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I get excited to see the ball move forward even a little bit on the issue of school district transparency. Whether it’s the district’s checkbook or its union bargaining sessions, this kind of information should be easily accessible to parents and other taxpayers through the Internet. Our friends in Pennsylvania, the Commonwealth Foundation, have launched the latest noteworthy effort (H/T SPN Blog): As part of a year-long campaign to provide greater transparency in school district labor negotiations, the Commonwealth Foundation has unveiled a new website and blog, SchoolBoardTransparency.org. SchoolBoardTransparency.org will offer insight and advice in the labor negotiations process for school boards and citizens. The site will provide regular posts on issues, news, and best practices in school district labor negotiations, and allows users to comment and create posts on a moderated blog. The project will also include a “how-to” manual for school board members looking to provide greater transparency during union negotiations and a resource for media covering public school labor negotiations. The guides will provide the important questions to ask and explain the key issues typically involved in labor negotiation contracts. Besides its regular blog-style updates, School Board Transparency also provides more effective school districts with praise and […]

Several months ago my friends at the Independence Institute hosted a showing of the brand new exciting education documentary Flunked: The Movie. An Independent Thinking episode with the movie’s producer Steve Maggi and our own Pam Benigno was aired that brought attention to public education reform success stories. Well, it appears the movie and its producer are really making the rounds from state to state. Blogger Bob Weeks followed up on the Kansas debut of Flunked by interviewing Steve Maggi. It’s a great read if you’re intrigued by the movie or looking for more information on ideas for reforming our public schools. And for many more resources on ideas for education reform, especially ideas specific to Colorado, remember to bookmark the Education Policy Center on your browser.

According to the Alamosa Valley Courier, the Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could redefine how (and how much) schools are funded: A lawsuit initiated by Anthony Lobato and family of Center along with 14 San Luis Valley school districts and other districts statewide will go before the state Supreme Court sometime early next year, according to attorney Kathleen Gebhardt. Lobato vs. the State Board of education [sic] went before the Court of Appeals in Denver for oral argument Jan. 7 of this year. The Appeals Court quickly returned a decision stating that the State had no jurisdiction in the matter, so the case could not be referred for trial to the appropriate court. I haven’t had the chance yet to take the course in civics that teaches the different jobs of different branches of government. But I’m told that the legislature is elected to make laws, and the judges are appointed to interpret them. The history of these kinds of school finance lawsuits in other states should teach us this is the wrong path to go down. But then comes a statement in the Courier article that needs plenty of clarification: The current Taxpayer Bill […]

Denise at Colorado Charters highlights two new, freshly-submitted charter school applications in Jefferson County. Both have interesting and somewhat unique focuses. First, the proposed Arvada K-8 school Global Outreach Academy, which would cater to Slavic immigrant students. Second, the Lotus School for Excellence, which would be a math, science, and technology school eventually serving students from K-12. Both proposed Jeffco charter schools are based on established models. And the fact that both come from California shouldn’t be a deterrent. An operation similar to the Lotus School has been set up in Aurora, and of the two especially seems to have an excellent track record. Here’s hoping the Jeffco school board will give chief consideration to the needs and demands of the parents they are supposed to represent, and not let their judgment be clouded by issues of control and political power. It’s good to see Colorado’s charter school sector continue to grow, and with it the commitment to excellence and meeting the diverse needs of students and families.

In contrast with the unimpressive remarks provided at the vice-presidential debate, I was excited to hear the candidates in last night’s presidential debate talk so much about school choice. The candidates agree on public school choice. First, an excerpt of Senator John McCain’s remarks: So choice and competition amongst schools is one of the key elements that’s already been proven in places in like New Orleans and New York City and other places, where we have charter schools, where we take good teachers and we reward them and promote them…. Charter schools aren’t the only answer, but they’re providing competition. They are providing the kind of competitions that have upgraded both schools — types of schools. And here’s some of what Senator Barack Obama had to say: Charter schools, I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers unions. I think it’s important to foster competition inside the public schools. But then came the point of disagreement.

Last week, I introduced you to two candidates for Colorado’s State Board of Education from the 3rd Congressional District – Democrat Jill Brake and Republican Marcia Neal – but had to close with an important question about them: I know I can sound like a broken record at times, but wouldn’t it be good to know where Ms. Brake and Ms. Neal stand on school choice (e.g., charter schools, online schools, open enrollment)? What about expanding local innovation? The students and parents of Colorado – especially those trapped in failing schools – deserve to know. So my friends in the Education Policy Center went back and did a little research, and followed up with emails to each of the candidates to give them a fair chance to explain themselves on where they stand on school choice and local innovation.

The National Education Association (NEA) has contacted Josh Pullen of Michigan 19 times (10 phone calls, 9 postcards) asking him to support their preferred presidential candidate. Some of you might say, “Yeah, so what? It’s election season.” Well, Josh’s father disagrees. The most recent postcard urging a vote for “Barak” Obama put him over the edge. That’s right … Josh’s father. Josh is only 6 years old! Maybe if Josh were 7 years old – like O’Jahnae Smith from Connecticut – ACORN (a group under investigation in many states for potentially fraudulent activities) could register him to vote. Blogger Matthew Tabor wonders about NEA’s priorities: The NEA and its brethren consistently moan about low pay for teachers, shortfalls in school budgets, teachers buying their own supplies, etc. If you’ve got an example of hardship and martyrdom, someone at the AFT or NEA is whining about it. All these gripes – and many of them are real problems – and the NEA spends its time, money and other resources on contacting a 6-year old 19 times. When I turn 6, I hope I don’t end up getting harassed like that. Of course, the election will be over by then, too.

A couple weeks ago I said that voters in Jefferson County need clearer information to decide the expensive school funding proposals on their ballot this year. This isn’t exactly what I meant. Here is part of the “Pro” argument in the official voters guide for the Jeffco 3A property tax mill levy increase: Taxes should be increased $34 million annually by a mill levy of 4.4 mills. Past increases have not resulted in the desired student performance improvement and a greater infusion of funds is required. Compared to other professions and trades, teachers are poorly paid and hopefully beginning salaries in the six-digit range can be offered within three or four years. Senior citizens with fixed incomes are hard-pressed to shoulder increases in property tax. These people should recognize that their reduced productivity calls for them to be replaced by the youth of our nation. This measure calls for some of the property taxes to be earmarked for: “Expanding options for career job skills and technical training to prepare students for today’s work world.” Half of these should be committed to the following: Seniors on fixed incomes, to whom this school tax is burdensome, need training, as well as compassion. […]

What does it take to attract teachers to serve in the more challenging school environments? Part of Denver’s ProComp program rewards teachers who work at hard-to-serve schools with a $2,345 bonus this year. While the extra money definitely plays a part in providing incentives to some, there are other factors that help attract teachers to challenging environments they might not otherwise choose. As Ed News Colorado reports about a new study: Augenblick, Palaich and Associates surveyed teachers and principals at 16 relatively high-performing public schools – some charters, some district schools – in six cities coast-to-coast. The study, undertaken in collaboration with district and union leaders from Aurora, Denver and Jefferson County public schools, was funded by Denver’s Rose Community Foundation. The study participants were overwhelmingly from elementary schools, so people reviewing results should keep that in mind, researchers stressed. Dale DeCesare, one of the study’s authors, said he was surprised by the emphasis teachers placed on the effective use of technology. Overall, availability of technology ranked as the third most important factor in creating positive working conditions. As someone surfing the Internet and reading an education blog, you must have some appreciation for the value of technology. The article […]

Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews wrote a column earlier this week suggesting that “merit pay could ruin teacher teamwork” in Washington, DC. In response, Jeanne Allen from the Center for Education Reform wrote an open letter saying that merit pay is in fact the key to building a culture of teamwork inside the district schools of our nation’s capital. But there’s more to throw into the pot of this little debate. Findings from a study of a merit pay pilot program (PDF) in Little Rock, Arkansas, further questions the conventional wisdom in Mathews’ piece: The data do not indicate that ACPP teachers experience divisive competition, suffer from a negative work environment, or shy away from working with low-performing students – despite the fact that these are three oft-cited potential problems inherent in merit pay plans. More research is needed, but it looks like there’s reason to believe that the old teachers union saw about merit pay being divisive isn’t necessarily true. More teamwork, higher quality instruction, and ultimately, students learning more: I have a hard time seeing what’s not to like about paying teachers for performance. Several Colorado school districts and charter schools are leading the way in this […]