Author: Debbie Kelley, The Gazette

Saying “one size does not fit all” when it comes to schooling children, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos touted while in Colorado Springs on Wednesday a federal-level proposal to expand “education freedom,” or school choice. “It’s the biggest, boldest plan yet for students,” DeVos told a crowd of 400 at an invitation-only 20th anniversary celebration…

More than 100 educators from across the state are expected to protest Wednesday’s appearance by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in Colorado Springs, particularly piqued by her support of voucher programs, charter schools and proposed cuts to federal education funding. DeVos is to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of Parents Challenge, a local nonprofit that provides…

Colorado’s battle over who should fix failing schools is widening. To the consternation of Colorado’s highest public education governing body, another teachers union filed a second lawsuit last week challenging state intervention in underperforming schools. School District 14 Classroom Teachers Association’s lawsuit filed Wednesday in Denver District Court seeks to overturn the Colorado State Board…

Still buoyed by signing 454 bills into law, the last of which was inked Monday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis stopped in Colorado Springs on Wednesday to tout the highlights of his first legislative session that concluded May 3. “Ninety-five percent of them were bipartisan – Democrats and Republicans working together to make Colorado better,” he…

Owen Chaffin, as he grew larger as a teen, punched holes in the walls of his family’s Littleton home with his head and feet. He shredded clothing, tore up books and broke three windows on the school bus. He kicked his mother in the back of the head one day while she was driving the…

A procedural misstep on the part of three Cripple Creek-Victor School District RE-1 board members protesting a recall movement led a hearing officer to order a recall election for Timothy Braun, Dennis Jones and Tonya Martin. But Braun and Jones disagree with the finding and filed a motion in the Fourth Judicial District Courthouse in…

As news of the University of Colorado Board of Regents’ 5-4 party-line vote Thursday to appoint former U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy as the 23rd president of the CU system spread across the Colorado Springs campus, reaction ranged from optimism to outrage. “I know there’s been a lot of controversy about him, but I’m excited to…

More than 6,000 signatures have been collected on an online petition by a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs student with Down syndrome calling for allowing students with intellectual disabilities who earn certificates to walk with students who earn degrees at commencement ceremonies. “Every student deserves to have the same opportunities as their friends and…