Category Archives: Independence Institute

Who doesn’t like carnivals? I’m thinking about the carousels, moonwalks, ferris wheels, and the cool prizes — don’t forget the hot dogs, popcorn, and funnel cakes! Okay, now that I’ve whet your appetite and got you nostalgic for childhood, what I really wanted to bring your attention to is the new weekly Carnival of Education Innovation — as explained by Dave Saba, the first host and guy who got it going: It’s basically a collection of links to recent blog posts on a particular subject. People can come browse the links as a sort of one-stop-shop for all that’s happening in education innovation that week—a “best of the week” so to speak, taking place each Tuesday. This blog carnival has started out small, with only six participants — including yours truly. I far and away won the prize for the youngest carnival contributor with my post on dead people receiving health insurance benefits from Detroit Public Schools. Six participants isn’t enough. Let’s keep this thing growing. Submit your blog entries, and encourage others you know writing about education innovation to join in. Thanks to Joanne Jacobs for bringing attention to the carnival! The idea of the blog carnival is to […]

For some reason, these days all the big people are talking a lot more about health care than education. Hey, I’m not a huge fan of going to the doctor or going to school. But at least at school, you’ve got some of your friends around you. And learning can be fun, too (but don’t tell my friends I said that). Anyway, my other friends in the Education Policy Center provide one overlooked example of how the two issues overlap with this post on the Independent Teachers blog: If you were a full-time member of the National Education Association (NEA) through joining your local teachers union, then you sent money during the 2007-08 school year to support the current proposal from Congress and President Obama to promote socialized medicine. According to the latest disclosure report filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, NEA gave $500,000 in 2007-08 to the group Health Care for America Now, a 501c4 political organization that is backing President Obama’s health care plan. (It is likely that NEA has made further contributions to this group since 2007-08, since NEA is listed as being a member of the HCAN steering committee.) Wow, you think the union could […]

Earlier this week Ed News Colorado reported that five Jefferson County residents have stepped forward to fill the school board vacancy left by departing Scott Benefield: Here are the candidates: * Harvey Burns of Westminster retired from the district is 2004 after 30 years as an English teacher and librarian. He works as a substitute teacher. He was an officer of the Jefferson County Education Association and served on the board of the Colorado Education Association in the middle 1990s. * Edward Duran of Arvada is vice president of an information technology company. * Tomas Griego of Westminster is a retired middle school teacher and middle and high school administrator. After retirement he worked as a hearing officer in the Westminster schools. Most of his career was as assistant principal of Hodgkins Middle School in the Westminster district. * Robin Johnson of Arvada is the mother of three children in the Jeffco schools and has been a school volunteer and active in the Jeffco PTA. She works as an administrative assistant in an accounting firm. * Cody McNutt of Arvada is a graduate of the International Baccalaureate program at Lakewood High School, currently is a senior at the University of […]

Alyson Klein, one of the ladies who cover happenings related to education on Capitol Hill for Education Week, reports about an important committee vote yesterday: A bipartisan effort to boost funding for the Teacher Incentive Fund by an extra $100 million went down to defeat today during the full Senate Appropriations Committee’s markup of the bill funding the U.S. Department of Education in fiscal year 2010. The bill already includes $300 million for the TIF, a teacher performance-pay program that is currently funded at $97 million. The proposed increase in the failed amendment would have been paid for by taking $100 million out of the federal State Grants for Improving Teacher Quality program. TIF provides competitive grants to state agencies, school districts, and charter schools that develop quality performance pay programs for teachers and for principals. As my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow has outlined in his issue paper Denver’s ProComp and Teacher Compensation in Colorado (PDF) and elsewhere, local Colorado school districts have applied for and received a significant share of TIF grant money. Besides Denver, they include Eagle County, Harrison (El Paso County), and Fort Lupton. Our K-12 education compensation system badly needs a serious overhaul, and […]

Whether you’re an education policy junkie or a concerned parent or citizen who is new to the reform debate or anyone in between, you will find some insightful and provocative arguments in the new book co-authored by Drs. Terry Moe and John Chubb titled Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education. What’s most interesting about the book is that Moe and Chubb go beyond highlighting how technology can transform the delivery of instruction in schools. They argue that technology also holds the potential to transform the politics of education by weakening the ability most especially of teachers unions to block promising, student-friendly reforms. My Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow got the opportunity this week to interview Dr. Moe about his new book for an iVoices podcast (click on the play button to listen): The interview is almost 20 minutes long, but I think it will give you a good taste for what the book is about. Enjoy! In case you wondered, I have written before about the work of Terry Moe here and here (eerily, written exactly one year ago today).

When it comes to measures of where Colorado ranks in education spending inputs, I never cease to marvel at the selective judgment of newspaper writers. Take for example today’s Denver Post headline: “Colorado at 40th in K-12 funds per student”. Yes, the Census Bureau has released its annual rankings and finds that Colorado spent $8,167 per pupil, 11th from the bottom nationally, during the 2006-07 school year. That is below the national average of $9,666 and almost half the amount spent by New York, the top state. But why only the Census Bureau? Several months ago the National Education Association released its annual rankings (PDF) and found that Colorado spent $8,895 per pupil in 2006-07, which ranks us at 30th — not 40th (see H-9). Or what about the U.S. Department of Education, which when you look at total expenditures per pupil for 2006-07 places Colorado at 31st ($10,160)?

Last week I helped bring your attention to the National Education Association’s open declaration about their priorities as a labor union first, and kids second — as well as the latest published criticism of NEA, this time coming from a traditional political ally on the Left. These are interesting times we live in, and my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow joined Amy Oliver on a new iVoices podcast to talk about these issues more in depth. I invite you to listen (click on the play button below): For those of you who have forgotten, here’s what retiring NEA General Counsel Bob Chanin told a crowd of 8,000 cheering union delegates:

Last night my Education Policy Center friends were honored to be joined by a small group of local educators for food, fellowship, and lively conversation at the annual Independent Teachers Fellowship. (As always, there’s lots of great information on our Independent Teachers website.) About a dozen public school teachers representing diverse experiences and specialties came and enjoyed an indoor picnic of sorts with sandwiches, sides, and (the best part) build-your-own ice cream sundaes. That last part makes me sad I missed the event, but I had a lot of Lego and sandbox time to catch up on. Hope those who attended can forgive me.

In a post written yesterday, the venerable Dr. Jay Greene makes the point that education schools typically undersell the benefits of the teaching profession to their own graduates: But the reality is that teaching is a pretty good gig. Yes, the work can be draining, but the hours are great and you get regular breaks throughout the year, including a long one over the summer. The annual pay is OK, but when you consider it on an hourly or weekly basis, you’ll get paid more than the average white collar or professional specialty and technical worker (according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). In addition, during a period of almost 10% unemployment you’ll sure appreciate the high job security. And let’s not forget the benefits, including solid health-care and an extremely generous retirement package that will let you retire in your mid-50s with about 60% of your peak salary guaranteed for the remainder of your life and adjusted for inflation. It would take a fortune in a 401k or 403b to produce that kind of pension benefit.

Guess what? It’s that time again — time to highlight some of the exciting new educational options opening up for Colorado students and parents this fall. Last year we were able to give readers a glimpse at 10 new schools. My goal is to do at least that many for 2009. First on the list, we start at the far end of the state in Durango for the opening of a new public charter school for 9th graders. Authorized by the Charter School Institute, Animas High School. Animas, which is intentionally modeled after San Diego’s innovative High Tech High, is slated to add grades each year so the first class will graduate in 2013.