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When Colorado and other states pass education reform laws, it’s important to pay attention to what problems are solved and what problems are not. As an example, Colorado’s SB 191, which passed three whole years ago, made some important changes. Effective teacher evaluations soon will be required before earning extra “due process” job protections. How well that works in practice remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the problems related to tenure live on. Last spring I brought your attention to a disturbing case in suburban metro Denver where the Adams 12 school board fired a couple of teachers for taking thousands of dollars from a fund intended for student field trips. Today the Colorado Observer reports that the state’s Court of Appeals has upheld the findings against Johnny Trujillo, removed along with his wife from their longtime positions at Northglenn Middle School for “insubordination and immorality.” Writer Sunana Batra also notes that the school district so far has paid more than $25,000 in legal fees to keep Mr. Trujillo from the classroom. Compared to some tenure cases, that’s not a lot of money. But since we also learn that he plans to challenge his case in the Colorado Supreme Court — […]

A little over a week ago I told you about the brilliant blindside hit for Alabama kids in failing schools and other school choice supporters. Not only did they sack the quarterback for a loss, but the reform team defense forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown! Well, the coaches for the education establishment didn’t like the call, I guess. Because about the same time I posted the good news, they filed a restraining order to stop the tax credit scholarship legislation from going into effect. I don’t think true football fans would wait more than a week after the red challenge flag hit the field for the referees to make up their mind, but yesterday’s response from the Alabama Supreme Court actually came pretty quickly for the legal system.

Intriguing. The Colorado Springs Gazette today reports that some of the region’s leading education innovators have proposed a new idea to provide specialized oversight and support to online learning programs: The Falcon School District 49 school board is expected to vote Thursday on a proposal that would create a collaborative education organization that could charter and provide services to online schools statewide. The concept was pitched to the board last week. D-49 would not have oversight of the proposed Colorado Digital Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), but appeared poised to jump start the organization’s creation. District officials said D-49 would not benefit financially from the entity. The digital BOCES would focus on blended and online learning programs across the state, said Kim McClelland, D-49’s iConnect Zone Leader. It would charter online schools, instead of districts being responsible, she said.

Every once in awhile you see a piece of K-12 education legislation appear, and you just scratch your head. (Okay, really, it’s more often than every once in awhile.) Colorado’s latest example is the short and sour House Bill 1257, which I think should be called the Stifling Innovation Act of 2013. HB 1257 as introduced says that any school district working to craft an employee evaluation system must work in collaboration with a local teachers union if:

Yesterday, some attorneys got up and argued an important case affecting K-12 education before the Colorado Supreme Court. The hearing was about an appeal of the Denver district court’s Lobato decision, previously referred to by the Denver Post as the “Super Bowl of school funding litigation.” Judge Sheila Rappaport granted judgment for the plaintiffs, contending that an additional $2 billion-plus a year would be needed to fund the K-12 system. Where the money is supposed to come from, who knows? Before the state’s highest court, the lawyer for the State of Colorado questioned one of Rappaport’s key findings: [Jonathan] Fero, an assistant attorney general, repeatedly argued that having a thorough and uniform educational system doesn’t mean creating a system where every child is equally successful.

You can’t judge a book by its cover. There are many expressions like this one out there that convey a basic piece of wisdom. A beautiful building you may have driven by many times could be a filthy mess inside. How do you know? If it’s somebody’s house or private property, they would have to invite you inside for you to properly find out for yourself. But if that building is a place where tax dollars are paying officials to negotiate how tax dollars are spent and policies are made for our public schools, then there’s no reason for the doors to be locked. Citizens should be able to peer inside and know what’s going on. The Professional Association of Colorado Educators (PACE) — one of Colorado teachers’ professional membership options — today highlighted some interesting results from their latest member survey, showing that most of their members like the idea: The Professional Association of Colorado Educators recently asked member educators their views on a variety of relevant policies related to education in Colorado. One of these issues related to whether or not negotiations between school boards and union officials should be open to the public. An overwhelming 81% of […]

A few years ago, a great movie called The Blind Side was released, portraying the real-life story of a poor, homeless young man who thrived on the football field under the care of an adopted family. Michael Oher went on to be a college All-American and last month a Super Bowl champion offensive tackle as a member of the Baltimore Ravens. It was good news not from Baltimore, but from the home of the college football national champions, that truly blindsided many observers last week. Seemingly out of nowhere, Alabama legislators overwhelmingly passed a bill that included the adoption of tax credits for donating to scholarships that free kids from failing schools: “I truly believe this is historic education reform and it will benefit students and families across Alabama regardless of their income and regardless of where they live,” said Governor [Robert] Bentley said in a press conference Thursday night. “I’m so proud we have done this for the children of this state and especially the children who are in failing school systems and had no way out. Now, they have a way out.”

Recently, I raised the issue of how PERA reform could fit into the ongoing school finance reform debates. It certainly lessens the sense of a “grand bargain” — tying reforms to a billion-dollar tax increase — when such big issues are left off the table. But then I came across the information in a Friedman Foundation sequel study, Part II of The School Staffing Surge. Then, as now, we can do better than having Colorado’s K-12 education system as a jobs program, correct? As this Washington Times story by Ben Wolfgang (cool name, huh?) details:

I am going to be catching my breath all day, I’m so excited by this fantastic news from the Colorado Court of Appeals today: DENVER—The Independence Institute, Colorado’s leading pro-freedom policy voice, praised today’s decision to restore a groundbreaking school choice program previously struck down by a Denver judge. The Colorado Court of Appeals today overturns an August 2011 ruling that permanently enjoined the Douglas County Choice Scholarship Program. A majority of the three-judge panel ruled that plaintiffs “failed to carry their burden of proving the unconstitutionality of the CSP beyond a reasonable doubt” and that they lack standing to make their case. (A copy of the opinion is posted at https://bit.ly/WjOq3S.)

A powerful research report released today from a big study confirms what anyone paying attention to the urban charter school movement already should have noticed. KIPP produces big gains for students: KIPP middle schoolers learn significantly more than comparison students, concludes a report by Mathematica Policy Research on 43 schools in 13 states plus the District of Columbia. Three years after enrollment, the average KIPP student gained an extra 11 months in math, moving from the 44th to the 58th percentile, and eight months in reading, moving from the 46th to the 55th percentile. Science gains equalled an extra 14 months and social studies an extra 11 months. Following up on research released in the summer of 2010, Mathematica confirmed earlier findings that KIPP doesn’t benefit from attracting more gifted students than those left behind in surrounding schools. Mike Feinberg, the cage-busting co-founder of the national, no-excuses charter school network, notes among other findings: