A Lamar High School student returns to campus after soccer practice framed by the school’s controversial nickname (R.J. Sangosti, The Denver Post).
This week’s review includes a look at how districts are coping with a substitute teacher shortage, the latest twists with Colorado’s testing legislation, a deal between the family of slain Arapahoe High School student Claire Davis and Littleton Public Schools, a town that reveres its Savages, community colleges offering free tuition and what the American flag and Confederate flag share in common …
As the economy continues its uptick, school districts are struggling to find the substitute teachers they need, Yesenia Robles reported this week . To help fill the void, districts are staging more interview events, dangling the option to student teachers and offering better pay. Teachers say students suffer when a substitute isn’t found: Planning time is lost to help watch the class of an absent colleague. Many teachers think districts may need to do more.
Post political writer Lynn Bartels traveled to Lamar on the Eastern Plains The high school’s nickname is the Savages. “I love the word ‘savages,'” one student said. “It shows we’re never going to give up.”
Students at a recent testing protest on the Capitol steps (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post).
For weeks we have been documenting developments in testing reduction legislation, one of the biggest political and policy issues of this legislative session. At certain points, it makes sense to pause and take stock. , we examined why Senate Bill 215, the bipartisan legislation that grew out of the 1202 task force work, crumbled before it even got a hearing before the Senate Education Committee. Since then, two additional testing bills have been introduced. One in the House . Another in the Senate goes much further to placate Tea Party Republicans and teachers union-aligned Democrats — it would allow districts to test-run pilots for alternative testing systems so long as they meet federal requirements, and also further postpone implementation of a law that requires 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on test scores. The head of the state’s largest teachers union — who is running for reelection — . The bills are scheduled for committee consideration next week. Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office has made clear he won’t sign anything that would erode Colorado’s education reforms. The governor may be put to the test soon.
Claire Davis (Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office).
After being at loggerheads for months, the family of slain Arapahoe High School student Claire Davis and the Littleton School District The deal is modified from . The deal could carry additional political ramifications. would give families standing to pursue legal action and seek damages if a school hasn’t exercised “reasonable care” to protect students from incidents on school property or during school-sponsored events. The law would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2013 — giving the Davises a path for pursuing a claim. Will that piece of the bill remain?
Tuition increases at CU Boulder stayed low this year — the lowest hike in a decade . School officials credit an expected funding increase from the state for the ability to keep tuition raises low.
Although President Obama’s plan to offer free community college isn’t moving anywhere, more schools and cities are taking it up on their own. This week, Harper College in Palatine, Ill., northwest of Chicago,. For the Harper College scholarship, officials worked with local businesses promising to give hiring preference to students from the program. Locally, Colorado Mountain College recently
Judy Barker, left, and Doña Dodson grab yogurt to put into bags for students to take home at Teller Elementary in Denver on March 26, 2015. (Seth McConnell, YourHub)
YourHub reporter Joe Vaccarelli . The program provides backpacks of food to needy children to take home over the weekend, and over spring break.
The Boston Globe’s James Vaznis this week reported on . According to the story, the federal review has found that the district has some major violations, and even cited six schools where “dozens of students” lack English-language instruction. The interim superintendent disputes the findings, but the district did replace the assistant superintendent in charge of the programs for non-English speakers.
The Los Angeles Times covered — a story that has echoes of a conflict in Windsor over
Finally, one of our posts from last week got much greater exposure than the humble Colorado Classroom blog can offer when The Drudge Report linked to it. We’ll leave you to guess why Drudge was interested in
