Go ahead, take it.
Testing reduction compromise at the legislature, a court hearing over teacher pay, and teachers disciplined during PARCC testing. Catch up on this and other education news in this week’s Take Note…
At the state capitol: The legislature ended their session this week, and lawmakers worked to the last minutes, that would stand to have support from Gov. John Hickenlooper and both parties. The bill will establish a pilot program for districts to develop their own tests, pending federal approval, and will allow parents and teachers to opt out of tests, without being punished.
Also at the last minute, the legislature discussed, killed, reintroduced and passed a bill to allow pension contributions from Denver Public Schools to decrease to the same levels as all other school districts in the state. When the bill was first killed, without discussion, supporters of the bill .
Wednesday evening when a reintroduced bill passed. According to the district, the legislation will allow the district to free up $20 million per year to put back into the classroom.
Testing discipline: Local when students back in March were caught leaking pictures of the PARCC standardized tests, were disciplined. Denver Post reporter Eric Gorski, broke the news this week, noting that at least one teacher in Douglas County was barred from a later round of tests.
The Associated Press is also reporting today that the for next year. The test, given to juniors in high school and commonly used in college admissions, will still be available in paper and pencil options for now in an attempt to ease the transitions.
In court: Last Friday afternoon, Jefferson County Public Schools was in court , now based on teacher effectiveness ratings. The union sued the district and is asking a judge to grant a preliminary injunction to stop the changes in progress, arguing the district didn’t make enough effort to negotiate the changes.
A Colorado appeals court reversed a lower court decision Thursday by saying the district did not indirectly contribute to the campaigns of a slate of candidates for school board.
In the schools: YourHub reporter Megan Mitchell wrote this week about a partnership where students focusing on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers, get to use clay to make models of the human skeleton.
Chalkbeat reporter Jaclyn Zubrzycki wrote this week about a Denver Public Schools request for proposals to get a new . Students at the school worked on a project to ponder the proposal, and presented their findings to DPS officials, recommending ideas for how to handle gentrification in the neighborhood while keeping the school united.
Judy Montero, Denver Council District 9, Mayor Michael Hancock and President Stephen Jordan attend a ribbon cutting ceremony at Metropolitan State University May 6, 2015 to celebrate the completion of the University’s $23.6 million Regency Athletic Complex. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
Also, Metropolitan State University of Denver , with Denver mayor Michael Hancock Wednesday. YourHub reporter Joe Vaccarelli wrote about the $23.6 million, 13-acre project.
Earning college credit: A story on Marketplace this week discussed the to a broader base of students including minority students, focusing on a school outside of Baltimore.
Locally, the Colorado Department of Higher Education will be on concurrent enrollment. According to the data, the number of Colorado high school students taking college classes through some form of dual enrollment, is still increasing, and also diversifying.
