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New Federal Tax Credit Could Expand Colorado School Choice Options
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, Commentary, State

New Federal Tax Credit Could Expand Colorado School Choice Options

By Brenda Dickhoner | Commentary, The Colorado Sun State lawmakers made the right move to postpone legislation that would have created barriers for the program. Colorado lawmakers have been working to close a budget gap of more than $1.5 billion, and programs that students and families rely on are under pressure. At the same time, a new federal tax credit gives Colorado a chance to bring substantial philanthropic dollars into education without drawing from the state’s general fund. The Education Freedom Tax Credit allows taxpayers to receive a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 annually for charitable contributions to scholarship-granting organizations that support K-12 students. Essentially, the program encourages private giving to step in where public fun...
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Colorado Tax Data Raises Questions About Calls For Higher Taxes On Wealthy
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, State

Colorado Tax Data Raises Questions About Calls For Higher Taxes On Wealthy

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Colorado’s “rich” are already paying a lot (A LOT) Tax Day, both the day when tax returns are due and the day at which you have worked enough to pay your taxes (and start working for yourself) recently passed. Around that date I saw something online giving a breakdown of Federal tax receipts vs. income group and it got me thinking about Colorado’s tax receipts vs. income. After doing some digging I have some data to share, and, as the top line here suggests, the “rich” in Colorado are already paying quite a bit. Certainly a giant percent of state revenue compared to how many filers there are. As I’ll show below, if you look at the percentage of total tax receipts vs. the percentage of taxpayers ...
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Democratic Governor Hopefuls Debate Housing Health Care And Youth Issues
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Fox21, Approved, State

Democratic Governor Hopefuls Debate Housing Health Care And Youth Issues

By Carolynn Felling | FOX21 News (COLORADO SPRINGS) — Sen. Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser debated in Colorado Springs on Sunday, May 3, outlining their distinct visions for addressing Colorado’s cost-of-living crisis. The two candidates are running for the governor’s office in the upcoming June primary election. Their campaigns show differences in strategies to tackle issues like housing affordability, health care costs, and support for the next generation. Both Sen. Bennet and Attorney General Weiser acknowledge the critical urgency of Colorado’s affordability challenges. However, their proposed solutions present divergent paths for the state’s future. Their debate highlighted a division on how to best move Colorado forward. The debate brought ...
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Colorado Student Granted Religious Exemption From School’s Digital Monitoring System
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Westword, Approved, Local

Colorado Student Granted Religious Exemption From School’s Digital Monitoring System

By Hannah Metzger | Westword "The district is deeply committed to honoring parental rights." Hail Satan? A young member of the Satanic Temple was granted a religious accommodation from the Elizabeth School District, arguing that the district’s digital hall pass system conflicts with her beliefs. The parents of the Elizabeth High School student had requested that she be exempted from the system, but their request was initially denied, according to TST. That’s when the Temple’s lawyers stepped in. “This was a cut-and-dry case of a TST member’s bodily autonomy being violated by invasive digital controls,” says Eliphaz Costus, campaign director of the Temple’s Protect Children Project. Using the digital hall pass system to monitor and restric...
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Adams 12 Leaders Eye Cuts And Consolidation As Student Enrollment Numbers Fall By Thousands
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

Adams 12 Leaders Eye Cuts And Consolidation As Student Enrollment Numbers Fall By Thousands

By Sophia Villalba | Denver7 ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — Adams 12 Five Star Schools — which serves all or parts of Broomfield, Federal Heights, Northglenn, Thornton, and Westminster — could soon see changes as enrollment continues to drop. Enrollment at the district has dropped by more than 6,000 students over the last decade. This school year, the district saw a decline of more than 1,300 students, the second-largest since 2020. It’s a trend all too familiar across the state. Denver7 spoke with Boulder Valley School District officials, who said they started seeing a decline in 2017. “Over the last 10 years, we've had about 3,600 fewer students than we had previously. As we project forward for the next five years, we're seeing about a 1,700-student decr...
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Former Colorado Teacher Of The Year Finalist Sentenced To 14 Years In Student Abuse Case
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Former Colorado Teacher Of The Year Finalist Sentenced To 14 Years In Student Abuse Case

By Logan Smith | CBS Colorado A finalist for 2025 Colorado Teacher of the Year violated the terms of her probation and continued to contact one of her former students after she'd been criminally charged for having a relationship with the student and fired from her teaching position, according to a court document. Tera Johnson-Swartz was sentenced on March 19 to 14 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Two cases were filed against her - the first following a grand jury investigation into the relationship, the second after detectives learned that Johnson-Swartz was trying to maintain contact with the student. The student confirmed those attempts, according to the arrest affidavit in the second case. In an interview, the student said his former teacher walked u...
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Polis Backs New AI Framework To Replace Controversial 2024 Law
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Polis Backs New AI Framework To Replace Controversial 2024 Law

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette A group that has been working on artificial intelligence policy has reached an agreement on a framework that would replace the regulations adopted by Colorado legislators two years ago. The agreement has the backing of Gov. Jared Polis, who reluctantly signed the AI law in 2024. The agreement reached by the Colorado AI Policy Work Group is meant to repeal and replace the 2024 law, whose sponsors said would protect consumers and residents from algorithmic discrimination but which critics called heavy handed and unworkable. A multi-billion dollar technology company, which recently decided to leave Colorado, cited the new regulations on artificial intelligence as a cause of concern, comparing the “state-level over...
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Colorado Mom Urges Caution for Parents After Son’s Hormone Treatment
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IW Features, Approved, Local

Colorado Mom Urges Caution for Parents After Son’s Hormone Treatment

By Neeraja Deshpande | IW Features A Colorado mother trusted the medical “experts” when they prescribed her teenage son estrogen. Now she urges parents to reject gender ideology claims outright and reclaim authority from ideologues. But Michael had already fallen deep into the trenches of gender ideology, possibly with the help of his Denver-area school.  Thinking they would “put the brakes on this,” Burns said she and her husband took Michael to a therapist in their network at a Kaiser Permanente clinic. Unfortunately, then unbeknownst to the Burnses, Kaiser Permanente is one of the greatest offenders in the gender ideology space, having spearheaded medical experimentation on gender-confused minors both as an insurer and as a clinical provider of ca...
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National School Association Tells Schools to Treat Campuses as “Safe Zones”
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Just The News, Approved, National

National School Association Tells Schools to Treat Campuses as “Safe Zones”

By Esther Wickham | Just the News The webinar highlighted that public schools should function as “safe zones” for children and are not legally required to assist federal immigration enforcement without a valid judicial warrant. The American Association of School Administrators hosted a members-only virtual webinar last week, providing school leaders with guidance on how to respond to potential encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on school campuses, according to materials exclusively obtained by The Center Square. The webinar highlighted that public schools should function as “safe zones” for children and are not legally required to assist federal immigration enforcement without a valid judicial warrant. The webinar, titled: Operational Rea...
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External Audit Planned Following Superintendent Resignation in Cherry Creek
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DENVER7, Approved, Local

External Audit Planned Following Superintendent Resignation in Cherry Creek

By: Natalie Chuck | Denver7 The superintendent resigned and the chief of human resources was placed on administrative leave within days of one another following a series of Denver7 Investigates stories. DENVER — "Immediate action was necessary." Those are the words of Cherry Creek School Board President Anne Egan amid the announcement of an external audit following a series of Denver7 Investigates reports which put district leadership under the microscope. In a statement released ahead of a public meeting on Monday night, the board of education announced additional reforms and changes are being made after drastic administrative changes. Just over one week has passed since Christopher Smith, the district's now former superintendent, resigned. ...
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