Colorado Springs Early Colleges Student’s Heroic Actions Worth Bragging About
Not everything in the world of Colorado K-12 education is a serious statement about policy. Sometimes the more compelling story comes in the heat of a dramatic moment, when more is at stake than grades on a test. The Colorado Springs Gazette’s Matt Steiner reports on a high school freshman who, when confronted with a […]
Amy Oliver Show: Denver Teachers Judged on Encouraging Social Activism
In this clip from the August 30 Amy Oliver Show, Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno discusses controversial new language in Denver Public Schools’ evaluation framework that gives the highest rating to teachers who encourage students to “challenge and question the dominant culture” and “work for social justice.”
Please Don’t Send a Class of Little Eddies on an Occupy Denver Field Trip!
Should Denver Public Schools use its evaluation system to give teachers the highest rating for encouraging students to “challenge and question the dominant culture” and “work for social justice”? Little Eddie shares an imaginary scenario of a teacher taking his class on a field trip to Occupy Denver. It’s not clear what exactly the language means, but it clearly doesn’t sound like the appropriate role for a teacher! DPS high school teacher John Peterson, who told his story to 9News education reporter Nelson Garcia, certainly agrees.
Pam Benigno Challenges Political Agenda in Denver Teacher Evaluations
On Wednesday, August 29, Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno told Denver 9News education reporter Nelson Garcia that it’s an “abuse of power” for Denver Public Schools (DPS) to rate teachers in a way that can “promote a political agenda.” Click the image below to read the story and watch the video. According to DPS’ […]
Teachers or Union Politics? A (Brief) Colorado Tale of Two Recognitions
Have you ever played the “one of these things is not like the other” game with only two things? The results usually are neither too difficult nor surprising. But playing a quick game, like we’re about to do, can still be informative in its own way.
Okay, let’s go. The first item comes compliments of the […]
Charter School Paradox Makes Case For Adding Private Educational Choice
A quick hit this afternoon. The Cato Institute’s Adam Schaeffer today has released the summary of a new data analysis by RAND Corporation economist Richard Buddin, seeking to explain what he calls “The Charter School Paradox”:
On average, charter schools may marginally improve the public education system, but in the process they are wreaking havoc on […]
Amy Oliver Show: Dougco Schools Launches Parent-Friendly App
On the second hour of the August 28 Amy Oliver Show, guest-host senior policy analyst Ben DeGrow discusses Douglas County School District’s innovative parent-friendly mobile electronic app with local mom Sandy Haworth and superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Fagen. The story of the Dougco schools’ new app was recently covered by Denver 9News education reporter Nelson Garcia. […]
What Would Drive Families to Deceive to Get a Child into Aspen Schools?
A little over 18 months ago, a story broke out of Ohio that a mom was charged with a felony for falsifying information about where she lived to get her daughter into a different public school. Neither Kelley Williams-Bolar nor any other parent should be forced to choose between finding a better education and obeying […]
Dougco School Board Challenges Union Leaders, May Seek Voters’ Input
Believe it or not, it’s been a whole three days since I last shared some thoughts on the exciting goings-on in Colorado’s third-largest school district. An arbitrator ruled that Douglas County leaders couldn’t get back all the tax-funded union leave dollars because they didn’t get a change to the collective bargaining agreement in writing.
So Tuesday […]
New PDK/Gallup Public Education Survey Results More Helpful in Context
Update, 8/22: Intercepts blogger Mike Antonucci makes some incisive observations about the need for better-informed voters while asserting that the PDK/Gallup results are not that significant, noting he “wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot poll.”
It’s late August and back-to-school season, which means it’s once again time for the new Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) / Gallup […]
Competing with Vouchers, Indiana Public Schools Step Up Marketing Efforts
As I told you a couple months ago, the nation’s largest voucher program — enacted by Indiana in 2011 — is growing quickly in both popularity and promise.
In the Hoosier State, more than 8,000 students from low- and middle-income families are taking advantage of the private option provided by the new choice scholarships. And […]
DeGrow: “More Than Budget Cuts” Behind Falling Teachers Union Membership
A story today on American Family Radio News (One News Now) featured comments from senior policy analyst Ben DeGrow about recent reports of a serious membership decline in Colorado’s largest teachers union. In an interview with reporter Bob Kellogg, DeGrow noted that there is more to the explanation than offered by the spokesman for the […]
