Schools across Colorado began opening for the fall semester in the middle of August, with daytime temperatures reaching into the 90s in some places. Tens of thousands of Colorado public school students attend school in buildings with no air conditioning in their classrooms, and often—especially in buildings that are many decades old—no air conditioning in […]
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Posted inEconomy, Education, Housing, News, Politics and Government
Colorado mountain town asks locals to open up their homes to teachers
EAGLE — Brian Trommater’s bedroom window opens up to a view of mountain slopes peeking out from behind clusters of trees, giving him a vantage point that often leaves him dazed by the thought that he’s living a dream. It’s an expansive backdrop for an otherwise tiny place to call home: His apartment covers about […]
Posted inEducation, News
Colorado teachers earn 36% less than other college-educated workers, the worst gap in the country
Teacher pay has long trailed behind other professions requiring a college degree, and in Colorado that pay gap is widest of any state, according to a report published last week by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit think tank that identifies itself as nonpartisan. Colorado teachers earn 35.9% less than other college-educated workers, […]
Posted inNews
Colorado schools’ hardest jobs to fill: Bus drivers and special education
For Lacey Nelson, the weeks leading up to the start of school are a blur of spreadsheets, meetings, and calls from principals about last-minute teacher resignations. With less than two weeks to go, Denver Public Schools’ director of talent acquisition is still looking to hire 150 teachers, 275 paraprofessionals, and up to 45 bus drivers. […]
Posted inEducation, News
Colorado students have recovered some academic ground since COVID arrived but deficits remain, test results show
Colorado students made significant headway in overcoming academic setbacks due to pandemic-related hiccups in learning, but their progress still hasn’t set them fully back on track, according to state standardized test data published by the Colorado Department of Education on Wednesday. Colorado Measures of Academic Success assessments are typically conducted each spring as a way […]
Posted inEducation, News
How a Colorado Springs school co-op saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in health insurance costs
Pat Bershinsky has gifted his nearly 220 staff members $1,000 every Christmas for four years and once again gave bonuses this summer. The leader of one of Colorado’s school cooperatives has the extra cash because of a decision he made four years ago on employee health care. Bershinsky, executive director of the Pikes Peak Board […]
Posted inEducation, News
“At a crisis point”: Homes are out of reach for many Colorado teachers. What does that mean for schools?
Fewer than one-fifth of homes across Colorado are affordable to teachers who make an average salary in their district, even as average teacher salaries have increased by about 25% in the past seven years, according to a report published Tuesday by the nonpartisan Keystone Policy Center. The report puts numbers to a problem that prices […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Zornio: It’s not a teacher shortage, it’s a respect and salary shortage
Last year, a survey by the Colorado Education Association found that 40% of licensed teachers statewide were considering leaving the profession. Among the chief complaints were safety concerns, heavy workloads and low pay. It should come as no surprise, then, that the 2022-23 school year would bring a myriad of headaches for administrators attempting to […]
Posted inNews
Tentative Jefferson County teacher pay deal sets starting salary at $50,000
New teachers in Jeffco Public Schools will earn starting salaries of $50,000 and the most experienced teachers will be able to earn more than $100,000 a year under a tentative agreement between the district and the teachers union. Jeffco Public Schools and the Jefferson County Education Association reached the agreement late Wednesday, two weeks before […]
Posted inGrowth
A first look at Denver Public Schools’ new strategic plan
A year into his tenure, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero is rolling out a new strategic plan to guide Colorado’s largest school district. The plan, which Marrero calls a roadmap, focuses on three broad goals: improving the student experience, improving the adult experience for educators and families, and replacing “ineffective, destructive systems” with “equitable, […]