My first op-ed for the Boulder-based Colorado Daily appears in today's edition. The topic is the school autonomy movement growing out of events at Bruce Randolph School. I've pasted the entire op-ed below, for fear that the link provided soon will be broken: … [Read more...]
Search Results for: Bruce Randolph
Best Destiny: How Not to Respond to the Taxpayers’ Courtroom Win
Yesterday's Colorado Republican State Convention - with key video at Slapstick Politics and a great recap from Night Twister - was bolstered by the announcement of the taxpayers' legal victory against Gov. Bill Ritter for his unconstitutional property tax hike. But Michael at Best Destiny has some sage cautionary advice for Colorado Republicans on how to respond to Friday's courtroom decision:Republicans MUST NOT go out in public and seem too giddy about this. They should talk about checks and balances, and limiting the governor's ability to act unilaterally, and the majority's clear disregard for the Constitution. But if they seem like they're just glad to have the money taken back by the general public, it'll be a lot harder to … [Read more...]
Denver’s School Autonomy Push Reaches New York Times Opinion Page
The local story that has grown out of the Bruce Randolph School's quest for autonomy from Denver's red tape and union work rules reached the op-ed pages of the New York Times yesterday. Andrew Rotherham, a center-left Democrat reformer who co-runs Education Sector and famously blogs as Eduwonk, writes in the column:While laws like No Child Left Behind take the rhetorical punches for being a straitjacket on schools, it is actually union contracts that have the greatest effect over what teachers can and cannot do. These contracts can cover everything from big-ticket items like pay and health care coverage to the amount of time that teachers can spend on various activities. Reformers have long argued that this is an impediment to effective … [Read more...]
Teachers Union Shows Colors against School Reform, Own Members
More appearing on the Net today regarding the Denver teachers union clamping down on a struggling school's quest for freedom - David Harsanyi's opinion piece for the Denver Post sees it as a "lesson in union power": Educational reform, union leaders often tell us, is the purview of teachers and administrators, not politicians. Teachers are the ones, the union says, who understand the special needs of students, parents and the unique neighborhoods they operate within. That's why listening to union president Kim Ursetta defending the DCTA's decision was an excruciating experience for all. Her answers were illogical and her position untenable. Let's keep in mind that a majority of Bruce Randolph teachers signed off on the school's … [Read more...]
Bipartisan Education Reform Proposal a Threat to Union Power
The Denver Post reports today that Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, has filed a piece of legislation that already has started to cause shockwaves among the education establishment:A bill that would give traditional Colorado schools the flexibility to operate more like charter schools and allow them to be removed from union agreements was introduced into the legislature Thursday. Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, submitted the "Innovation Schools Act of 2008," which would give schools control over their budgets, hiring decisions and length of the school day and calendar. The bill would relieve schools from, among other things, having to follow state statutes regarding teacher pay and hiring. "There is a laundry list of … [Read more...]
Teachers Union Getting Ready to Ask Permission to Run Its Own School
Following the Bruce Randolph and Manual HS episode in Denver, the teachers union now says it has a proposal coming to run its own school:Denver's teachers union plans to submit a proposal this spring to create its own school, hoping to launch a teacher-led demonstration site for how to improve student achievement. "Teachers are supportive of reform," Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, said Tuesday. "We have ideas how to improve student achievement and we want an opportunity to put our ideas forward." More power to them. Given an ideal public education system guided by parental/consumer choice where the money followed the child based on need and local schools had autonomy over employment, curriculum, … [Read more...]
A Crack Opens in the Education Reform Floodgates
With the Denver Public Schools board's unanimous approval last night of the Bruce Randolph School's request for autonomy from district red tape and union work rules, we may see a crack opening in the floodgates of education reform. Word is that a dozen other DPS schools are ready to follow in Randolph's footsteps. But everyone is awaiting the union's official response:The autonomy agreement must still be approved by the 22-member governing board of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, expected to vote Jan. 8. DCTA President Kim Ursetta did not mention the proposal in brief remarks to the board. She has repeatedly said the union has some questions about the plan and is working with Bruce Randolph staff to get answers."Working with … [Read more...]
My Debut as Radio Show Host
For my devoted fans, I make my radio host debut tomorrow morning: that's Wednesday, January 9, from 9 AM to 11 AM, as I guest host the Amy Oliver show on News Talk 1310 KFKA in northern Colorado. You can listen online here. Topics will include education reform at Bruce Randolph School, government employee unions, and the New Hampshire presidential primary. There will no doubt be plenty to talk about, so hope you can listen in. Of course, some of you are thinking: Yikes, they're giving the mike to him? Has the world gone mad? Perhaps, but it should be a lot of fun. And a good way to flog the blog while I'm at it. … [Read more...]
Not-so-shocking News: Union Lawyers Caught Lying
Update: More on this story in today's Rocky Mountain News ... Here's the "dog bites man" story of the day: lawyers for the Colorado Education Association are caught telling a series of lies to stop teachers and leaders at Denver's Bruce Randolph School from obtaining autonomy from restrictive district red tape and union-negotiated work rules. Still, unsurprising as the news may be, it can be thoroughly instructive to read the actual memos and see just how far the union's legal team will go to mislead its own members. … [Read more...]
Denver Teachers Union Backs Down on Autonomy Issue
I've been especially hard on the Denver teachers union (DCTA) lately, but when they do something (mostly) right it would be petty and disingenuous of me not to give credit where due. The Rocky Mountain News reports today that DCTA has decided to acquiesce to the requests of Bruce Randolph and Manual High School for autonomy from school district red-tape and negotiated work rules: … [Read more...]