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Tag: Education policy

Growth Mindset Betrayed: How Schools Preach Effort but Reward Excuses
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

Growth Mindset Betrayed: How Schools Preach Effort but Reward Excuses

By Priscilla Rahn, M.Ed, NBCT | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Policies like minimum F grades, lowered expectations, and racial affinity groups are undermining resilience, accountability, and true learning—while students watch the very lessons of growth mindset go unpracticed.  Growth mindset, at its core, is about teaching students that effort, persistence, and strategies—not fixed traits like race, background, or “innate intelligence”—lead to improvement and success. I have spent 32 years in education as a teacher and principal, and I believe deeply in this principle. But after decades of working in public schools—especially large city districts with high numbers of minority students—I have grown increasingly concerned: too often, the policies and practices we adopt ac...
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Trained Armed Staff Could Be Key to School Safety
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Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Trained Armed Staff Could Be Key to School Safety

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Enough. Damn it, enough! Enough virtue signaling instead of preventing school shootings. Enough of elected school boards denying reality. It is time for all of Colorado’s 178 school districts to join the 50 that currently have volunteer, trained, concealed armed staff to stop a shooter the moment he begins — because when seconds count, the police are only minutes away The difference is wanting to feel safe versus wanting to be safe. By constantly making it harder and more expensive for law-abiding people (i.e. the good guys) to purchase, practice and legally carry firearms, our lawmakers think we will feel safer. Maybe some will even fall for it and feel safer. But none of it makes us any safer. Reality check Actually ...
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Texas takes bold stand against radical teachers after 100+ hit list discovered
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The Western Journal, Approved, Commentary, National

Texas takes bold stand against radical teachers after 100+ hit list discovered

By Johnathan Jones | Commentary, The Western Journal Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed on social media Monday that more than 100 teachers in his state are being removed from the classroom. These educators will lose their jobs, their teaching certificates, and the ability to ever lead students astray in Texas again. Their offense? Glorifying or celebrating the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk last week. Abbott responded to a post on X that claimed Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath was investigating teachers. Morath made clear where the state stands. “While all educators are held to a high standard of professionalism, there is a difference between comments made in poor taste and those that call for and incite further violence — th...
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Colorado’s laws put parents on the sidelines — and kids at risk
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s laws put parents on the sidelines — and kids at risk

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado politicians have been busy passing laws that put government between parents and kids. From mental health and gender identity to abortion and what’s taught in the classroom, the message is clear — parents don’t get a say. Families across our state are raising the alarm, sharing stories of confusion, heartbreak, and harm.  It’s time we take a hard look at what these laws are doing to our children. Mental health without parents HB19-1120 opened a door most parents didn’t know existed. Kids 12 and up can start therapy without a parent’s consent and often without a heads-up. Picture a seventh grader talking through depression or identity questions while mom and dad are kept out until there’s a crisis. The only guara...
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New 3-year deal between teachers union and DPS sparks debate on costs and accountability
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Fox31, Approved, Local

New 3-year deal between teachers union and DPS sparks debate on costs and accountability

By Abraham Jewett | Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver Classroom Teachers Association announced Thursday that it has voted to ratify a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with Denver Public Schools. The vote to ratify comes around two months after the DCTA reached a tentative agreement with DPS in June, following several months of negotiations. The DCTA said more than 81% of its members voted in favor of the new collective bargaining agreement, which will be valid through 2028. “As a democratic, member-led organization, every vote cast reflects our shared commitment to creating better working and learning conditions for Denver’s educators and students,” said Michelle Horwitz, bilingual speech-language pathologist and co-chair of the DCTA Bargaining Team, in ...
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Colorado Student Attendance Declines as Chronic Absences Rise Again
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State, Approved, The Gazette

Colorado Student Attendance Declines as Chronic Absences Rise Again

By Eric Young | The Gazette Colorado is heading in the wrong direction for absenteeism and student attendance, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Education. The daily attendance and chronic absenteeism report for the 2024-25 school year showed slight declines in the former and increases in the latter. More than one in four Colorado students were chronically absent, according to the report. The average daily attendance rate was 91.4%, a 0.1% decrease from the year before. Chronic absenteeism statewide was 28.4% compared to 27.7% in 2023-24. The news comes after the state experienced improvements over the last two school years. But over 244,600 students were chronically absent in 2024-25, the third-highest rate since the state began collecting data...
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A political refugee in Colorado: The painful choice to leave my homeland
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

A political refugee in Colorado: The painful choice to leave my homeland

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice After months of prayer, deliberation, and heartbreak, my wife and I have made the decision to leave Colorado. We’ve accepted an offer on our home in Castle Rock. For the first time in my life, I am saying goodbye to the state of my birth - the mountains where I learned to hike, the skyline I memorized as a child, the people and culture I have served, fought for, and loved.  This was not an easy decision. This is pain. This is grief. This is exile. But I am not moving for a job. I’m not moving for a change of scenery. I am leaving because Colorado has made it abundantly clear that I no longer have a voice in the government of my own state.  I am a political refugee. My family is being forced out, not by a singular...
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The danger of smart without wise: Why Wilson’s ‘expert state’ still haunts America
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Substack, Approved, Commentary, National, Top Stories

The danger of smart without wise: Why Wilson’s ‘expert state’ still haunts America

By Michael A. Hancock | Commentary, Substack Woodrow Wilson’s Fallacy of the Expert State “Intelligence is theoretical math—brilliant, abstract, dazzling to the mind. Wisdom is applied math—the bridge that stands. A society that prizes smartness without wisdom risks mistaking cleverness for truth, and formulas for foundations.” A century ago, Woodrow Wilson bet the future of American governance on intelligence without wisdom. He called it the administrative state: a system where experts—smarter than the rest of us—would manage society with the precision of science. Politics, with its compromises and accountability, was to give way to bureaucracy, with its charts, models, and rules. It was a beautiful formula on paper. But like so many formulas, it mistook cleverness for truth and ...
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Four candidates launch common-sense campaign for Douglas County school board
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Local, Top Stories

Four candidates launch common-sense campaign for Douglas County school board

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Platform centers on academic excellence, parental rights, teacher support and protections for female athletes In Douglas County, a new slate calling itself Common Sense DCSD is stepping into the school board race. The group — Matt Smith, Keaton Gambill, Dede Kramer and Steve Vail — says the district’s future depends on keeping academics and safety at the forefront. They argue that balanced leadership has helped produce high test scores, a strong graduation rate and standout career training programs, and they want to carry that momentum forward. Smith, a former sheriff’s deputy, military veteran, global IT leader and father of a Douglas County student, said his goal is to keep the district centered on students.  “I’m running for school...
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Colorado State Board of Ed opens remote testimony: Parents urged to speak up
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ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado State Board of Ed opens remote testimony: Parents urged to speak up

By Scott K. James | Commentary, ScottKJames.com Colorado’s State Board of Education just made it easier to give public comment. Remote testimony is live – no excuses, no pants required, just show up and speak out. In a move so uncharacteristically efficient it might give some people whiplash, the Colorado State Board of Education has overhauled its public comment process to include remote participation. That’s right, no more schlepping to Denver or arranging your entire week around a three-minute mic drop. Whether you want to go full mom-rage or teacher-sass, now you can do it straight from your kitchen table. Public comments can now be made in-person or virtually using Microsoft Teams – no downloads, no fuss, and no excuses. This isn’t just a footnote buried in bureaucr...
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