One by one, the big yellow diesel-powered school buses shuttling kids back and forth in Colorado districts are rumbling along on their final routes and, after many thousands of miles, belching their last plumes of exhaust. With increasing concerns about the harmful effects of school bus tailpipe emissions on both children’s health and the environment, […]
Colorado education
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Rural Colorado schools, unable to recruit out-of-town teachers, are trying to get locals into classrooms
The question of how to draw more teachers into a profession defined by high stress and low pay has become increasingly difficult for administrators like Dave Slothower to answer over the past two years. “This is important work,” said Slothower, superintendent of Calhan School District east of Colorado Springs. “I don’t think anybody would disagree […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Colorado teacher prep programs saw an “exodus” when COVID hit — another test for school districts facing shortages
While teaching English to Greeley elementary school students who were just starting to learn the language, Ricardo Lopez would often hear his father’s struggles in their voices. “You don’t want to see them struggle like you see someone so close to you struggle trying to communicate,” said Lopez, whose dad immigrated to the United States […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Desperate for affordable homes, teachers in Colorado’s high country turn to Habitat for Humanity
GYPSUM — Brenda Saucedo has lived in Eagle County all her life, but with housing prices that have become out of reach and a daughter to care for, the place she considers home once left her homeless. Three years ago, Saucedo, of Gypsum, turned to a shelter while figuring out how to piece together a […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Colorado school districts are hiring teachers to start work before they graduate amid educator shortage
Ellie Howe began teaching this year beside some of the same teachers she had as a middle schooler in the Eagle County School District, where they guided her through math problems, Spanish vocabulary and social studies projects. “Those teachers definitely pushed me to be a better individual in school,” said Howe, who is still learning […]
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 […]
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Here’s what’s in the $36 billion state budget proposal now being debated by Colorado lawmakers
The full Colorado legislature this week began debating a $36 billion state budget proposal that, buoyed by a strong economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and a flood of federal stimulus dollars, would boost funding to K-12 and higher education, give state employees a 3% raise and expand state efforts to improve public safety and […]
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
No Colorado charter school has a union. That could change as New America School teachers rally to form one.
Most of Stephanie Ernst’s students at New America School in Aurora are immigrants who are still learning English, but after a rash of teacher and staff departures this school year, her students no longer have a Spanish program in which they can practice their first language. Nor do they have a school nurse. Or a […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News, Technology
In the age of social media, a new app aims to help Colorado teens make friends off their phones
Barely out of bed and still waiting for the fog of sleep to lift, Ameera Sierra used to start her mornings staring at an endless stream of selfies, tweets and Snapchat stories. It was almost a ritual for the 17-year-old: Roll over, turn off the alarm, grab the phone and begin scrolling, the glow from […]