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March 8: Week in Review

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March 8: Week in Review

From the Independence Institute Ed Is Watching Blog More Time to Study the K-12 Testing Issue Would Be Greatly Beneficial School Choice Legislative Debates Spread Across Map; Time for Colorado Kids to Win Two Michigan Teachers Set Free of Union; Thousands More in Limbo Top Facebook Links of the Week That's Just WRONG: This Doughnut Shop Won't Sell Dougnuts Because They Are Too Unhealthy (Delish.com) Further Proving Colorado Senators Are Rubber Stamps: John Fund - A Radical Rejected (National Review) Playing Favorites with Tax Credits Equals Bad Policy: Gorman: One Man's Tax Preference is Another Man's Tax Burden (Greeley Tribune) Next Up... Math Optional?: SAT College-Entrance Exam's Essay Portion to Become Optional in 2016 … [Read more...]

March 1: Week in Review

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March 1: Week in Review

I wrote an op-ed for the Greeley Tribune titled "School Boards Push Teacher Accountability":Union leaders are actively challenging school principals’ newfound authority to keep the worst teachers out of their classrooms. The state legislative majority has shrunk from the chance to reward the best teachers. But some local school boards have begun to take the reins of reform. More from the Independence Institute Ed Is Watching Blog “Student Success Act” or “Dingelhoffer”, Let’s Make Bolder School Finance Proposal Choice Media: Experts Set President Straight on School Voucher Research Claims Three Online Learning Items Blended Together for Your Friday Enjoyment Top Facebook Links of the Week Exposing the True Radicals: The War … [Read more...]

February 22: Week in Review

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February 22: Week in Review

From the Independence Institute Amy Oliver Show: Teacher Tenure and a Tale of Two Court Cases (Podcast) HB 1262 Incentive to Reform Educator Pay Certainly Has Caught My Attention (Ed Is Watching) A Beautiful Day to Celebrate Coming Major School Choice Victory in Mississippi (Ed Is Watching) Finished One Good(read) Book This Week Humility: An Unlikely Biography of America's Greatest Virtue by David J. Bobb: I picked up the book because of the author's Hillsdale College connection and my own acquaintance with him during my freshman year. Largely familiar with the stories of the five profiled American leaders, I nonetheless found the virtuous thread binding it together to be worthwhile and edifying. Top Social Media Links of the … [Read more...]

February 15: Week in Review

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February 15: Week in Review

I was quoted in School Reform News regarding the Colorado Education Association's legal and legislative challenge of the state's 2010 tenure reform. More from the Independence Institute Jeffco Teachers Union Takes Political Spectacle from Boardroom into Classrooms (Ed Is Watching) State Debate on How to Spend Extra Education Dollars Has Me Twisted in Knots (Ed Is Watching) Top Facebook Links of the Week If You're Open to Hearing the Truth: Jefferson County school district controversy (Velocity Radio) Pitchers and Catchers Report, Life is Good: MVP Cabrera says he's stronger after surgery (ESPN) We Conservative Writers Can (sort of) Imagine, Too: Writers tend to the Left because they have imagination, not compassion … [Read more...]

February 8: Week in Review

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February 8: Week in Review

I offered recorded commentary for an American Family Radio News syndicated report on the Colorado Education Association's legal and legislative challenge of the state's 2010 tenure reform. More from the Independence Institute Amy Oliver Show: Task Force Looks at Policy Answers for Online Learning (Podcast) Will President Obama Set Record Straight on How School Choice Has Helped Kids? (Ed Is Watching) Open Negotiations in Jeffco Schools? That Old Momentum Looks Like It’s Back (Ed Is Watching) Finished One Good(read) Book This Week Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson #2) by Robert A. Caro: If you have a sensitive moral conscience, you also will need a hard stomach. But this second installment in Caro's intensely … [Read more...]

February 1: Week in Review

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February 1: Week in Review

I appeared on morning drive-time radio Thursday. Listen to me on AM 630 KHOW's Mandy Connell Show discuss the teachers union's new lawsuit to ensure job placement for ineffective teachers. From the Independence Institute School Choice Week Kicks Off; Good Luck Trying to Contain My Excitement (Ed Is Watching) Lawsuit to Protect Tenure Over Students Makes CEA Not Only Wrong But Lonely (Ed Is Watching) Charter Schools Continue to Grow; We Need More #SchoolChoice Now (Ed Is Watching) Honored One of the All-Time Great Composers This Week In honor of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 256th birthday (January 27), here's a recent performance of his memorable Symphony No. 40, Movement 1 (Molto allegro). Top Facebook Links of the … [Read more...]

Democrats Ditch Education Tax Credit Bill

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Democrats Ditch Education Tax Credit Bill

Colorado Democrats couldn’t wait until National School Choice Week to kill the latest education tax credit proposal. On Wednesday, January 22, a 3-2 party-line committee vote marked the end for Senate Bill 33 — a proposal to create a limited tax credit for private school tuition or home school expenses. Tax credits provide a stronger financial incentive by removing the specified amount paid on qualifying expenses from a person’s tax liability. …Read the rest of my article at Watchdog Wire Colorado…. … [Read more...]

Lewis-Palmer School Board’s Debt Financing Draws Scrutiny

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Lewis-Palmer School Board’s Debt Financing Draws Scrutiny

Local watchdogs say revelations made at the Lewis-Palmer District 38 school board’s January 16 meeting not only confirm some of the past warnings they shared but also should heighten concerns about fiscal mismanagement. Board members seem unable to come to terms with their 2010 decision to borrow money that’s costing taxpayers extra dollars for financing with no return for classrooms or students. …Read the rest of my article at Watchdog Wire Colorado…. … [Read more...]

January 18: Week in Review

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January 18: Week in Review

I wrote an op-ed for the Greeley Tribune titled "Education Spending Transparency Doesn't Require Massive Tax Hike":Giving Coloradans open government should be more than an applause line. Whatever reassurance skeptical voters may need, it’s not because officials have withheld financial information from online disclosure. The question is whether they have done enough. More from the Independence Institute I’ll Stick My Toe into the Fordham-Cato School Choice Argument… for Five Minutes (Ed Is Watching) Denver State’s New Largest School District; Falcon 49 Open Enrollment Soars (Ed Is Watching) School Funding at Forefront of K-12 Legislative Business (Podcast) Twitter Verse of the Week Joel 2:13 Return to the Lord your God, for he … [Read more...]