The pandemic set Colorado students back and widened some achievement gaps between white children and their Black and Hispanic peers, newly released data from state standardized assessments conducted in the spring show. But the new results have big holes because of a significant drop in the number of students who took the test, and questions […]
State Board of Education
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
A job or a civic duty? Colorado weighs paying school board members
More than 60% of students in the Roaring Fork School District are Hispanic, but when Jasmin Ramirez was elected in 2019, she and fellow board member Natalie Torres became the first Latinas to serve on the school board. Like all Colorado school board seats, it’s a volunteer position that comes with no pay. That sacrifice […]
Posted inEducation, News
District, teacher groups urge State Board not to change Colorado school ratings
By Erica Meltzer, Chalkbeat Colorado The state’s largest teachers union and organizations that represent school boards and district leaders are mounting a united front against proposed changes to how Colorado rates its schools — even as education advocates say the current system leaves parents in the dark. At issue is what’s known as the school […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Colorado’s first female education commissioner in 65 years pushes for a return to “respectful discourse”
When Katy Anthes was plucked from the ranks of Colorado’s education bureaucracy to become the state’s top education official, she was the fourth person to hold the job in 18 months. Colorado Department of Education employees were stressed, worn out by revolving leadership and working to put in place pivotal reforms in teacher performance, new […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
The takeaway from Amendment 73’s defeat: Voters won’t throw money into a broken school finance system
Voters rejected a 10-digit ask for new money for education this week, the third failed attempt at raising taxes for schools in the past eight years. Amendment 73 — which would have raised $1.6 billion for schools on top of the $11.7 billion they get now — went down 45 percent to 55 percent in […]