A state effort to ease Colorado’s dire shortage of health care workers will offer tuition-free training for several thousand students, providing a much-needed boost to hospitals and clinics. The Care Forward Colorado Program will invest $26 million of federal COVID stimulus funding into the program for two years, guaranteeing free schooling for students interested in […]
2022 legislative session
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: Unpacking Colorado’s “muddled” economy
Colorado may have recovered the 375,000 jobs lost in the first two months of the pandemic, but we’re not back to peak employment yet. And while new business creations remained high so far this year, delinquencies and dissolutions are growing. These and other trends were made clearer after the Secretary of State’s quarterly Business & […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News, Politics and Government
Student teachers are rarely paid. Colorado lawmakers, school leaders want to ensure they’re compensated.
Near the end of last semester, Jorge Cabral’s budget was on the brink. He carefully watched how he spent each dollar, limiting his purchases to essentials like shampoo and toilet paper and cutting corners with meals by buying rice and beans to last through each week. On top of getting no pay for his full-time […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News, Politics and Government
Higher education faculty in Colorado beg lawmakers to pass collective bargaining rights bill
Craig Svonkin relocated to Denver 15 years ago and while he’s been able to teach children’s literacy and poetry at Metropolitan State University of Denver exactly like he set out to do, it has come at a heavy cost: his financial stability. The associate professor of English took a huge pay cut to move from […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Democrats formalize plan for expanded preschool, early childhood department. But will Colorado have enough teachers?
A nearly 500-page bill released Friday fills in new details about the Department of Early Childhood as it launches and prepares to oversee Colorado’s expansion of preschool in fall 2023. The Democrat-backed bill reflects close to a year of planning among lawmakers, state agencies, the governor’s office, early childhood providers and advocates, and parents — […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Colorado is lowering teacher qualifications amid staff shortage a year before expanding preschool access
Tens of thousands of Colorado children will be eligible to enroll in the state’s expanded preschool program come fall of 2023, but as an educator shortage has swelled to “crisis” levels, pressure is mounting to find enough teachers to staff classrooms. One solution the state implemented in December: lowering the bar on credentials to become […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Economy, Education, Health, News, Politics and Government
What will be debated at the Colorado Capitol when the legislature returns next week
Gov. Jared Polis wants Colorado to become one of the top 10 safest states in the U.S. within five years, he said Thursday night during a virtual Colorado Sun event ahead of the 2022 legislative session, which begins next week on Jan. 12. “It’ll take a lot of work to get there,” he said. Polis, […]