Colorado’s largest teachers union says most of its members are prepared to participate in walk-outs if the state does not significantly increase education funding and teacher pay. In its first Colorado State of Education report, the Colorado Education Association laid out a number of legislative priorities for 2020 based on a member survey and a 13-stop […]
school funding
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Why the Denver school board “flipped” toward reform and what might happen next
Carried by momentum from February’s teachers strike and a broader backlash against the status quo, candidates opposed to the policies that made Denver Public Schools a national exemplar for education reform now control the school board for the first time. Instead of five members backed by pro-reform organizations and two backed by the teachers union, […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Proposition CC isn’t the answer to all of our problems. But it’s a start.
As the state representative for District 27, I’ve talked to a lot of people in Arvada. From coffee shops and breweries to libraries and town halls, we always seem to end up on the same refrain: taxes. Our district is a growing community with a growing economy. Arvadans often, rightly, ask why we can’t seem […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Lawmakers are finally setting out to retool Colorado’s school funding formula. They’ll have to reach a consensus on these questions first.
A legislative committee is exploring how to revise a school funding formula many deem outdated, but lawmakers have more questions than answers and less than two months to decide how dollars will flow to schools. The Legislative Interim Committee on School Finance, which has spent close to three years contemplating changes to the formula, known […]
Posted inEducation, News
Park County teacher strike enters its second week, even as classes resume
By Erica Meltzer, Chalkbeat Colorado A teacher strike in Colorado’s high country is entering its second week with no sign of how or when the labor dispute will be resolved and even as classes resume in the district. Teachers in Park County went on strike Oct. 14. Roughly 40 teachers serve some 600 students in […]
Posted inEducation, News
In mostly rural Colorado, the four-day school week has taken hold. But what do communities do with “Fifth Day”?
PEYTON — Everything ties into everything in education, Tim Kistler likes to say, and the superintendent of the rural Peyton School District 23JT offers a case-in-point as he makes his way into a spacious, generously outfitted wood shop hung with banners for its industrial sponsors early on a Thursday morning. This woodworking class, where students […]
Posted inEducation, Politics and Government
If Colorado wants to stop the next school shooting, the state needs to get on the same page, lawmakers say
To stop the next school shooting, Colorado needs statewide policies to assess and prevent threats instead of the current patchwork of guidelines in place. That’s the conclusion of state Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, the chairwoman of the school safety committee created after the STEM School shooting in May. The Commerce City Democrat is considering legislation […]
Posted inEducation, News
Taking a hit: Colorado school districts grapple with insuring against hail
By Yesenia Robles, Chalkbeat Colorado The 2017 hailstorm that hit the western suburbs of Denver, breaking records as the state’s most costly storm for insurers, is still wreaking havoc — now with school districts trying to secure insurance coverage. Premiums are rising, deductibles are skyrocketing, and districts are having a harder time finding anyone willing […]
Posted inEducation, Growth, News
Denver schools could soon have too few students — meaning consolidation might be coming. Here’s why.
By Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado As Denver families are pushed out by high housing costs, declining enrollment is emerging as a notable budget issue for the school district, signaling that hard conversations about school consolidations could be coming. A recent presentation to the Denver school board highlighted the challenges. One of the biggest? The predicted […]