Category Archives: Parents

It’s not every day when my parents turn on the radio and get to hear education policy top the national news headlines. But yesterday Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a big speech to explain why improving education was “the civil rights issue of our era, and it’s the greatest challenge of our time.” Hardly a coincidence, I’m sure, but the Romney campaign also just released “A Chance for Every Child.” The document outlines his education policy plans, including:

Perhaps it’s just the school choice geek in me (ok, the school choice geek is me!), but I want to bring your attention to a worthwhile and important discussion. A couple weeks ago redefinED posted comments made by the longtime voucher supporter Dr. Howard Fuller at the recent American Federation for Children national summit. He eloquently reiterated his views that private educational choice programs should be means-tested and targeted to lower-income students. Responding to Dr. Fuller, who represents the social justice wing of the school choice movement, redefinED asked the Cato Institute’s Andrew Coulson to provide a thoughtful response from the libertarian wing. Last week’s Coulson column hones on the need to create “universal access to the educational marketplace” while reducing the problem of having a third party pay for the schooling service. Not surprisingly, he comes down in favor of direct tax credits for middle-class families and scholarship tax credits for poorer families. Today, Dr. Matt Ladner chimes in to offer a compelling case of where the school choice movement should go from here. He strongly supports universal choice, but advocates for a weighted system that underwrites more for students in poverty. As one of the earliest backers of […]

I’ve been telling you a lot lately about education goings-on in Colorado, and with good reason. There has been plenty to comment on. Yet once in awhile it’s good to step back and take a look at some other states. Today, specifically, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts about new developments from a couple A states. And when I say A states, it’s not that they necessarily deserve a passing grade. First is last week’s awful news from Alabama. The local Decatur Daily reported: Proponents of charter schools will likely have to wait at least another year as an Alabama House panel Thursday effectively killed a measure that would have allowed for the creation of the taxpayer-funded, privately-operated schools.

Can you believe it? Last week I didn’t write anything about the release of the CSAP TCAP results for 3rd grade reading. The state’s overall share of proficient 3rd grade readers (74 percent) is slightly better than the previous year. Colorado can still do better. To me, this is one of the most fundamental measures of how our schools are doing. If you can’t read well by the end of 3rd grade, future prospects look a lot different. So I’m not the only one who likes to see what kind of progress we’re making on the CSAP TCAP. In the past five years, 3rd grade reading scores in most of the state’s 10 largest districts have been flat with very slight upticks. The notable exceptions are from the lower performers with greater student poverty. Aurora Public Schools improved from 46 percent proficient in 2007 to 51.5 percent in the latest round. Even more remarkable, Denver Public Schools has made the leap from 50 percent proficient to 59 percent over the same five-year span. As DPS superintendent appropriately noted in his email announcement: As pleased as we are with the growth, it is clear that we have much more work in […]

Today’s a good day for stepping back a bit. Yesterday it was exactly four years ago I started blogging as a 5-year-old. And here I am, still 5 years old. Hmmm…. While we’re in the spirit of commemoration, let’s be reminded that this week is both Teacher Appreciation Week and National Charter Schools Week. It’s a veritable double dose of education appreciation. The least I can do is help bring them both to your attention.

Phew! There are only a few days left in Colorado’s legislative session, but there are still education bills left that deserve our attention. My new grown-up friends at Parent Led Reform today have their sights set on stopping Senate Bill 172, one of the shortest pieces of legislation you may ever lay eyes on: The bill directs the state to join as a governing board member a consortium of states that is developing a common set of assessments. For assessments in reading, writing, and mathematics, the state board will rely upon assessments developed by the consortium. What’s the big deal, you say? I thought you’d never ask. There’s a reason why the State Board of Education voted 4-3 to oppose the legislation. The majority is committed to Colorado developing its own tests and maintaining control within the state rather than from outside agencies.

Calling all Colorado education policy makers and policy wonks: I hope you’ll check out this new Fordham Institute report Defining Strong State Accountability Systems: How Can Better Standards Gain Greater Traction? My Education Policy Center friends and I can’t endorse everything in the publication. But it’s worth looking at because Colorado is one of seven state accountability systems profiled. The 2009 CAP4K changes to the state’s accountability law, as well as 2010’s educator effectiveness legislation, were both cited as key reasons for including the Centennial State in the analysis. The authors make some excellent points to chew on. First, improvements can be made to the way district and school performance data are presented:

The Center for Education Reform (CER) today released its annual analysis of the state’s charter school laws, giving the nation a mediocre 2.1 Grade Point Average. CER’s gold standard measure looks at the practical effects of statutes and policies that govern the creation of high-quality, autonomous and accountable public charter schools to meet the demands of students and parents. For example, does a charter school applicant have access to multiple authorizers? Is the state free from caps (both hard and soft) on the number of charter schools that can operate? Are charter schools funded equitably compared to other public schools? In the 2012 report, Colorado maintained its solid B grade, but slipped from 6th to 9th in CER’s national rankings: “After a flurry of education reform activity around ‘Race to the Top’, it seems that Colorado has gone quiet,” said CER President Jeanne Allen. “Even a good charter school law can become stronger.”

Look, I’m still young, but I’m learning that there are some different major philosophies out there about what government can and should do. My friends around this place believe that government’s role should be limited and tend to be very skeptical when proposals come forward to expand the government’s role. This one issue is a little bit outside the realm of K-12 education, but it’s drawn some late and well-deserved attention from a couple grassroots groups that also cover the issue. I’m talking about Senate Bill 130, which just passed the legislature’s upper chamber and is on its way to the Republican-majority House. The legislation would create a new government bureaucratic agency known as the “Early Childhood and School Readiness Commission.” My friends at Parent Led Reform correctly identify some red flags: It is touted as merely a bill to restruct [sic] state departments for the sake of efficiency and money savings. But parents aren’t buying it.

A lot of big people were paying attention to Louisiana this weekend because of some big presidential primary election there. But I’m more interested in Bayou State developments from the world of K-12 education. And they look pretty big from here. Last Thursday night Republicans and Democrats in the Louisiana House of Representatives came together to approve a major educational voucher and charter school expansion (House Bill 976). The programs are mainly aimed at low-income students enrolled in schools with mediocre or poor performance on the state’s accountability system. The discussion and vote (63-42) went late into the night.