On the Road of Innovation: Colorado's Charter School Law Turns 20
- June 2, 2013
For the sake of public accountability and transparency, Colorado needs more effective oversight of education employee association leave. Through locally negotiated policies, many Colorado school districts grant release time privileges to local employee associations. Teachers and classified employees are excused from professional duties to serve extended periods as association officers or to spend particular days performing various association-related activities.
READ MOREAs explained by author Marya DeGrow, conflict between some Colorado public school districts and parents led to the adoption of a 1988 legislative bill that established guidelines for home education.
READ MOREBarack Obama aspires to be an education president, but what kind of education president will he be? As a candidate, Obama has taken conflicting positions. Both the anti-reform National Education Association and the reformist Democrats for Education Reform claim him as their own. An analysis of candidate Obama’s education platform reveals elements of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
READ MORETo improve understanding of public K-12 retirement compensation, this Issue Paper provides historical estimates using a substantial sample of retiree characteristics and salary histories. Deferred retirement compensation from a hybrid defined benefit plan is defined as the difference between an employee’s estimated retirement account balance and the greater pension value she expects to receive. When accounting for K-12 employee compensation, large amounts of deferred compensation should be included. For the 846 Denver Public Schools retirees in the sample, average lump sum deferred compensation is $627,570.
READ MORESeeking a creative solution to shortages in various teaching positions, Douglas County School District received a waiver from the state of Colorado to license and train its own teachers through the Learning Center. The district currently is able to license teachers in areas such as math, science, and world languages; to provide special education endorsements to teachers in other specialties; and to equip unlicensed professionals with the basic skills to teach more highly specialized courses to high schoolers. The waiver is scheduled to be renewed at the end of 2008, contingent on Douglas County meeting certain performance goals.
READ MOREColorado Governor Bill Ritter’s November 2007 executive order that introduced union representation to state government through employee “partnership agreements” is misguided. The contradictions, omissions, and other fallacies promoted by defenders of the order show that the change really was not necessary. By issuing the unilateral order, the Governor prevented a full public debate, which would have addressed important flaws regarding the order:
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