Category Archives: School Finance

Update, 6/16: Teacher Beat blogger Stephen Sawchuk notes that both Colorado’s own Harrison School District and now the Pittsburgh School District have fashioned pay plans that make master’s bumps “a thing of the past.” It’s summertime. The Internet isn’t exactly brimming with exciting new developments in the world of education to write about. So instead I point you to a new blog post from Dr. Eric Hanushek at Education Next about the irrational policy of awarding teachers automatic pay increases for earning masters degrees: What does this bonus do? It induces many teachers to want to have a master’s degree. (Over half of all teachers have an advanced degree now.) Getting a master’s degree is frequently something done concurrently with a full time teaching job, so the last thing these teachers want is a challenging academic program that requires real work. As a result, schools of education are willing to sell master’s degrees that require minimal effort. Master’s degrees become a very profitable product. A profitable product that, as research has shown time and again, does absolutely nothing to benefit the learning of students. And as the Center on Reinventing Public Education showed in 2009, 2 percent of all K-12 […]

I sure hope no schools in Colorado are doing this sort of thing. It’s a story told by a New Jersey mom, via the Washington Examiner‘s Mark Hemingway (H/T The Union Label): I am looking for your opinions and insights based upon a very distressing situation my youngest daughter brought to my attention last week involving a school fundraiser.

A quick Friday tidbit before your weekend, inspired by Mike Antonucci’s post “The Sound of Eyes Opening” and a comparison of the change in Ohio’s student population to the number of teachers at the Flypaper blog…. We hear a lot about Colorado school districts having to lay off teachers and other employees. It’s an unfortunate proposition that has come about as a result of rare budget cuts in K-12 education. When all is said and done, it will be noteworthy to see just how many local public school employees lose their employment statewide. The Colorado Department of Education reports the state had 724,508 students enrolled in public schools in October 2000, growing by 14.9% to 832,368 students in October 2009. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that during the same months employees of Colorado local government educational services increased by 20.9% from 108,700 (October 2000) to 131,400 (October 2009). If the same student-to-employee ratio from 2000 had been kept for 2009, that would be 6,500 fewer workers in Colorado local school agencies. And it raises many questions to be considered closely and carefully: How significant has the growth been among teachers? Administrators? Support personnel? How vital and how effective was […]

It wasn’t that many months ago the Colorado Supreme Court decided it has the right to decide our state’s school funding policy in the Lobato case. Faithful readers have seen me write about it on several occasions. A couple months ago the plaintiffs — including some funded by school district tax dollars — filed a new official complaint, arguing that Colorado public schools are so under-funded that students are denied an adequate education, in violation of that state constitutional mandate of a “thorough and uniform” system. As reported in Ed News Colorado, Colorado’s Attorney General last Friday filed a response: In standard legal language, the answer rejects most of the plaintiffs’ claims or terms them legal conclusions that don’t require an answer. The AG’s filing claims the plaintiffs lack standing to bring the case, seek an unconstitutional remedy and that their claims violate the separation of powers. It asks that the court rule in the state’s favor. I happen to think the Attorney General is right. But anyway, thanks to the Colorado Supreme Court, Round 2 of the long, costly legal battle is now underway. It could be many years and many taxpayer dollars spent on both sides before the […]

Last Friday I told you that a great new education movie called The Cartel is coming to town. In fact, on this coming Tuesday at 7 PM, at Denver’s Chez Artiste Theatre, my Independence Institute friends are co-hosting a special screening event with a brief Q & A following the movie. Given the events of this week, in which thousands of New Jersey students walked out in protest at proposed K-12 education budget cuts, watching the film takes on all the more fresh relevance. As edublogger Matthew Tabor points out, the adult organizers who incited the event are doing a disservice to students by showing no interest in truly solving the Garden State’s education problems. Had they watched The Cartel with an open mind first, they might have taken a different perspective on quite possibly the most fiscally bloated and corrupt state education system in the nation. Got your attention yet? If you’re still not sure about whether to come, I invite you to read a brand new review of the film written by local blogger Joshua Sharf. It provides a refreshing and insightful perspective, coming from someone smart and thoughtful who isn’t enmeshed in the finer points of the […]

People in Iowa, avert your eyes for a moment. The shame might hurt too much. Did you see this story? Thanks to Mike Antonucci, I learned today about the “teacher who Un Des-Moines her own protest.” For all you Cleveland Indians fans out there, that’s what we call a pun. The Iowa State Daily tells us more about the protest: Earlier that week, students arranged a gathering outside of Merrill Middle School in Des Moines to protest the cuts before the school day started March 8. The rally was organized by Theresa Hoffman’s language arts students while Hoffman got an OK with Merrill’s principal. “They were very upset that we lost shop and drama [last year], and then when they heard we were going to lose vocal music and that I am retiring and a math teacher is retiring, and they’re not replacing us, they’re concerned with the size of classes,” Hoffman explained

For the real Independence Institute groupies out there (like those who watched my friends Ben and Marya DeGrow this past Friday on Mike Zinna’s Tough Love TV show… Thanks for the plug, guys!), you know that Ben is a frequent writer and contributing editor to the national publication School Reform News. On this Monday morning back from spring break and Easter holiday, wouldn’t you just rather read Ben’s latest School Reform News article? Yeah, I thought so. This one is really good. It profiles a successful “hybrid” — and I ain’t talkin’ about a green Toyota Prius — charter school network that effectively reaches poor students through a mixture of individualized learning technology and intensive teacher intervention. Go on, read it:

Update: Correction made to quote below, per Jeremy Meyer. Colorado faced a disappointing setback earlier this week with the first round awards announced for Race to the Top. It hurt not only that our state wasn’t one of the top two winners, but that we ended up a dismal 14th out of 16 finalists. Today brings a little more hope, though, and you wouldn’t be an April fool for believing it. First, the Denver Post‘s Jeremy Meyer blogs on a great catch: Colorado had the largest differential between reviewer scores than any other applicant among the final 16 finalists for the first round of Race to the Top money. Colorado had the second-largest differential between reviewer scores among the final 16 finalists for the first round of Race to the Top money. More specifically, one reviewer rated Colorado just a hair behind first-place Delaware, while another reviewer rated Colorado 117 points lower, essentially “in 28th place behind California.” Whoa! But if you believe the latter score was an outlier, then maybe winning a Round 2 award is within reach. Let’s follow the lead of the other winning state Tennessee. Our state could pass a new law that overhauls teacher tenure […]

I’ve been doing a really good job cutting back on using “It’s For the Kids” in my blog logic, right? Well, that doesn’t stop certain groups from wanting to undermine Colorado voters’ rights to decide on taxes by insisting it’s “for the children.” Hats off to Colorado Springs News 5 reporter Andy Koen for seeking out a different point of view on the “Great Futures Colorado” proposal to enable the legislature to raise taxes — as long as the revenues fund the education system (preschool through college). One of my Education Policy Center friends got on camera with Koen to explain the problem: But Ben DeGrow of the conservative think tank the Independence Institute says this proposal skirts the intent of the Tax Payers Bill of Rights (TABOR) which requires voter approval for all tax increases. “The fact that they’re trying to take away the voters right to decide on tax increases at the local level in education is a matter of great concern,” DeGrow said.

Yesterday I gave you the lowdown on the winners of Round One Race to the Top dollars. But we keep learning more all the time. First, my Education Policy Center friends Pam Benigno and Ben DeGrow discuss the fact that Colorado missed out on the money and why prospects for the second round of reforms may not be so great. Click the play button below (or follow this link) to listen to the new iVoices podcast: But even since the podcast was recorded, we’ve learned more details about the Race to the Top awards. I have to admit I was quite surprised that Colorado finished 14th out of 16 (PDF)! At the Flypaper blog, Andy Smarick shows some connection between strong buy-in from unions and district leaders and higher scores. Unfortunately, as an exception, that didn’t work out too well for Colorado. Even so, it’s promising to see state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle begin to interpret the results as a sign to move ahead on real substantive reform of teacher evaluations and tenure. While I still have some skepticism, Race to the Top does have the chance to effect some good here in Colorado. Let’s hope the […]