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Tag: Student Achievement

Colorado Springs Districts Send Clear Message: Schools Exist to Educate, Not Indoctrinate
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The Gazette, Approved, Commentary, Local

Colorado Springs Districts Send Clear Message: Schools Exist to Educate, Not Indoctrinate

By The Gazette Editorial Board | The Gazette A blue wave that saw conservatives nationwide lose governors’ races, ballot initiatives and even school board elections appeared to have affected Colorado, as well. It was a setback in our state for candidates running on student academic growth against the union machine. But there was a bright spot — El Paso County — where reform-minded candidates swept Academy District 20’s three seats, won two of three contested seats in the ultra-competitive Colorado Springs School District 11, and won at least one of two seats up for grabs in School District 49. The second race in D49 remains too close to call.  All three El Paso County districts preserved their pro-education reform majorities. These victories, hard-fought and locally grounded,...
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False report, bad judging, real results: Montezuma schools find their footing
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

False report, bad judging, real results: Montezuma schools find their footing

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice For two difficult years, Superintendent Tom Burris and the Montezuma-Cortez board were cast as the problem in a community at odds. Detractors said they buried misconduct. The situation became a tangle of problems—courtroom misconduct, staff discipline, politicized claims and social-media outrage—all amplified by one-sided reporting that drained time, money and focus. The photo that never should have existed A courtroom image of Superintendent Burris ran the next morning on the front page of The Journal. No photographs are permitted inside a Colorado courtroom—a violation later cited in the judge’s ethics case. “No photographs are permitted inside a Colorado courtroom,” attorney David Illingworth recalled. “The next day it was front-page...
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Two former board presidents urge a course correction for Cherry Creek schools
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Two former board presidents urge a course correction for Cherry Creek schools

By Jennifer Churchfield and Aagje Barber | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As former presidents of the Cherry Creek School Board, we have always believed that the success of our schools begins with a laser focus on students, academic excellence, and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Today, we write with deep concern — and urgency — about the direction of the district and the need for a course correction. That’s why we are endorsing Amanda Thayer and Tatyana Sturm for the Cherry Creek School Board. The Board of Education has taken its eye off the classroom. As a result, fewer than half of Cherry Creek students are proficient at grade level in core subjects — a staggering statistic for a district once considered a statewide leader in academic performance. This is unac...
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Why the Douglas County School Board Election on November 4th  Matters More Than Ever
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Why the Douglas County School Board Election on November 4th  Matters More Than Ever

By Andy Jones | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As the leaves turn in Douglas County, so does the page to another pivotal moment in our community's story: the school board election on November 4, 2025. For parents juggling carpools, teachers fine-tuning lesson plans, and students eyeing college applications, this vote might feel like just another item on a crowded ballot. But in a district that has clawed its way back from the depths of COVID-19 disruptions to become a beacon of educational excellence, the stakes couldn't be higher.  The Douglas County School District (DCSD) led by a conservative majority, has engineered a remarkable turnaround since 2022, with soaring graduation rates, top-tier test scores, and innovative programs that are the envy of the state. Yet, thi...
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Durango 9-R’s Monday update comes as parents dispute the “misinformation” label
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Local, Top Stories

Durango 9-R’s Monday update comes as parents dispute the “misinformation” label

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Durango School District 9-R holds its State of the District tonight at the Impact Career Innovation Center. The district’s event page bills it as a community update with test-score dashboards and a Q&A. The Durango Herald said leaders plan to confront “misinformation.” Parent Jason Mietchen hears it differently: “We’ve had to counteract the misinformation for years. The school puts out a ton of it.” Why attention spiked this month The Herald also referenced Heidi Ganahl’s twelve-part ‘Durango’s 9-R Dirty Dozen,’ a wide-ranging critique of district policy, practice and the outcomes families are talking about. Topics span CMAS proficiency, gender-support steps, the ACA name-change policy, flag resolutions and the government-speech argument,...
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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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The Union vs. Students: Why I Walked Away
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

The Union vs. Students: Why I Walked Away

By Priscilla Rahn, M.Ed, NBCT | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice For 32 years I poured my life into teaching, believing the teachers’ union stood for students and educators like me. But somewhere along the way, the mission shifted—from strengthening classrooms to fueling politics. That’s when I knew I had to walk away. I look back on a career that began in Texas in the early 1990s, where my starting salary was a meager $18,000 a year—barely enough to cover student loans, a car payment, gas, rent, food, and utilities after dividing it into 24 paychecks, leaving me with about $700 every two weeks. I was immediately pressured to join the teachers' union, but with no extra money for dues, I declined. It wasn't until I moved to Colorado that I joined, convinced I needed liabilit...
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“Devastating trend”: High school seniors hit record-low reading levels
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Daily Wire, Approved, National

“Devastating trend”: High school seniors hit record-low reading levels

By Leif Le Mahieu | Daily Wire "The achievement gap between students is widening, not shrinking." The Trump administration renewed its push to return control of education to the states after new data revealed continued declines in the reading, math, and science scores of high school seniors nationwide. The National Center for Education Statistics released the “Nation’s Report Card” for 12th-grade students on Tuesday, finding that reading levels had reached new lows and math scores were the worst in 20 years. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said that the numbers confirmed a “devastating trend” of American students testing at “historic lows.” “Despite billions in federal spending and countless well-intentioned programs, the achievement gap between students is widen...
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State Report Highlights Progress and Ongoing Challenges in Colorado Schools
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kdvr.com, Approved, State

State Report Highlights Progress and Ongoing Challenges in Colorado Schools

By KDVR Staff | KDVR Fox 31 DENVER (KDVR) — A total of 55% of Colorado school districts received an accredited or higher rating for the 2025-2026 school year in the preliminary school and district accountability frameworks released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Education. The frameworks are used to accredit school districts and assign school ratings by measures such as graduation rates, academic achievement and growth, according to the CDE, which said this year’s preliminary frameworks were based on data from 2024-2025. “The steady progress in the school and district frameworks is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our students, staff, and communities over the past few years,” said Colorado Education Commissioner Susan Córdova, in a statement. The 55% acc...
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Are you racist? The Durango School Board thinks so.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Are you racist? The Durango School Board thinks so.

By Protect La Plata Kids | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Durango School District 9-R has spent heavily on a quiet plan to bring diversity, equity and inclusion policies into local classrooms. Attached to this commentary are invoices obtained through CORA requests to the district. They show the board paid Make It Plain Consulting more than $209,000 between 2021 and 2025. A combined file of the invoices can be viewed here. What the community didn’t realize is that the board’s long-term goal was to introduce Critical Race Theory under the banner of DEI. School board directors Kristen Smith, Erika Brown and Andrea Parmenter started by pushing a new resolution for the Durango 9-R Board of Education. As of July 2025, three Federal Civil Rights Complaints were filed against D...
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