Chamber urges overhaul of DPS. (Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce proposal for management of business operations of Denver Public Schools)(includes sidebar on cost-cutting recommendations)

The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce is making a high-stakes entry into public education, pushing a new plan to shake up the management of the Denver Public Schools. The chamber will even conduct the job search for a new chief operating officer for DPS. The COO will be given the power to make sweeping changes in the school system's outmoded business operations.

The goal: to save $24 million over five years and redirect that money back into the classroom.

"The management of DPS is primarily made up of people who came out of the academic environment," said Ron Martin, who chaired the chamber committee that orchestrated the new plan. "The whole idea was to look at …