Author: Erica Meltzer CHALKBEAT COLORADO

Colorado finally received approval for its federally mandated education plan Monday, one year and two revisions after the state first submitted it. Colorado’s plan was held up longer than any other state’s by a series of disagreements over the best way to measure student achievement, including how to count students who opt out of state…

Two Republican lawmakers who have long helped shape education policy in Colorado have introduced a bill that would bar teachers from striking and strip unions that endorse strikes of their bargaining power. This bill stands practically no chance of becoming law. House Democrats already killed a bill this legislative session that would have prohibited any…

Teachers from Colorado’s two largest school districts are planning back-to-back walkouts next week to call for more funding for education – and they could be joined by other districts. Jeffco Public Schools canceled classes for April 26, next Thursday, after many teachers there said they plan to go to the Capitol, while the union representing…

Colorado lawmakers have responded to demands to make schools safer with a plan to spend $35 million on school security, including school resource officers. Proponents of this idea see it as basic common sense that having armed law enforcement on school grounds makes them safer – but opponents think they don’t make schools safer, especially for…

The Joint Budget Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to include $35 million for school safety programs in Colorado’s 2018-19 budget. In doing so, they laid out guidelines for how the money can be used that alleviate one of the major concerns of opponents. Both the House and the Senate voted to include a large allocation…

Former state Sen. Mike Johnston, known as an architect of the state’s most sweeping education reforms, says that what Colorado’s schools really need is money. Now a Democratic candidate for governor, Johnston released an education platform this week that hinges on a major tax reform and calls for free full-day kindergarten, more access to preschool,…

Teachers from West Virginia to Oklahoma and Kentucky have staged protests or walked off the job in recent weeks to agitate for better pay and more money for their schools. But the teachers who are the most underpaid in the nation – at least when compared to their peers with similar education levels – are in Colorado.…

Lawmakers are looking to rein in Colorado’s early college programs as districts have expanded their offerings in ways that encourage students to stay in high school for a fifth and sixth year, on the state’s dime. The same law that created Colorado’s concurrent enrollment program, which allows students to take college courses while in high…

Colorado lawmakers agreed late Wednesday to spend $35 million next year on police officers in schools and security upgrades to school buildings. It was the most significant change to the state’s $28.9 million budget in hours of debate Wednesday, and it represents a major allocation to schools in a year when lawmakers touted a $150 million…