DENVER—Longer school days, longer school years and rapid response teams to help struggling schools are some of the recommendations from teams working on Colorado’s Race to the Top federal grant proposals for education reform.
During their final public meeting on Friday, teams of educators and supporters presented their ideas to help Colorado qualify for millions of dollars in federal funding as part of the federal economic stimulus plan.
Colorado is now competing for a chance to win up to $175 million in extra stimulus dollars for education reforms from the Obama administration.
State officials originally expected a shot at up to $300 million. But the prize for states of Colorado’s size turned out to be smaller when the White House released details Thursday.
Gov. Bill Ritter said he was disappointed with the new standards. He said he will study the recommendations and may include some or all of them when he submits Colorado’s plan to the federal government in January. Ritter said if the state fails to qualify for the first round of federal funding in April, he will try again for a second round in September.
“I am very hopeful based on the work we have done here that Colorado will be a recipient of these Race to the Top grants. If for some reason we don’t receive it, we should not look at this work you did as for naught. Our efforts should never rise or fall on the availability of grant money,” Ritter said.
Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, who chaired the panel drafting Colorado’s bid for the federal funding, said 650 people took part across the state. She said Colorado was one of the only states that involved the teachers’ union in the discussions. So far, 106 of the state’s 178 school districts have asked to participate.
Monte Moses, co-chairman of the task force studying ways to boost low-performing schools, said Colorado needs to extend the school day and school year to turn around failing schools, with specially trained educators available who can go into school districts and help teachers and students.
“It’s going to require a cultural change in the way teachers think and work,” he said.
George Sparks, head of the teachers and leaders task force, said teacher and student evaluations should be continuous, not just based on tests at the beginning and end of the school year.
“There must be a rapid way to push people out of the profession if they are not doing well,” he told Ritter.
Deborah Fallin, spokeswoman for the Colorado Education Association, the teachers’ union that represents about 40,000 teachers statewide, said negotiations are continuing over a final draft and not all of the recommendations will be adopted.
“It’s still a work in progress. We are at the table, that’s the important thing,” she said.
