Blog posts are the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of A+ Colorado.
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…
Colorado’s 20-year record of steady (if slow) improvement may be dashed in coming weeks if political leaders do not stand up for accountability. We’re one of many states in the midst of a series of critical education policy battles that could send us back to a time when there was little information about the quality…
The results of the first round of SchoolChoice are in for the 2015-2016 school year. SchoolChoice participation in Southwest Denver, with its two new shared enrollment boundaries, jumped dramatically from 67% last year to 91% this year. Yet, thousands of parents in the places with the worst schools still feel stuck because it is so…
By Sari Levy No one wants to be asked to defend testing. In Boulder, where I live, anti-testing fervor is almost as strong as the pro-organic-gardening-fervor. To prove their point, 84% of students at Boulder Valley High opted out of the last fall’s science and social studies testing. We are a small but typical cluster…
Another View #129 Peter Huidekoper, Jr. April 8, 2015 Evidence of success from the charter world – smaller high schools From “Denver and Aurora High Schools; Crisis and Opportunity”(A Plus Denver, 4/2013) “With the exception of DSST, we have had little success in creating high schools that are mission-driven toward a specific outcome (like…
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…
Over sixty people joined the conversation about SchoolChoice in Denver at a panel we hosted on January 22nd. Our panelists included Betheny Gross, Research Director at the Center on Reinventing Public Education and the lead author on the latest report on SchoolChoice released by A+ Denver; Brian Eschbacher, Director of Planning and Enrollment at DPS;…
In 2013 the Colorado Department of Education sat down to take a look at what a high school diploma in Colorado was worth. In releasing the first recommendation of graduation guidelines, the State Board recognized students will need to function in “a modern information dependent society,” where there is a need “for a ‘floor’ of…