"No Work, No Pay": The Lesson of the 1994 Denver Teachers' Strike
- April 4, 2004
EDUCATION – Issue Backgrounders
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- EDUCATION – Issue Backgrounders
The State of K-12 Union Contract Transparency0
- February 26, 2015
More than a decade before Proposition 104 shone a light on the negotiation process, the General Assembly required that the negotiation product should be made available using online technology. Lacking any sort of enforcement mechanism, a significant minority of bargaining school districts have fallen short of the basic expectation, though persistent reminders helped in many cases. Given the experience with union contract transparency, citizens should not take for granted full compliance with the letter and spirit of the new open negotiations law.
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The Truth About Class Size Reduction: Problems, Examples, and Alternatives0
- April 15, 2014
Throughout the United States, class size reduction (CSR) is heralded as an effective way to improve academic outcomes. However, the research surrounding the effects of CSR is inconclusive at best. It is often difficult to determine the reliability of the studies conducted on the topic, and much of the research wavers between small, temporary academic gains in certain student groups and no gains at all.
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Amendment 66: Unfair and Overpriced0
- August 28, 2013
Amendment 66 on the November 2013 Colorado ballot proposes a nearly $1 billion statewide income tax increase to pay for a new school finance formula and other education funding priorities. A majority vote at the polls would activate the policy changes in Senate Bill 213, approved by the legislature’s Democratic majority and Gov. John Hickenlooper. The policy package tied to approval of the tax increase proposal raises four primary concerns.
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Greeley Public Schools: Learning Reimagined0
- July 23, 2013
Yielding unacceptable results for a challenging population of nearly 20,000 enrolled students while receiving nearly $9,000 per student, leaders in Greeley Public Schools face a timely opportunity to transform the district’s educational approach, to successfully reimagine learning and the surrounding systems and infrastructure.
READ MOREColorado K-12 Tax Hikes Challenged: Economy Squeezes Household Incomes Harder Than School Budgets0
- September 27, 2012
Five of Colorado’s nine largest school districts have placed property tax hikes on the fall 2012 ballot. Over the past decade all five of the tax-proposing school districts have significantly grown spending on “current” operating costs. From 2005 to 2010, median household incomes in all five counties covered by the five districts fell short of per-pupil school tax revenues. Asking voters to increase property taxes this year may not be an easy task.
READ MOREThe Future of Colorado Digital Learning: Crafting a Policy Roadmap for Reform0
- March 20, 2012
Nearly 50 Colorado online education leaders (including school district and charter school staff) and policy experts gathered Monday, January 23, 2012, to help craft a roadmap of digital learning policy priorities for the state. Participants worked together to help identify Colorado’s leading digital learning policy priorities in three major categories: Access and Eligibility, Funding, and Assessment and Accountability. Given a list of policy options that included Digital Learning Now’s recommendations, participants selected those they saw as the most important for Colorado to pursue in the near term and to offer additional ideas or suggestions. According to many of the state’s online leaders, the following policy changes would enhance opportunities for Colorado’s children to achieve educational success.
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