~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Education Policy Center Newsletter

From The Independence Institute
October 20, 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this issue
-- TV Alert: Benigno Hosts Special Independent Thinking on Portfolio
Management
-- Colorado Supreme Court Opens Door on School Funding Complaint
-- Boulder Teachers Union Edges Closer to Costly Strike
-- Policy Resources at Your Fingertips … and More from Eddie

Dear Friends,

We hope you enjoy our latest update from the Education Policy Center.

Pamela Benigno, Director

Ben DeGrow, Policy Analyst
Marya DeGrow, Research Associate

TV Alert: Benigno Hosts Special Independent Thinking on Portfolio

Management
A special episode of Independent Thinking, with Pam Benigno in her first
appearance as guest host, will air this Friday, October 23, at 8:30 PM and
next Monday, October 26, at 1:30 PM, locally in the Denver area on KBDI
Channel 12. Pam will discuss the topic of school district portfolio management
with Dr. Paul Hill, director of the University of Washington’s Center on
Reinventing Public Education, and Jim Weigel, a former school board member
and consultant for the Colorado Association of School Boards. If you miss the
episode when it airs, you can review it later on the Independent Thinking
YouTube page.

Portfolio management, a new strategy to increase student achievement, was the

central topic of a September 29 Denver conference hosted by the University of
Colorado at Denver’s School of Public Affairs, and co-sponsored by the
Independence Institute, along with the, Donnell-Kay Foundation and Piton
Foundation.

For more:
Ben DeGrow, Schools for Tomorrow, Moving Toward Portfolio Management?
Colorado Supreme Court Opens Door on School Funding Complaint
On Monday the Colorado Supreme Court overturned two lower court rulings to
declare that the courts have a role in deciding the adequacy of the state’s
funding for schools. Listen to a new iVoices podcast as University of Colorado at
Colorado Springs professor Joshua Dunn explains the background of the Lobato v
State lawsuit and possible implications for the future.

In other Colorado Supreme Court news, the high court declined to hear the
Boulder Valley School District’s lawsuit against the Charter School Institute
(CSI), our state’s alternative charter school authorizer. Listen to Pam Benigno
and CSI board chairman Alex Medler discuss the legal victory for parents and
charter schools on a new iVoices podcast.

While you’re downloading podcast interviews, you’ll also want to check out Ben
DeGrow’s interesting discussion with Online Elementary Teacher of the Year
Christina Narayan about what learning looks like for the early grades in
cyberschool.

For more:
Ed Is Watching, Civics Lesson: Colorado Supreme Court Asserts School Finance
Authority
GoBash, Colorado Supreme Court: No Hearing for Anti-Charter School Lawsuit
Ed Is Watching, Online Elementary Teacher of the Year Gives Cyberschool Sneak
Peek

Boulder Teachers Union Edges Closer to Costly Strike

After months of contentious negotiations, in late September the Boulder Valley
Education Association (BVEA) filed formal notice with the state of intention to
strike. The action doesn’t mean a strike is inevitable, but it does raise the stakes
—especially in slow economic times with high unemployment. Listen to Pam and
Ben discuss this development in the context of lessons from previous teacher
strikes on an iVoices podcast.

For more:
Ed Is Watching, If a Teacher Strike Comes, Will Boulder Learn Denver’s 1994
Lesson?
Ed Is Watching, Showdowns in Boulder, Greeley: Colorado Needs Professional
Teachers

Policy Resources at Your Fingertips … and More from Eddie

On October 15, the Education Policy Center hosted a school board candidates
briefing that launched some excellent discussions on a wide range of education
reform issues. We distributed electronic copies of a document with links to many
valuable resources on these issues—a document we now have made available
through the Scribd Web service. Please visit our Scribd page for a growing
number of documents, including an archive of our previous Education Policy
Center newsletters.
Meanwhile, our prodigious 5-year-old blogger Eddie has taken on many of the
same issues over the past month in his typically insightful and sometimes
provocative fashion:
Signs of Hopeful Political Shift as Families Rally for D.C. School Choice
ABCTE Serves Important Niche for Adults Switching to Teaching Career
Colorado Making Gains in Math Achievement, Still a Long Ways to Go
Of NEA, ACORN, Duncan and Electric Chairs: EIA is Back with a Bang
Just What You Get for Posting the “49th in K-12 Funding” Canard

Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: pam@i2i.org
phone: 303-279-6536
web:http://www.independenceinstitute.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~