06):
there and seeing some really crazy stuff.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
I want to read you a couple media.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Posts before I hand it over to Ellie to talk
personally about what's happening.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
The most chilling claimed that the.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
John Adams School probably raised great Nazi children and suggested
that the right loves the poorly educated.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Also that the school was a.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
Right wing propagandast school that was going to produce mini
Trump's and mini Boberts.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Ellie, where do we even start with this?
Speaker 13 (29:33):
I think first we start with the fact that people
are using outrage and protests and vitriol language and putting
it into a place that it doesn't need to go.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
We are trying to form.
Speaker 13 (29:44):
A classical charter academy in Sterling Ranch, Colorado, which is
in Douglas County, and ultimately we're doing it for children
to have choice, regardless of whatever that choice is, and
for their parents to have choice in their education. So ultimately,
when the name or people in the community, I would
say it's larger Douglas County who might be opposed to
(30:05):
school choice they're using this as maybe some piece of
protests or way to fight back on the administration, and
unfortunately it's hurting our kids.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Well, Ellie, I think that the most I don't know,
puzzling thing to me is it doesn't seem like our
supposed charter friendly superintendent, Aaron Kine, is on board with
this school.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
Tell me a little bit about how we got here
with Aaron.
Speaker 13 (30:31):
Yeah, we got here because we went to go ask
for the district for a release to go to a
state authorizer, and while we were in the district, we
ultimately felt like it was a hostile environment and that
they didn't want another charter and so therefore we asked
to go to the state. We were successful in getting
that release from the four conservatives on the school board,
(30:52):
so that is important to note. But ultimately we have
seen teachers and people in the neighborhood working with the
superintendent really on mobilizing against our school, and it's sad
to see. It's sad to see that a district who
used to be pro charter is working behind the scenes
against us on a school that will have such a
(31:15):
great education and impact for our kids.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Well, and Ellie and Kim, this isn't just about mobilizing
like this is getting nasty, So I want the listeners
to know what the day to day stuff that's going on.
It's really scary and not okay, especially when we're talking.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
About a school and families that have little ones. Ellie,
what's been going on?
Speaker 13 (31:35):
Yeah, I mean, so to start, I'm a mom who
is a founding board member of this charter because I
truly believe in the education. It's something I want for
my children. And I have a four year old son,
so I'm a parent that will send my child there,
and I have another one on the way, so I'm
most pregnant right now. And it hasn't stopped the vitriol
(31:56):
at all in my neighborhood. On the daily, I receive
about eighty messages to comments really pushing back on the school.
And if it's not one thing, it's another. And at
the end of the day, it ultimately has to do
with the fact that they don't want a charter, they
don't want choice. And I think it's even gotten to
the point where we've held public meetings people have said
(32:17):
they were going to burn it down. While I've been
up at the top just talking about the school as
well as we've had to file complaints with the Sheriff's office.
I've went to the extent to hiring a security company
to make sure that me and my family are safe.
And it's all because I just want to have a
different option for not only my kids, but maybe kids
(32:39):
and parents in the neighborhood that want a different option
besides the public neighborhood school going in.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
And let's make it really clear, Kim, we talked a
little bit about this, but there was.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
A bond measure approved.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
There is the money funding the capability to open another
a second neighborhood school.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
There's plenty of room for both options. Correct.
Speaker 10 (33:00):
Yes, Actually, that's a good point that you bring up,
because we specifically waited to ask the board for a
vote until after the MOLO either passed or failed. We
didn't want in any way for the community to think
that by putting this charter in they would be tanking
their bond and wouldn't be able to get it passed,
(33:21):
because people would then think, well, we've got a school now.
It was we want you to get your neighborhood school.
We help your bond passes, and it did, and we
said okay, now, we would like to be able to
put an application in to the state, and that's.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
What we did.
Speaker 10 (33:35):
And what I told a lot of people who are
watching is I said, you wait, they won't be happy
even though we waited. The opposition will come out to
oppose it, because truly they are ideologically opposed to school choice,
and they are especially ideologically opposed to a school, a
classical charter school.
Speaker 2 (33:54):
So before we run out of time, and then we
can talk more about why classical charter schools get this
tag as right leaning. How can people help right now?
What can they do to help and support you, because
obviously the other side's very organized, and we need to
be organized too.
Speaker 13 (34:10):
Yeah, I think it starts with organization on the other
side of school choice, and I would argue that it's
really on the teachers union side. Started when they wrote
a blog post. They sent it all around to their
neighbors and their friends saying that this school was a
mega school and that it was right wing and doctrination,
and it ignited people on one side of the aisle,
(34:34):
and it wasn't able to really focus on the academy
or the option for the school in the first place.
And so what we need to do is something very similar.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
We have to get the word out.
Speaker 13 (34:44):
We have to be able to say that. We also
need to be able to push these stories and get
our folks mobilized.
Speaker 3 (34:51):
Thanks Ellie, Thanks Kim.
Speaker 8 (34:52):
All.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
After the break I'll give you a little bit more
information about how to help and support this school. This
is Heidiganol filling in for Dan kaplis Happy Saint Patrick's Day.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
We'll see you after the break.
Speaker 4 (35:04):
H
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