Colorado Teachers, Get Up to $65 Back
Teachers who are members of the Colorado Education Association (CEA) are eligible for as much as $65 in annual political refunds through the Every Member Option (EMO) program. The CEA raises political funds through a structure known as EMO. In 2015-16, $41) is deducted from the yearly earnings of every full-time member teacher (part-time member […]
New PARCC Scores Are Ugly, but the Real Question Is Why
(An important note for today’s post before we get started: PARCC results cannot and should not be compared to previous TCAP or CSAP results. Seriously, don’t do that. Yes, I’m looking at you.) A lot of kids my age would love to go to the park on a fine Friday like this one. I, however, […]
Federal Court Voids Intrusive Anti-Choice Order, Makes Me Smile
In the recent busy season, there hasn’t necessarily been a lot of different things to tell you about. But the coverage has been thick. And after all that — including everything from telling reformers to keep their chins up to unpacking ugly smear columns — little me is eager, practically desperate, to talk about good […]
Ugly Smear Column Tries, Fails to Shove Conservative Education Reform Aside
I hope you all enjoyed a nice, long break from recent depressing edu-happenings over the last few days. I also hope that your disappointment is tempered by hope for the future. As my friend Ross Izard pointed out in a recent op-ed—and as my dad always says—it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings. I never have […]
Yes, Election Night Happened, But Keep Your Chins Up, Colorado Reformers
Yeah, yeah, yeah, school board elections happened in Colorado this week. Ok, so I promised to give you a full report yesterday. But I got a little busy crying in my Cheerios with some important stuff to do. Do I really need to review what happened with the Teachers Union Empire Strikes Back? After all, […]
Elections and Budget Gaps Make for a Really Interesting Education Week
Tonight is the night, my friends. Tonight is the night that future of local education reform is decided in our backyards. You can bet that Ed will be watching the events unfold, and that I’ll be giving you a full report tomorrow. You can also watch a few of the big districts, including Jeffco and […]
Don’t Fall Victim to MisNAEPery
It’s NAEP season, my friends. The 2015 National Assessment of Education Progress results were released this week to a barrage of spin, rhetoric, and general “misNAEPery.” I’ve mostly seen this misNAEPery pop up in the form of certain folks using the data to show that education reform efforts aren’t working. (For now, we’ll ignore the […]
Look Under the District 38 School Board Campaign Mask
The week of Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. I can practically taste the candy in my mouth right now. One of the perks of being a perpetual 5-year-old is the unending chance to go Trick-or-Treat year after year without any sense of self-consciousness or guilt. It also happens to be […]
Little Action Required by Obama’s Testing Action Plan
Welcome back, dear readers. I apologize for leaving you mostly adrift for a week as I gallivanted around various education reform conferences. At least you got a good post about the coming local elections yesterday, and you’ve got another big one in store for today. A national story popped up this past weekend that I […]
Get Past the High Drama and Give Reform a Chance to Succeed
Some days I wish that improving schools for all students and giving all families access to the best educational options were easier to accomplish. But change can be difficult, especially when self-interested groups have their power and prestige at stake. Emotions are tense and high in Jefferson County, where a fact-challenged, union-backed recall election against […]
‘Tis the Season for Wild and Woolly School Board Election Stories
There’s no season like school board election season. At least not in Colorado. Believe it or not, these are real stories. As my dad is fond of saying, “You can’t make this up.” Let’s start in Jeffco, where the Denver Post shattered to pieces the whole justification for a politically motivated recall election. A video […]
Denver Post Editorial Board Nails It on the Jeffco Recall… Again
I know I’ve said this before, but it makes me feel good when even the mainstream media sees through the antics of anti-reform efforts in Colorado. The Denver Post has been a model for sensible, truthful commentary in recent months. So much so, in fact, that I feel compelled to make a bulleted list of […]
