Opinion

• Deep thoughts on teacher power and pay February 8, 2010
  If Colorado’s teachers unions are so powerful, how come teachers here are the worst paid in the 50 states (relative to other occupations, which is the best adjustment for cost-of-living, local labor markets, etc.)? (Note: These data are from Ed Week’s 2010 Quality Counts – and unlikely any Colorado interest group, Ed Week has absolutely no stake in where Col […]
• Lemon musical chairs February 8, 2010
  In another sign that antiquated and harmful education practices once thought sacrosanct are starting to fall, Denver's "Dance of the Lemons" -- the process by which the teachers no principal will hire are forcibly placed into a classroom somewhere in the public school system -- may finally change. Last year, the Denver Post noted: Nearly three […]
• Do charters make segregation worse? February 8, 2010
  A new study out today from UCLA's Civil Rights Project finds that charter schools across the nation "continue to stratify students by race, class, and possibly language, and are more racially isolated than traditional public schools in virtually every state and large metropolitan area in the country." This study will have the anti-charter camp […]
• How not to cut teachers February 8, 2010
  My district is facing huge budget cuts for next year. $24 million in cuts to be exact. Since our district is like most, where more than 70% of the budget goes to personnel, we are talking lots of jobs here. Tough decisions will be made in the next few months. Decisions about which teachers will lose their jobs are based on our Master Agreement. Usually, non- […]