Latest Research Builds Winning Record for School Choice: Still Waiting for DougCo
Gold-standard research on the positive impacts of school choice keeps rolling in. The latest work by Matthew Chingos and Paul Peterson measures the results for New York City students who received modest privately-funded vouchers to attend private schools. The study directly compared how many voucher students successfully completed high school and enrolled in college compared […]
Hey, Colorado: Billion Dollar K-12 Tax Hike OR End the Education Plantation?
Often it’s very easy to get bogged down in a big education policy debate like Colorado’s SB 213 school finance reform proposal. Then along comes a Denver Post op-ed piece by a motivated citizen that exhales a breath of fresh air: Colorado currently spends about $10,600 per student per year on K-12 education. You can […]
War on Rural CO: Economic impact of SB 252
The impact of SB 252, a bill to raise the renewable mandate on rural electric cooperatives, will be devastating to rural Colorado according to Dr. Roger Bezdek, Founder and President of Management Information Services, Inc. Bezdek released a report titled “The Economic and Jobs Impact of the Proposed Colorado RES” that predicts that, if passed, SB […]
The “Pro-Gun” Provisions of Manchin-Toomey are Actually a Bonanza of Gun Control
Originally published on Volokh.com The Toomey-Manchin Amendment which may be offered as soon as Tuesday to Senator Reid’s gun control bill are billed as a “compromise” which contain a variety of provisions for gun control, and other provisions to enhance gun rights. Some of the latter, however, are not what they seem. They are badly miswritten, […]
Scholarship Tax Credits Could Help Denver, Aurora HS Students Overcome Challenges
For those who long have rolled up their sleeves to try to improve student learning, the cause of urban high school reform remains one of the most daunting tasks. Even in areas where the most concentrated and sustained efforts at reform have taken place, the promising results have been very limited. Enter a brand new […]
Adams 12 School Board Steps into the Light, Calls Union Leaders’ Bluff
In response to the Adams 12 school board asking all employees to share a little more in paying for their pension contributions, teachers union leaders have organized protests and worked with a local TV news reporter to trump up phony, easily debunked charges. To help clear the air the board has asked to open bargaining negotiations to public view, but union leaders say they aren’t interested.
Protect Democracy: Avoid Election-Day Registration
Carting uninformed, transient voters to the polls to vote for the political boss-man is a time-dishonored practice of demagogues everywhere. It has been proposed for Colorado, but it has no place here. Some historical perspective: America has a long tradition of democratic governance. By the time our American Constitution was adopted, nearly all states had […]
Parent Power in Colorado: Aiming to Join or Surpass the Dazzling Dozen
Has it really been more than six whole months since the Hollywood movie Won’t Back Down hit the Denver and national scene. While not a blockbuster success, the parent power-themed, feature-length film certainly raised the profile of K-12 education reform. Two moms took charge and took on the bureaucracy and union opposition to change the […]
Don’t let Clements tragedy derail Colorado’s criminal justice reform efforts
Let’s not allow a tragedy to undo years of careful work toward sound policy reforms.
Amy Oliver Show: Adams 12 Weathers Union Attacks
Adams 12 board member Norm Jennings explains how teachers union leaders have collaborated with a local TV news investigative reporter to attack the district’s fiscally responsible solutions to budget challenges.
Highlights and lowlights of SB252 testimony
Despite close to seven hours of testimony on SB13-252, a bill to raise the renewable energy mandate 150 percent on rural electric co-ops, it is very clear that the bill’s prime sponsors Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) and Senator Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass) do not understand their own bill and didn’t bother to consult those […]
Here’s Hoping for a Real Common Core Debate… and Some Real School Choice
More than two-and-a-half years ago, the Colorado State Board of Education adopted the Common Core standards. Just this last December the State Board took another careful look at the decision, as this School Reform News article by my Education Policy Center friend notes. For a number of reasons, the issue has gained greater national notoriety […]
