Re: “A need to think differently about education funding,” Oct. 3 guest commentary by William Moloney.
Former Colorado Commissioner of Education William Moloney criticized our state’s public school districts as ineffective and inefficient. It seems like the fashionable message these days.
From the time Moloney was in school, what we expect of our students in this nation has increased dramatically — and for the better. We used to consider it a good thing back in the 1950s and ’60s just to open the doors to all K-12 schools, with college reserved for a small pool of students. U.S. Supreme Court decisions created fundamental and welcome changes for public schools to integrate and serve all students, regardless of disability or medical condition.
Today we are prepared to go well beyond the No Child Left Behind goal of full proficiency to a more ambitious goal that seeks to ensure all students are college- and career-ready when they exit. This means today’s students must be technologically literate and equipped with 21st century skills such as critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving, in addition to content knowledge in the basic academic areas.
We are serving more students with growing needs in an environment of higher expectations — and the funds to support this are decreasing. Just last year, Colorado schools cut 6.35 percent and, with the latest forecasts, draconian cuts loom on the horizon.
Consider, too, that Colorado’s K-12 education system is already funded at a level far below what is considered adequate in this nation. Using per pupil funding, Colorado comes in at a whopping $1,919 below the average state funding, according to the 2010 Quality Counts Edition of Education Week. That’s a $1.6 billion shortfall just for our state to be “average.”
When education becomes a metastasizing entitlement, as Mr. Moloney put it, we have lost our way as a society. Superintendents across Colorado believe strongly that a thorough and uniform public education is a foundational right. His recent assertions are offensive to the educators, parents, community members, and elected officials who work hard to provide an outstanding education for children.
Scott Murphy and Ron Cabrera are co-chairs of the Denver Area School Superintendents Council. Also signing this commentary were Bruce Caughey, deputy executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives, and Gerald Keefe, president emeritus, and Paula Stephenson, executive director, Colorado Rural Schools Caucus.
