Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Colorado Education

If more education spending works, why not require proof?
No Comments
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

If more education spending works, why not require proof?

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project This coming November voters will be deciding on Proposition NN and possibly Initiative 195, the former being a referred measure by our state legislature and the latter a ballot initiative which as of this writing was out for signatures with no definitive answer on whether it will be on the ballot yet. Both measures are of the type I like to label with “won’t someone think of the children?!” That is, both of them are geared emotionally to tap into the completely natural desire to help children. The thing is, there are some problems with the reasoning in both. To demonstrate, I will lean heavily on the well-written op ed about education funding from one of the interns at the Independence Institute (as well a...
Read More
Sheridan Parents Launch Recall Effort Against School Board After Historic Teacher Strike
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Sheridan Parents Launch Recall Effort Against School Board After Historic Teacher Strike

By: Adria Iraheta | Denver7 Denver7's Aurora/Arapahoe County Reporter Adria Iraheta is following up after learning a group of educators and parents are submitting a recall petition targeting the Sheridan Board of Education. SHERIDAN, Colo. — Three months after Colorado's longest education strike in recent history, Sheridan School District parents are now leading an effort to recall the superintendent and board of education. Denver7 Aurora and Arapahoe County community reporter Adria Iraheta happened to run into the group of Sheridan parents and educators at the county administration building this week while working on a different story. The group was there to submit a petition with the elections division — an effort to recall Sheridan's superintendent and board of ed...
Read More
Colorado’s homeschool freedoms were hard won. The fight isn’t over.
No Comments
Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s homeschool freedoms were hard won. The fight isn’t over.

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC) Colorado homeschool families fought for liberty and their rights in the 1980s and won. We continue to fight for your homeschool freedom all year long. Homeschool families of today have a dizzying array of curriculum choices. So many, in fact, that it can be overwhelming. However, it was not always this way. In 1980, Colorado homeschool families had three options.     Use a state-approved curriculum.     Get permission from your local school district to use the curriculum you have chosen.     Be a certified teacher to choose your own curriculum. Independent-minded families were not okay with that. They knew that God had called them to disciple and homeschool their children. They rightly be...
Read More
Jeffco Schools Seek $135 Million Tax Hike to Address Deficit and Facility Needs
No Comments
Colorado Public Radio, Approved, Local

Jeffco Schools Seek $135 Million Tax Hike to Address Deficit and Facility Needs

By Melanie Asmar | CPR News Faced with a looming deficit, Jeffco Public Schools is weighing whether to ask voters in November to approve a $135 million tax increase. A community advisory group has recommended the funding be used for teacher salaries, career and technical education programs, technology, and safety and building upgrades. If voters approve the measure, property taxes would increase by $3.58 per month on every $100,000 of a home’s value, according to a district presentation. Although Jeffco is Colorado’s second-largest school district with 74,000 students, it spends less money per pupil than several other metro districts, according to state data. Part of the reason is that Jeffco voters have approved fewer tax increases, known as mill levy o...
Read More
Cherry Creek Schools Spent $114K On Outside Counsel During Superintendent Scandal
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Cherry Creek Schools Spent $114K On Outside Counsel During Superintendent Scandal

By: Nicole C. Brambila | The Denver Gazette The Cherry Creek School District paid $114,000 to hire outside counsel to provide the Board of Education with legal advice as it navigated the allegations that were swirling around the former superintendent. Fisher Phillips invoices obtained through a Colorado Open Records Act request show the district paid $114,191.50 from March through June. Roughly a third of the cost — or $40,000 — was paid to Steve Welchert. Welchert is a Democratic political consultant who specializes in strategic planning, political lobbying and crisis management. Following the Jan. 27 executive session to discuss former Superintendent Chris Smith’s mid-year evaluation in which he abruptly resigned, the board hired Jane Waterman-Joyc...
Read More
Federal lawsuit says Denver school board used race to draw voting districts
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Federal lawsuit says Denver school board used race to draw voting districts

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A conservative election-law firm filed a federal lawsuit against the Denver Public Schools Board of Education on July 2, arguing the board deliberately drew its school district voting map along racial lines. The board's own words, the suit says, prove it. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado by the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a Virginia-based nonprofit, on behalf of Denver residents Susan Moore and Valdamar Archuleta. It targets Map C, the redistricting plan DPS adopted in April 2024 following the 2020 census. The complaint does not just allege that race played a role. It argues race was the point. What DPS did After each federal census, Colorado law requires school districts to redraw thei...
Read More
Principles over popularity: Lessons from the Declaration of Independence for Douglas County Schools
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Principles over popularity: Lessons from the Declaration of Independence for Douglas County Schools

By Laureen Boll | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Douglas County School District (DCSD) board members will be deciding later this year whether to resume formal collective bargaining with the Douglas County Federation (a local affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers), and a primary deciding factor will be the results of a survey of teachers and staff.  This follows union pressure earlier in 2026 and comes after years of the federation advocating for a return to a contract model. The political composition of the DCSD school board has shifted back and forth over the decades, reflecting the community’s own evolving priorities. In 2012, a reform-minded board allowed the long-standing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to expire, moving the district to operat...
Read More
Federal Officials Say Jeffco Must Change Transgender Policies or Lose Federal Funds
No Comments
The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

Federal Officials Say Jeffco Must Change Transgender Policies or Lose Federal Funds

By: Matt Kyle | The Denver Gazette The U.S. Department of Education on Friday warned Jeffco Public Schools it has 10 days to correct alleged Title IX violations over the Colorado district’s transgender policy or lose federal funding. The Notice of Impending Action is the latest development in an ongoing saga between the district and the federal government that started last year, when the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights started an investigation into Jeffco over alleged Title IX violations relating to the district’s policies regarding transgender students. The results of the investigation, released in March, alleged that the district had 61 “male students” participating in girls’ sports and allowed access to restrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations bas...
Read More
Poudre Schools Cut 182 Positions as Enrollment Declines
No Comments
DENVER7, Approved, Local

Poudre Schools Cut 182 Positions as Enrollment Declines

By: Adria Iraheta | Denver7 District officials say some cuts reflect unfilled vacancies — but parents say fewer educators mean kids pay the price. FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Poudre School District is eliminating 182 educator positions heading into the next school year, citing budget issues as the driving force behind the cuts. The move comes after months of conversations about declining enrollment, forcing Poudre School District to consider how its budget could reshape schools across the district. PSD is projected to have 654 fewer students in its schools next year, citing fewer school-aged children in the area due to declining birth rates and fewer younger families moving into the area due to housing costs. Denver7 was there as parents brought their co...
Read More
Colorado is cutting funding for its poorest students. The tool meant to replace it was suspended.
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado is cutting funding for its poorest students. The tool meant to replace it was suspended.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice In Colorado's smallest school districts, the ones tucked into rural towns, two state programs direct extra money each year to districts based on how many students live in poverty. They are not a lot, but they are specific. They are meant for those kids. And they are going away. The state is winding down two programs that have directed about $12 million a year to schools serving Colorado's highest concentrations of low-income students. One program was already repealed when the new fiscal year started. The other drops to half its current level July 1 and is eliminated in FY 2027-28.  The tool the state built to replace how it counts and funds at-risk students was suspended five weeks ago, after two years of data col...
Read More