Posted inEquity, News

An “invisible population” of Colorado parents in college faces barriers to obtaining degrees

Most weeknights, after her 3-year-old daughter, A’nyah, falls asleep, Molly Clark cracks open her textbooks and studies until her eyes “feel like sandpaper.”  “As soon as I feel like it’s not any use anymore, I’ll backtrack a few pages, put my bookmark in, and I’ll go to bed, which is usually around 12 to 2:30,” […]

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, COVID, Education, News, Politics and Government

Anti-maskers are spreading a new tactic to challenge Colorado school boards: recalls

Kathy Gebhardt has been called a Nazi and a child abuser because of her unwavering support for requiring masks in schools. Now she and two of her colleagues on the Boulder Valley School District board are facing a new reprisal by parents outraged over mask mandates — a recall petition seeking their removal, an undertaking […]

Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News

Two years into Colorado’s home school boom, pandemic uncertainties bring new families into the fold

When Amber Ingram became a mom, home-schooling her children seemed like a natural next step to just about everyone but her. As a public school teacher in Colorado Springs, and married to another public school teacher, Ingram saw herself teaching at the head of a classroom, not the head of her kitchen table. But that’s […]

Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, Health, News

“Surrounded by toxicity”: As Colorado schools reopen, pandemic-fueled politics overwhelm classrooms

The faces of parents riled up by mask mandates in schools feels all too familiar to Mark Sass. It reminds him of the fury outside of schools during desegregation. And at schools like Legacy High School in Broomfield, he says, all the rancor over the coronavirus is keeping teachers from what counts: figuring out how […]

Posted inColoradans, COVID, Economy, Education, News, Politics and Government

More than 36,000 Colorado kids from low-income families could miss out on the Child Tax Credit, advocates fear

More than 36,000 Colorado children could lose out on a historic expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit because their families don’t file income taxes with the IRS.  The tax credit, which is temporarily expanded this year through funding from the federal coronavirus stimulus package, known as the American Rescue Plan, is being hailed as […]

Posted inColoradans, Education, News

What should Colorado’s new Department of Early Childhood look like? Leaders want parent, teacher say.

State officials want the input of parents, teachers and child care providers before launching what the governor’s office calls a bold new initiative: reinventing how Colorado provides services to preschoolers.  Starting in 2023, the state will provide at least 10 hours a week of free preschool to every kid in the year before kindergarten. But […]