Bad Decision for Children like Lexie: AZ Vouchers Struck Down
To realize the impact of yesterday’s Arizona Supreme Court decision watch this video about a little girl named Lexie. Also, read the media release from the Institute for Justice. Lexie has multiple disabilities. Her public school was not able to meet her needs, but the state-funded scholarship program for children with disabilities gave her the opportunity to attend a private […]
D.C. School Choice Under Attack
Virginia Walden Ford, executive director of D.C. Parents for School Choice, explains how the successful voucher program in our nation’s capital is under attack from Congress. Currently, more than 1,700 low-income students benefit from the opportunity to escape terrible conditions in D.C. public schools for better educational opportunity, with thousands more waiting to get in. Coloradans who support school choice can make their voices heard.
Waivers for Public Schools: A Good Step for Reform
Today, two public schools received waivers from 40 state statutes, 32 district policies, and 18 collective bargaining agreement provisions. The Colorado State Board of Education unanimously voted in favor of granting waivers to two Denver Public Schools, Manual High School and Montclair School of Academics and Enrichment.
The schools are the first “Innovation Schools” under a law […]
Homeschool Day at the Capitol
On April 3, 2009, hundreds of homeschoolers will descend on the state Capitol to show their support for homeschool freedoms to Colorado’s elected officials.
Parents Should Not Lose Easy Access to School Report Cards
Education Policy Center Director Pam Benigno discusses the latest from this week in Colorado education. State lawmakers are threatening to end the requirement that printed copies of the School Accountability Report (SAR) be delivered to parents. Poorer families without computer access will be most affected, since they often rely on the information to help find safer, better-performing schools for their children.
Bad News for Families: State Cuts Printed School Report Cards
Yesterday the Joint Budget Committee cut the printing of next year’s School Accountability Reports (SAR). Also, a bill going through the legislature that will make major changes to Colorado’s accountability system does not include printing of the new reports. Not sending home a SAR (aka school report card) keeps parents in the dark about a school’s student performance. […]
Ysursa and the Supreme Court III: Return of Clean Government
In the third and final installment of a Star Wars-like trilogy on the Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association case, Michael Reitz of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation explains how the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling is a victory for good state-labor relations, taxpayers, and clean government. The ruling upholds laws passed in Idaho and Utah that prohibit government payroll systems from being used to collect private political contributions.
“Unhappy Parents” Use Bad Judgment
In today’s Denver Post there is a story by Jeremy P. Meyer about the parents of 67 students from Hanson PreK-8 School located in Adams 14 School District. The parents are boycotting the CSAP because they are unhappy that the principal has been placed on leave for undisclosed reasons, the elimination of the year-round schedule, and changes to […]
3/4/09
Newsletter March 4 2009
Would Local Only Union Model Work for Colorado Teachers?
Garry Sigle, spokesman for the Riley County Educators (RCE) in Kansas, explains how he and his fellow teachers recently opted to de-certify the National Education Association as their exclusive negotiators and take charge of their own representation. What does the local only union look like? What is the decertification process like? What challenges does it include? Teachers in some Colorado school districts may find the approach to be a viable professional option.
March 20 Event: "Is K-12 Employee Pension System Fair?"
How much do teachers, administrators, and other K-12 education employees really earn in extra pension benefits?
Introducing GoBash.org
Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno sits down with policy analyst Ben DeGrow to highlight the launch of GoBash.org, the Independence Institute’s new site dedicated to putting officials on the record about education reform. The site’s first entry exposes the wasteful spending of the Boulder Valley School District on a lawsuit against the state to limit charter school opportunities for students.
