Every child is always a winner … Children just need better self-esteem … We only need to use positive incentives to help children learn more … Let’s reward the good but pretend like the bad doesn’t exist …

I’m only 5 years old, and I get that this is marshmallow world nonsense. In fact, it’s the kind of silliness that makes many people question (sometimes fairly, sometimes not) the value of much of what goes on in public education. It gets even worse when the principle is applied not only to students, but also to teachers. At least if the union has its way.

Witness the evidence from Chicago, a city with many failing schools: principal evaluations found only 3 out of every 1,000 teachers had unsatisfactory performance.

While unions thrive on fears of bogeyman administrators who take out their vindictiveness on good teachers they don’t like, this evidence at least indicates the problem tips in the other direction. In any case, wouldn’t a more objective data system be better? Continue Reading »

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A week ago I told you what a big school choice week it was going to be at the Colorado State Capitol. And it was. Ed News Colorado has a short video recap of Thursday’s charter school rally.

It was left to one of my friends at the Education Policy Center – namely Marya DeGrow – to cover Friday’s Homeschool Day at the Capitol. Several legislators showed up to show their support and appreciation.

Marya handed out hundreds of flyers about her new, exciting paper Colorado’s Homeschool Law Turns Twenty (PDF). And she let me be an honorary homeschooler for a day!

Maybe you don’t have time to sit down and read the whole paper, or maybe you need to be persuaded why the paper is so important. Continue Reading »

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I’m kind of leery about even writing this here, afraid it might give some Colorado lawmakers a bad idea. But consider it a note of caution. Apparently, the Florida legislature is trying to put the clamps down on the state’s successful online public school program. So writes Bill Tucker at The Quick & The Ed about SB 1676 and its impact on the Florida Virtual School:

The bill would eliminate enrollment in any elective courses and funding for any courses beyond a standard six periods. Students would no longer have an option to take electives, including some AP courses, beyond those offered at their traditional schools (especially painful for small or rural schools), nor would they have the opportunity to take extra courses to catch up on graduation requirements or accelerate. The legislation was approved in committee and now goes to the full State Senate.

As tempting as it might be, it’s a bad idea for Florida officials to use tough economic times as an excuse to limit educational options. As this AP news story highlights, it has a negative effect on real students:

Kathryn Groves, a high school student from Keystone Heights, told the panel she took a virtual SAT preparation course that helped her earn scholarships by improving her score on the college entrance test.

“This class is not considered a core course, and students like me who would like to go to college would not be able to raise their SAT scores,” Groves said.

Florida Virtual School officials say the provision would cut enrollment about 24 percent by eliminating such electives as personal fitness, Web design, psychology and life management.

Sad, really. As virtual education represents in some ways the wave of the educational future, this is a step back.

Colorado online public schools have had their share of struggles with rules and regulations coming out of Denver, but not quite like this. Right now, our state is blessed with a healthy slate of cyberschool options to serve a rapidly growing student enrollment.

Individual schools and programs may succeed or fail, but hopefully such results have little to do with the state encroaching on the options available to students and parents.

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Mostly dead wasn’t good enough for some Colorado lawmakers when it comes to school spending transparency

I’m young, and still learning about many different things. Like I’ve learned a lot about the word “transparency” this year – especially as it relates to taxpayer-funded schools making it easy for citizens to see how they spend their money.

But I guess I’m still pretty naive, too. It’s hard to believe the lengths the chairman of Colorado’s House Education Committee was willing to go to make sure that Senate Bill 57 was not only mostly dead but double-super-killed, all-the-way dead. You have to read what the investigators at Face The State found out to believe it:

Also known as Senate Bill 57, the bill was postponed indefinitely after four hours of committee debate that lasted late into the evening. Speaker Terrance Carroll and House Minority Leader Mike May arrived to work the next morning ready to revive it. But they were too late.

When legislation is postponed indefinitely it is technically not dead until the committee report is officially filed with the House clerk. This process usually takes about a day, or at least 24 hours. If the bill is intercepted before it reaches the clerk, then a motion can be made to reintroduce it.

“I think Merrifield made a dash for the clerk’s desk,” May said, referring to Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, who chairs the House Education Committee.

Now that I’ve learned a lot about what transparency means, this sounds to me like someone in a super-big hurry who has something to hide. I’m beginning to understand a bit better why my mom and dad keep trying to change my mind about wanting to be a politician when I grow up.

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This morning brings an important committee hearing at the State Capitol, as the Democrats in charge try to speed through some serious changes to the School Finance Act:

Legislators and lobbyists Tuesday were hurriedly conferring about and drafting possible amendments to Senate Bill 09-256, the 2008-09 school finance bill that was introduced Monday.

The bill currently is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, considered on the Senate floor Thursday and is set for final passage on Friday.

That leaves little time for crafting language for a complex bill that takes several new directions with the overall goal of funneling more money to at-risk students and polishing up Colorado’s chances to win competitive federal stimulus grants for education innovation. [Link to bill PDF added]

Very little time has been given to analysis of this proposal thus far, so I can’t comment much yet. It does look like some innovative proposals may be included, but then as the Denver Post’s Jessica Fender reports, something bad could be in store for certain school districts that want to honor taxpayer protections — if House Democrats get their way: Continue Reading »

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