That Old Colorado School District Open Union Negotiations Momentum? It’s Back

by Eddie | 2:20 pm, February 3, 2012

Last April I asked the question: Is momentum growing for open school union negotiations in Colorado? The results ended up mixed — with Colorado Springs District 11 opening more of their bargaining to public view while Jefferson County redoubled under a veil of secrecy.
Well, tagging on at the end of an Ed News Colorado story [...]

Colorado Has Made Some Progress, But a C for Teacher Policy Isn’t Good Enough

by Eddie | 5:30 pm, January 30, 2012

Now that School Choice Week is over, and I’m able to relax a bit after my manic phase of hyperactivity, it’s back to the (fun) edublogging grind. Right out of the gate, it’s time to tackle an important education reform item that emerged last week but falls a little bit outside the school choice arena. [...]

No Excuses Time: Attend a Colorado School Choice Week Event (January 22-28)

by Eddie | 11:58 am, January 13, 2012

The second annual National School Choice Week is coming up soon. For most of my fellow Coloradans, there aren’t any good excuses to not be able to attend even of the numerous events going on during the week of January 22-28, from a Kids Aren’t Cars movie night at the Independence Institute’s new Denver digs to two American Exceptionalism townhalls with nationally-known speakers and a special Saturday morning event designed just for teachers. I hope to meet you at one of them.

Bring Out Your Dustbins for the Overhyped 65% Solution (at Least in Georgia)

by Eddie | 4:28 pm, January 11, 2012

Education policy gurus, brandish your dustbins. Last week Mike Antonucci brought attention to a report from Georgia that the state is looking to abandon the once vaunted “65% Solution,” the idea (popular circa 2005-06) that schools should be required to spend 65 percent of funds “in the classroom.” Antonucci writes:
This made for useful sound bites, [...]

K-12 Issues in Colo. Legislative Session Figure to Be Busier for 2012

by Eddie | 5:13 pm, January 9, 2012

If I were to write “it’s that time of year again”… again, you’d probably be ready to chew me out. And my little ears are too sensitive for that. So I’ll just take note that Colorado’s legislative session kicks off on Wednesday. Which naturally means (pardon me if you’ve heard this before) get ready and [...]

Rick Hess’ Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings Point to My Indirect Influence

by Eddie | 4:45 pm, January 5, 2012

From time to time you’ll see me write about or reference the work of scholars who research the nitty gritty of education policy. These are the high falutin’ number-crunchers with big degrees who work at universities. Well, the venerable Rick Hess has revealed his 2012 Edu-Scholar Public Presence Rankings to measure more than 100 American [...]

Teachers Matter: New Book Highlights 2012 Importance of Educator Effectiveness

by Eddie | 10:28 am, January 3, 2012

I’m back. Yes, they almost had to pry me away from my new Legos and video games that have consumed much of my past 9 days. But really that’s OK. This new year brings a lot to get excited about, and get busy about. My Independence Institute friends are moving into their new offices, but [...]

Winding Down 2011 by Looking Ahead to Colorado Digital Learning Gains in 2012

by Eddie | 8:44 am, December 23, 2011

I don’t think you’ll see me writing much more for the blog this year. Can you believe it’s almost 2012? Well, just in case this is the last post of the calendar year, I wanted to make sure it’s an important one. Looking at the growing world of digital learning certainly qualifies. Basically, I’m past [...]

Denver Post Tackles Long-Studied Problem of Tax-Funded Teachers Union Release Time

by Eddie | 2:17 pm, December 19, 2011

Update, 1/5/12: Chris Tessone at the Flypaper blog also makes note of the Denver Post story, correctly observing: “It’s difficult to make an argument that taxpayers should be directly subsidizing union leaders. Organized labor already extracts indirect subsidies by skimming dues from teachers’ paychecks, sometimes against the desires of teachers.”
Guess what! Just over a week [...]

Denver Innovation Schools Report Does Little to Resolve Policy Debate

by Eddie | 1:03 pm, December 15, 2011

Back in the warm summertime, which seems so long ago, I brought attention to a thoughtful essay that called into question the success of the Innovation Schools Act. My thoughts on the matter really haven’t changed since then — I still believe despite the clear limitations there is a place for innovation schools, though not [...]

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