Check out my latest for School Reform News on an upcoming Colorado ballot proposal to define how much public education money is spent "in the classroom." (Also known as the "65 percent plan") If nothing else, it may be an interesting read based on the number of colorful quotes I was able to cite for the story, like this one from Ken DeLay, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Boards: "We don't have administrators so they can sit in hot tubs and feather their nests." Or this little "exchange" between Deborah Fallin, the spokesperson for the Colorado Education Association, and Tim Mooney, the executive director of First Class Education: "It's about educating people about the measure," said Fallin. "We are … [Read more...]

It's my not-so-modest privilege to turn your attention to this news piece today. Thanks to Berny Morson of the Rocky Mountain News for a good and fair story. When you need a quote or a fact/statistic on a dry topic like school funding, now you know who you need to talk to. (No, smart alecks, I'm not referring to Rep. Angie Paccione.) … [Read more...]

What lesson ought we to take from the whole Jay Bennish fiasco? David Harsanyi hits a home run with his column today: "Teacher Fuss Shows Need for Choice." Go and read it. … [Read more...]

Employing his best attempt at writing a column with adolescent logic, the Denver Post's Jim Spencer tells 16-year-old Sean Allen - the Overland High School student who recorded his "geography" teacher Jay Bennish make a diatribe off the deep end of fairness, balance, and reality - that he should have given into peer pressure, sucked it up, and taken his Left-wing indoctrination like a man: What Allen did violates the unwritten "us-and-them" code of adolescence. You defy authority and adults when you're a teenager. You don't suck up to them. When you're 16, having middle-aged fogies like Bill Owens or Rush Limbaugh or yours truly sing your praises carries no "street cred" with the "dude, whatever" crowd. Frankly, there's a wimp … [Read more...]