Monthly Archives: August 2010

My Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow made the opinion page of today’s Denver Post with a featured guest column titled “Education jobs bailout can’t be justified”: Last week, the House of Representatives passed legislation that included a $10 billion payout to states to preserve K-12 school jobs. Retaining or adding school employees may be a priority for the Democrat majority in Congress and their union backers, which stand to gain more than $20 million. But as a national policy, Congress’ Education Jobs Fund — or “edujobs” — bailout is excessive, shortsighted and fiscally irresponsible. That’s all the appetizer you get for now. Seriously, just click the link above and read the whole thing. The comments so far are typically what you’d expect — very little tangling with the actual argument and plenty of vitriol. But as long as it’s “for the children” like me…. If you want to jump in the comment section (either here or there), feel free. The water is fine.

Not to spend too much time today dwelling in the past — it’s been 11 days now since the State Board regretfully adopted the Common Core standards — but I felt impelled to bring your attention to a guest column in today’s Denver Post. State senator Keith King, a charter school administrator and education expert, explained why he believes last week’s State Board vote forfeited a chance for Colorado to be an education leader: This capitulation to national standards in pursuit of federal funds is misguided. Colorado could have led the nation in setting high standards for our public schools, not jump on the bandwagon of uncertain, still-evolving national standards. Following the pied piper of new federal funding has proven to be a trap many times in the past. When will we stop being enticed into federal programs with some up-front federal funding and then be left hanging when those initial funds run out? Besides the obvious problem of relying on federal funds that soon will disappear, Senator King raised a specific point I haven’t seen discussed much. Namely, that Colorado’s own high-quality writing standards figure to be forfeited once our state begins relying on regional or national assessments. I […]

It’s been too long since I’ve taken a glimpse at a new Colorado school. But as the school year fast approaches for most students around the state, it’s definitely time to get back on track. For the preschool-through-5th grade students at SkyView Academy in Highlands Ranch, a south Denver suburb, the inaugural school year doesn’t start until after Labor Day. That’s because the new school building is in the final stages of construction and is slated for a grand opening on August 26. The school’s mission statement explains what it’s all about: SkyView Academy offers a research-based, content-rich liberal arts program with a commitment to foreign language studies and community service.

Yesterday morning the Colorado Department of Education unveiled the latest CSAP (state assessment) results. It’s hard to believe: in the past these events attracted a lot of fanfare. But for the most recent announcement, I missed the brass band and confetti. Maybe because there wasn’t any. And that doesn’t take into account the fact the release was scheduled on primary election day, which limited the news media coverage. Oh, well. The Denver Post reports that CSAP scores once again were flat, though there were some notable bright spots, like Beach Court Elementary and the West Denver Prep and Denver School of Science and Technology charter schools in DPS, and Mapleton Public Schools. On the larger scale, however, Colorado education reformers can be anything but satisfied. Disappointed would be a better word. We still have a long ways to go. It’s time to look at what the more successful Colorado schools and districts are doing while also broadening our vision to look at other states with clearly successful track records (e.g., Florida’s education reforms).

The dog days of August are here. Most Colorado K-12 schools are gearing up for the 2010-11 year, while a few already are underway. August and September are a very busy time for those who work in our public schools. That’s why it shouldn’t be a surprise that for many teachers it’s the only time of year they have to make choices about their professional memberships. Yesterday my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow spent an hour on 850 KOA’s Mike Rosen Show to discuss the little-known phenomenon of school employee union opt-out windows. You can listen to his conversation with guest host Jon Caldara here. Depending on which school district they work in, many Colorado teachers and classified employees have only a short few weeks or less each year to choose to stop their union membership and payroll dues deduction — even though they can opt in any time. (In a few school districts, teachers and other employees who don’t belong to the union have to fill out a letter or form each year to opt out of union dues.) And in most cases, those opt-out windows fall during the busy beginning of the school year. One teacher called […]

So now that the Colorado State Board of Education has signed on to Common Core Standards, the question is what are the state’s chances to win up to $175 million in federal funds from Race to the Top (RTTT) Round 2? Thanks to Ed News Colorado’s Daily Churn, I learned that the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has given Colorado’s latest RTTT proposal a green light (thanks in no small part to SB 191). So what does that mean? If recent history is our guide, then we should go back to March and look at NCTQ’s forecast from the first round of RTTT. Delaware, Rhode Island and Tennessee were the only three states to receive green lights; Delaware and Tennessee ended up the only two states to come home with the money. This time around there figure to be plenty more winners. So the fact that Colorado is one of only three states (Louisiana and Rhode Island are the others) plus Washington, D.C., to receive the coveted green light means our state is a virtual shoo-in for the federal dollars. What kind of valuable, long-term positive impacts would Colorado experience in the highly likely scenario of being an RTTT […]

I don’t have time to rehash why Congress’ education jobs bailout bill doesn’t make any sense. I just don’t have time. The beach beckons. You know, summer vacation and all that. What once was a $23 billion bailout is now only a $10 billion bailout. (Phew! For awhile I thought we were talking about real money there.) After lingering on Capitol Hill for months, the decision to spend more money the federal government doesn’t have faces smooth sailing now that 61 Senators agreed to close the debate. Some of the same people who insist teachers across the board are underpaid also hope you can’t do the math. As the Heritage Foundation’s Lindsey Burke points out, the touted number of teacher jobs to be saved (100,000) means the cost for each job is approximately $100,000. Are teachers getting paid really well? Or is the rest of the money paying bureaucrats or buying political favors? I may be young, but I’m not naive enough to expect any serious answers. Of course, Mike Antonucci also has done the research and reporting to show that the estimates of layoff numbers are overblown as many teachers across the country are being rehired. Does this mean […]

Colorado has been a national leader in public school choice. One of the small facets of that choice is the Innovation School concept pioneered by a 2008 state law. These public schools or school districts can seek waivers from some state laws to have more flexibility in program and/or personnel policies. Up till now, the handful of schools that have sought and received Innovation School status are all located in Denver, designed to serve challenging urban student populations. But in the 2008 law’s own pioneer spirit, the tiny rural Kit Carson School District on the Eastern Plains is changing the trend. On the newest iVoices podcast (click here to listen to the MP3 in another window), Kit Carson superintendent Gerald Keefe talks about his district’s Innovation waiver proposal to be brought before the State Board of Education in coming months. Rather than wait for the groundbreaking new SB 191 to go into effect, Kit Carson has some ideas of its own how to implement a more performance-based teacher evaluation and dismissal system. In any case, it’s good to be reminded that innovation comes in all shapes and sizes — and population densities.

I’ve been listening this morning to the Colorado State Board of Education discuss their decision to adopt the Common Core standards. If you want a play-by-play, check out my Twitter page. Bottom line: the State Board just voted to adopt Common Core by the margin of 4-3. Republican Randy DeHoff joined the Board’s three Democrats in favor of adoption. Among other things, this move effectively ensures Colorado has an inside shot to win up to $175 million in federal Race to the Top funds. I expressed my views on the matter Friday. Even then I knew that stopping the train would be a difficult task. And though the vote may not have turned out as I wished, opponents like Board member Peggy Littleton and the hundreds of citizens who spoke out were able to ensure an open, honest and clarifying debate about values and principles. Too bad the specter of federal money loomed overhead. State Board Chairman Bob Schaffer put the matter in perspective, said the decision is all about the federal money, and not the quality of the academic standards. Yet he doesn’t see it as starting our state down an irreversible course of federal subservience. Thus we move […]