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The new school year is underway, and I’m just trying to keep my head above water while this giant wave of reaction to the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top grant announcements keeps rolling in. Seriously, one of these days my mom or dad is going to have to teach me how to swim. But since I can’t get my mind off being aghast that Colorado missed out on its chance at $175 million, you just really need to check out some of these reactions. First, a trifecta from our friends over at EdNews Colorado: Alexander Ooms reminds us not to overreact, that outcomes are important and we can effect positive change without the $175 million Robert Reichardt points out that Colorado and other Western states can’t win until we effectively explain how local control really works Ben DeGrow from our own Education Policy Center notes how Colorado’s RTTT loss could open the door for the unions’ “politics of blocking”

Update, 3 PM: State Board member Randy DeHoff also added some comments. Scroll to the end of the post to read them. At my age, I figured I knew pretty well how the world works. I told you that Colorado’s green light from the National Council on Teacher Quality made them practically a sure thing to win a share of Race to the Top round two federal dollars. Was I wrong or what? Instead of Colorado becoming one of the 10 winners, our state finished 17th out of 19! Let me tell you what: I can’t wait to see the explanation for this one. It’s not just me. Education policy guru Rick Hess says it’s ludicrous that Colorado and Louisiana were “left out in the cold.” Curious themselves, my Education Policy Center friends asked some Colorado State Board of Education members for their reactions to the surprising news. “It’s a shame funds purloined from Colorado taxpayers will now head to other states, in greater quantities, for the education of other people’s children,” said State Board chair Bob Schaffer, R-Fort Collins. “Nonetheless, accepting cash from the federal bureaucracy always comes at a competing price. In this case, the attached strings and […]

So this morning I ran across an interesting posting from Mark Tapscott of the Washington Examiner, based on a little research “to see which states have the public school districts with the most top-heavy bureaucracies.” As Tapscott explains, he took U.S. Census Bureau data to build a table and find out which states have the most “non-instructional employees” as a share of the state’s population. Who qualifies as a “non-instructional employee”? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, anyone who works for a K-12 public school but does NOT have one of the following positions: [C]lassroom teachers, principals, supervisors of instruction, librarians, teacher aides, library aides, and guidance and psychological personnel. Anyway, here are the top 10 states with the highest per capita ratios of “non-instructional employees”:

Since Friday is here, time for some lighter fare… maybe as in having a lighter body weight? You don’t see me writing a lot about physical education — maybe because you typically can’t get P.E. credit for blogging or Legos. But maybe I could get credit for all the times I go crazy running around in my (fenced in) backyard when my mom can’t stand me being in the house anymore. As Marci Kanstoroom reports at Education Next, traditional P.E. courses aren’t doing much at all to curb the problem of childhood obesity. But some schools are experimenting with innovative new ways to offer P.E.:

I learned some good news today: While Colorado K-12 public schools expect to receive $160 million in Edujobs money to save more jobs than were lost and to preserve the status quo, some good news arrived: Colorado also will receive a 3-year, $40.8 million federal grant to help innovative charter schools with start-up expenses. Denise at Colorado Charters has posted the official CDE press release. While certainly some of the new schools I’ve highlighted will be eligible for funding, there’s another new school featured today in the Fort Collins Coloradoan:

I’m pleased to report that my Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow’s guest column in the Denver Post taking on the edujobs bailout has garnered some attention — you know, the one I told you about a couple days ago. Without further ado, here they are: Reason’s Nick Gillespie quotes the op-ed, observing that Congress is “hot for teachers’ votes (by giving away our money)” National Review Colorado reporter Michael Sandoval links back to Ben’s piece with a note that Congresswoman Betsy Markey voted for the Edujobs bill while saying she’s opposed to bailouts Writing at Education News Colorado, local teacher Mark Sass takes exception to Ben’s piece with “a view from the ground” (and Ben already has responded with a comment) Marc Kilmer from the Maryland Policy Institute — who is rumored to have known Ben in a past life — cites the op-ed and points out that the small amount of teacher layoffs don’t amount to the tragedy some have claimed Finally, although he doesn’t link to the Denver Post op-ed (looks like they were posted online about the same time), education policy guru Rick Hess elaborates with some excellent points about why he sees the Edujobs bailout […]

My Education Policy Center friends truly have done it this time. They produced a 4-minute video about a Colorado school employee’s story that highlights an unjust policy: Thank you, Colorado teachers unions. From the YouTube summary:

My Education Policy Center friend Ben DeGrow made the opinion page of today’s Denver Post with a featured guest column titled “Education jobs bailout can’t be justified”: Last week, the House of Representatives passed legislation that included a $10 billion payout to states to preserve K-12 school jobs. Retaining or adding school employees may be a priority for the Democrat majority in Congress and their union backers, which stand to gain more than $20 million. But as a national policy, Congress’ Education Jobs Fund — or “edujobs” — bailout is excessive, shortsighted and fiscally irresponsible. That’s all the appetizer you get for now. Seriously, just click the link above and read the whole thing. The comments so far are typically what you’d expect — very little tangling with the actual argument and plenty of vitriol. But as long as it’s “for the children” like me…. If you want to jump in the comment section (either here or there), feel free. The water is fine.

Not to spend too much time today dwelling in the past — it’s been 11 days now since the State Board regretfully adopted the Common Core standards — but I felt impelled to bring your attention to a guest column in today’s Denver Post. State senator Keith King, a charter school administrator and education expert, explained why he believes last week’s State Board vote forfeited a chance for Colorado to be an education leader: This capitulation to national standards in pursuit of federal funds is misguided. Colorado could have led the nation in setting high standards for our public schools, not jump on the bandwagon of uncertain, still-evolving national standards. Following the pied piper of new federal funding has proven to be a trap many times in the past. When will we stop being enticed into federal programs with some up-front federal funding and then be left hanging when those initial funds run out? Besides the obvious problem of relying on federal funds that soon will disappear, Senator King raised a specific point I haven’t seen discussed much. Namely, that Colorado’s own high-quality writing standards figure to be forfeited once our state begins relying on regional or national assessments. I […]

It’s been too long since I’ve taken a glimpse at a new Colorado school. But as the school year fast approaches for most students around the state, it’s definitely time to get back on track. For the preschool-through-5th grade students at SkyView Academy in Highlands Ranch, a south Denver suburb, the inaugural school year doesn’t start until after Labor Day. That’s because the new school building is in the final stages of construction and is slated for a grand opening on August 26. The school’s mission statement explains what it’s all about: SkyView Academy offers a research-based, content-rich liberal arts program with a commitment to foreign language studies and community service.