Author: Paula Noonan
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Giving thanks for the long-overdue Epstein reckoning | NOONAN
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Thanksgiving is the best holiday. No gifts required. Just family and friends around a table enjoying each other’s company, expressing gratitude for the good things in their lives. Some good things arrived recently in the form of the Epstein emails. They revealed names of individuals who engaged in a variety of communications with child sex…
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Commerce City proves a harsh political fighting ground | NOONAN
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It’s a common saying: money talks. Our campaign finance laws allow money to speak loud and clear. In recent municipal elections, the blandly named Metro Housing Coalition, an organization supporting homebuilders and related businesses, sent $146,000 in election campaign dollars to another blandly named entity, Housing for Colorado, an independent expenditure committee (IEC). Independent expenditure…
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The message cost-conscious Coloradans should take from Mamdani’s mayoral win | NOONAN
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So much lately is offered about what the Democratic and Republican parties need to do to win elections. Are Democrats too lefty and Republicans too far on the extreme right? These questions are wrong. The focus should be on what actions can elected officials take to improve prospects for Americans, especially us Coloradans. Baby-boomer Americans…
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Colorado’s 2025 election hints at future of state’s public education | NOONAN
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Swoosh — that’s the sound of money flushed down the toilet by Denver Families Action on their expensive-but-weak candidates for Denver Public Schools Board of Education. Bravo — that’s the sound of praise from Denver voters for Denver’s public-school teachers. The mission of Denver Families Action led by Clarence Burton and Pat Donovan was to…
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A cabal of candidates in the Denver school board election | NOONAN
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A gaggle of geese, a murder of crows, a conspiracy of lemurs — these are the collective nouns that describe these collections of animals. In the Denver Public Schools’ board election, Denver Families for Public Schools has given us its own version: a cabal of candidates. Four candidates received Denver Families’ endorsements on top of…
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Pro-charter confusion clouds Colorado’s 2025 school board elections | NOONAN
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Confusion is the game’s name when it comes to school board elections in 2025. With outside, dark money pouring into the Denver Public Schools (DPS) race and others around the state, it’s easy for voters to get turned around. According to Clarence Burton of ironically named Denver Families for Public Schools (DFPS) along with his…
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Podcasters flirt with ethics of picking winners and losers among Colorado’s students | NOONAN
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Podcasters beware. You may want to keep your inner thoughts to yourself. When you share them, someone may be listening. Alan Gottlieb of Boardhawk and former publisher of the education journal Chalkbeat, and his sidekick, Alexis Menocal Harrigan, have produced podcasts on the current Denver Public School board elections. Despite Gottlieb’s background as a journalist,…
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Policy leaders fan foundational flames of Colorado’s public ed blaze | NOONAN
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Smoke gets in your eyes when our leaders blow wildfire blasts to deflect from unhappy truths. Our public education foundations are ablaze, and too many of our public education policy leaders are fanning the flames. School board elections are some of the most important in our democracy. This timing offers an opportunity to put out…
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What’s going on with Colorado’s medical care nightmares? | NOONAN
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Emergency! Emergency! Nightmares with Colorado medical care! Even with health insurance, patients experience delays, postponements and stays in overnight overflow rooms at hospitals. MRI and other imaging procedures are scheduled weeks out as undiagnosed patients live with their symptoms. What’s going on? First, Coloradans should try to stay healthy. Second, the people delivering care are,…
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Educate Denver’s ‘nuanced’ critique of Denver schools lacks just that, endangers district | NOONAN
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Educate Denver, a self-appointed Denver Public Schools Debbie Downer group that rarely finds anything positive in public education in Denver’s schools, has produced a “nuanced” commentary on DPS’s 2025 academic performance. The authors, prominent Denverites, counter remarks from the school district that celebrate its hard-earned achievement of “green,” or accredited district status. Rob Stein, retired…
