Blog posts are the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of A+ Colorado.
Happy Holidays! There has been as much education news as snow this week. Denver, our state, and nation are in the midst of a variety of important changes. We have our first PARCC scores, a change in Denver Public School leadership, a new state commissioner, and a new federal education law: “Every Student Succeeds Act”…
Our congratulations go out to new and re-elected board members in Denver and Aurora: Lisa Flores (NW Denver), Happy Haynes (Denver At-Large), Anne Rowe (SE Denver), Monica Colbert (Aurora At-Large), Dan Jorgensen (Aurora At-Large), and Cathy Wildman (Aurora At-Large). We look forward to working with all of you in the coming years. Tuesday’s election provided…
Dear Members and Friends, Just as back to school routines are settling in, big changes are already taking shape for next year. Read on to learn more about our latest report, school board races, and school facility decisions. If Not Now… Why We’re Talking about Aurora Public Schools A+ Updates People often forget there are…
Dear Members and Friends, While summer may have been short, we hope it was sweet. Here’s a bit of what’s been going on during the dog days of summer, and what to look forward to this fall. Education on the Ballot This Fall A+ Updates Denver’s school board race this fall will hopefully raise the…
Dear Members and Friends, School is almost out so our newsletter will be taking a little vacation. We’ll be back around the same time as those Staples back-to-school commercials. DPS News Paradigm Shift For the first time, DPS schools will be asked to “opt in” to rather than “opt out” of district supports like curriculum,…
Denver Teacher Compensation Brief ProComp: A History ProComp, Denver’s teacher compensation system, was collaboratively designed by DPS and DCTA. It was developed to incentivize and reward teachers who set and reach high learning expectations for students, creating a differentiated compensation structure that moved beyond teacher tenure and level of education by providing a pay-for-performance incentive system.…
Dear A+ Members and Friends, We are writing to make you aware of legislation that could save Denver Public Schools over $20 million per year. This funding would greatly benefit both district run and charter schools. House Bill 15-1391 would lower Denver Public School’s employer contribution rate into the state pension system by matching…
Dear Members and Friends, Welcome back from spring break! Hope you ate, drank, slept in, and caught up on YouTube cat videos. DPS News New Structures Things in Denver Public Schools have been shifting in recent weeks. At the home office, a big reorg is taking place, with lots of shifting jobs and reporting structures.…
April 6, 2015 An Open Letter to the Colorado General Assembly and Governor John Hickenlooper. As parents, community leaders, educators, and civic and business leaders, we are writing to show our support for reducing the amount of testing in K-12 schools while maintaining our state’s nationally recognized accountability system. SB-223 undermines the core of why…
Dear Members and Friends, Another big congratulations to 2014 Game Changers Anne Jacobs, Brian Eschbacher, Rosemary Rodriguez. See the past awardees they join from 2013 and 2012. Accountability whiplash: We don’t have to break the news to you that there is some major grumbling going on about Common Core, PARCC, testing in general, or some…