In November, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, Senate President Peter Groff and Treasurer Carey Kennedy proposed a new solution to repair and replace aging school buildings throughout our state.  Called the “Building Excellent Schools Today - or B.E.S.T. – Plan”, the proposal will allow the state to leverage income from the School Trust Lands, property the federal government granted to Colorado upon statehood for the benefit of its schoolchildren. The School Trust Lands are dedicated to the support of K-12 public education.

Every day across Colorado, parents send their children to unsafe schools, particularly in rural areas of our state.  Many school buildings are close to 100 years old and replacing buildings is often cheaper for taxpayers than paying for costly ongoing repairs.

This is a statewide problem and cannot be solved by local school districts alone. Almost half of Colorado's school districts (more than 80 of 178) do not have the tax base to build a single new school and poor, rural districts have the greatest need.

BEST is a $1 billion plan to repair and rebuild Colorado's crumbling schools.  By putting state assets to their highest and best use we can address this problem without raising taxes. The BEST Plan will dedicate $30-$40 million annually from school trust land revenues to leverage about $500 million. With a matching portion from school districts, the BEST Program would put the total investment in schools at nearly $1 billion, enough to build scores of new schools or repair hundreds of existing ones.

The response to this plan has been extremely positive.  The Denver Post, The Rocky Mountain News, The Colorado Springs Gazette, and The Pueblo Chieftain all wrote editorials supporting the BEST Plan. 

As the pressure grows for our students to learn and know more, so grows the demand on schools to raise achievement. It's a huge challenge for our country—and for the schools in which we work. The public appetite for dramatic solutions is substantial. And that appetite is being fed by a stream of unproven reform proposals that will do tremendous damage to our children, our schools and our profession. We have better solutions.

Lies About Teachers and Unions

By DAVID MACARAY

 

A new study published by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) follows, through the kindergarten year, children who are participating in New Jersey’s Abbott Preschool program. The program began in 2005-06 as a result of a N.J. Supreme Court decision requiring the state to establish high-quality preschool for the highest-poverty school districts. A longitudinal study of the program is being conducted by NIEER in partnership with the Early Learning Improvement Consortium (ELIC). This phase of the study has found improvements in child outcomes as well as program quality. For example, children who attend the program, regardless of setting, improve in language, literacy and math skills through the end of their kindergarten year. Future reports will present results through the end of fourth grade.

READ THE FULL REPORT

I’ve been teaching at low performing schools since 1990, first in New Orleans and then in New York City. I think the reason that most of us stay in these “hard-to-staff” places can be tied into our sense of efficacy. If we feel like we are making a real difference, it is such an exhilarating feeling that we stay, even in challenging conditions. When we feel like we can’t make any headway, usually because of poor administration and policy, then we feel compelled to leave. I’ve had several different positions, and I think all of my decisions to stay or leave can be related to my sense of making a

difference.     

 – Lisa Peterson, New York City

I am a teacher in a high risk/high turnover school. … The overwhelming data show that the culture of the school must be supportive not only for the students but also for the staff. Teachers wanted the administrator to be an instructional leader and to be supportive and understanding of their daily struggles in the classroom.    

– Katherine Pope, Charlotte, N.C.

AFT REPORT: BUILDING MINDS, MINDING BUILDINGS TURNING CRUMBLING SCHOOLS INTO ENVIRONMENTS FOR LEARNING
Mold, extreme temperatures, overcrowding, poor air quality, vermin infestation and other deplorable conditions in too many public schools throughout the United States must be addressed immediately as a top educational priority, the American Federation of Teachers concludes in a report released today.  “This is a health issue, a safety issue and an educational issue,” said Antonia Cortese, AFT executive vice president. “In the world’s richest nation, every child is entitled to learn in clean, well-maintained classrooms. As we try to build young minds, we also have to mind school buildings.”

The AFT has long championed the principles underlying the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act: high standards for all children, with appropriate tests to measure whether the standards are being met; disaggregation of student achievement data; "highly qualified" teachers and well-trained paraprofessionals in every classroom; and extra support for students and schools performing below proficient levels.

NCLB represents the federal government's commitment to these principles and to the goal of eliminating the existing achievement gap.  Since the bill's passage in 2002, the AFT and its state and local affiliates have worked with the Department of Education, state and local education authorities and others in the civil rights and education communities to help achieve the positive goals of NCLB. The AFT recognizes that the principles and goals of the law cannot be met without changes in the law, proper implementation and the necessary funding.

On February 13, 2007, at 9:30 AM, the Commission on No Child Left Behind released its final report and recommendations during a widely attended public event on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.

Nearly a quarter century ago, "A Nation at Risk" hit our schools like a brick dropped from a penthouse window. One problem: The landmark document that still shapes our national debate on education was misquoted, misinterpreted, and often dead wrong.

This report provides a strong summary of the literature on teacher placement in schools and discusses the critical role experienced, well-prepared teachers have in academic success, particularly for poor and minority students.

These and other factors place the teaching profession—already plagued by high turnover and recruiting challenges—in further peril. The AFT report asserts that, to make teacher pay competitive with pay in other professions by the end of the decade, teachers need a 30 percent raise—an additional investment in our children’s future of almost $15 billion per year.