2019 School Board Candidate Briefing Materials
One of the Education Policy Center’s primary goals is to educate local education leaders about important education policy issues, thereby equipping them to make smart, well-informed decisions in their school districts. As part of that effort, the Education Policy Center staff provide biennial education policy briefings to all interested school board candidates, regardless of political […]
VIDEO: DPS Open Negotiations -See for Yourself
Since last spring, the public has witnessed a growing number of teachers who have expressed their frustration with the level of education funding from both the state legislature and their own districts’ compensation plans. In April last year, thousands of teachers rallied multiple days at the State Capitol Building as the legislature discussed the School […]
Nothing says “love” like abandonment
To show how much they care about our children’s education, public school teachers in some 27 districts across the state denied our kids a day of education so they could protest at the capitol. What says, “I deserve a raise!” more than blowing off work? According to our Ed Is Watching blog, the lost productivity […]
A national teachers’ union’s war machine is on the move in Colorado
For months, one of America’s most important fights over parental choice in education has been raging on suburban street corners, in school gymnasiums, and in voters’ mailboxes in Douglas County, Colo. Now, the nature of the race has been irrevocably altered in its final weeks by the full-scale deployment of a national teachers’ union’s political war machine.
As the county’s Nov. 7 school board election rapidly approaches, the nation’s second-largest national teachers union has thrown down the gauntlet in a bid to strangle parental choice. With two slates of candidates vying for four open seats on the district’s seven-member board of education, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in Washington, D.C., pumped $300,000 into the race in early October.
Seniority policies put excellent teachers’ jobs at risk
Effective teachers are the lifeblood of education. More than any other school-related factor, teachers have deep and lasting impacts on students’ futures. But despite the power of effective teaching, nearly half of Colorado’s unionized school districts are operating under negotiated policies or agreements that place students’ educations and excellent teachers’ jobs at risk by unlawfully prioritizing simple seniority, or length of service, over performance in layoff situations.
Eternal LIFO: Unlawful Layoff Procedures in Unionized Colorado School Districts
Passed in 2010, Senate Bill 191 was a landmark piece of education reform legislation that garnered significant bipartisan support, including unanimous support from Republican legislators. The bill amended Colorado’s Licensed Personnel Performance Evaluation Act and the Teacher Employment, Compensation, and Dismissal Act (TECDA) to align state statute more closely with the goal of ensuring that every student is taught by an effective teacher.
Union Silliness Brightens My Snowy Day
A little humor is always appreciated on a cold, snowy day like today. I could tell you knock-knock jokes, or show you a video of kittens chasing balls of yarn, or maybe even share a witty meme. Or, I could just talk about the latest antics of the teachers union. Most of my faithful readers […]
Amendment 66: Spend More, Get Less
IB-G-2013 (October 2013) Author: Linda Gorman PDF of full Issue Backgrounder Introduction: Amendment 66 will take the money you spend to benefit your children and give it to public education bureaucrats. Education bureaucrats do not necessarily use higher funding to benefit children. They will spend it on things that they like – generous pensions, higher […]
