Big stakes – and money – in this year’s contested state board races (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post).
This was a busy week again in education with most school districts now in full testing mode, the state Board of Education meeting to discuss parental rights and testing scores, a small school district suing the state and legislators debating a program to fund teacher bonuses.
Check out anything you might have missed, on this week’s Take Note…
At the legislature: A bill to create a state grant program for working in low-performing schools passed the education committee on Wednesday, but the bill’s future is uncertain as the sponsor ended the hearing voting against his own bill.
Another bill, that , would allow victims of school violence to sue districts for information about what led to the violence. The bill was drafted with feedback from the parents of Claire Davis, who died after being shot at Arapahoe High School. Here’s .
And a bill heard in the Senate Education Committee Thursday, Senate Bill 184, which passed, would move truancy proceedings to an administrative court, and remove the option of sending kids to jail for missing school. , and a . Passed out of committee on a 5 to 4 vote.
Speaking of legal battles: On Wednesday the over how the state is measuring their performance, and over nearly $1 million dollars for students the state now believes shouldn’t have been funded because they had already completed their high school credits.
Across the metro area, another lawsuit just recently got settled. More than a year after the elections for board of education seats, Megan Quinn reported in the . The supreme court released their ruling March 2, calling for a vacancy in the district 4 seat. The district is now taking applications for the post.
Testing: giving a voice to both those who support and criticize the test.
On a lighter note, at one Greeley middle school decided to motivate students to do their best on the state tests this week.
Have you kept up with the students this week? There’s now an update there on Denver Public Schools, where my own sister just reported slow response times when she was typing longer answers.
Concerned about data privacy? went over what information they collect and what they don’t with the State Board of Education.
Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, at the capitol. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)
The Denver Post’s political reporter, , who was shocked after he took the PARCC test himself and couldn’t figure out how to show his work in math.
On Wednesday, the board also to reject the score levels that were designed by a local 28-member panel. Read about the showdown during that discussion, and what the decision will mean for Colorado students already taking the test.
School choice: At a panel discussion at the end of February, , and agreed that now that there are choices, the focus must turn to making those choices accessible to all, something they agreed is still an issue.
For contrast, where charter school officials say they face a biased process.
Parental rights: A as the state Board of Education expressed wanting to require prior consent from parents. After much opposition, .
Finally, since we’ve been reading about , here’s a story by Evie Blad for in places like Iowa, Tennessee and Kansas.
