Monthly Archives: August 2008

In Sunday’s Denver Post perspective section, Lisa Geissler urged parents to expand their horizons in looking for special services to meet their child’s individual educational needs. She wrote: Colorado’s state law allows for parents to open enroll in other public schools, and the No Child Left Behind act mandates that your district pick up the transportation tab to another public school if your school is failing. There are caveats to that open enrollment. You can find out more from your local school district’s enrollment or admissions office and the Colorado Department of Education’s website, www.cde.state.co.us.

Thankfully, most education policy in our country is governed at the local and state level. Though the federal government’s role in education is too big, it’s still very limited. I wish that were really the reason you don’t hear Barack Obama and John McCain say a whole lot about education. Over at Pajamas Media, Greg Forster has a list of five things the next President – whoever it may be – can do to advance education reform: Expand the D.C. voucher program to make it a national model Keep testing outcomes transparent Fund differential teacher pay Improve data transparency for better evaluation of education programs Keep pushing teacher unions to comply with financial disclosure reporting Not many people are going to pick the next President based primarily on education. But it would be best if the media and citizens press the candidates to articulate their positions on these five specific issues. Kids like me can’t vote yet, but we sure appreciate it.

It’s hard to argue against the idea that more fresh blood is needed in our public education system. We could do with more school and district leaders who didn’t necessarily rise through the ranks of the teachers union or education bureaucracy who can bring valuable outside skills and perspectives to the challenges faced. Education News Colorado today highlights such a success story in the Denver metropolitan area: Aurora Public Schools raised more than a few eyebrows two years ago when the board of education selected John Barry, a retired U.S. Air Force major general, to take over as superintendent of the state’s third-largest school district. “We were definitely taking a chance,” says Aurora school board chairman Matt Clark. “He was clearly a non-traditional candidate, coming from the military. But we were looking for someone who understood what it took to turn an institution around.” And turn it did. Barry began introducing changes in the way Aurora educates its 32,000 students at a breakneck pace. New curricula. New strategic plan . New coaching method for teachers. New standardized tests . New summer school programs . The launch of a new pilot school — the first of several. New emphasis on truancy […]