Author: Paula Noonan
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Educate Denver’s ‘nuanced’ critique of Denver schools lacks just that, endangers district | NOONAN
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…
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Adams 14 takes on tall odds to serve its kids | NOONAN
Adams County 14 School District has been the little dog in a fight with big dogs for over a decade. It has 5200 plus students in a district with Suncor Oil and Gas Refinery as its oversized neighbor. It’s in the middle of a school board election that may determine whether the district maintains its…
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Choice alone not the answer for Colorado’s education inequities | NOONAN
Autumn is always welcome. The heat drops but it’s still warm; trees brighten but the leaves hold; tomatoes redden and late garden greens come up. In odd years like 2025, fall also means school board elections which have turned into brawls in certain parts of the state. Denver Public Schools’ board elections are always contentious.…
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What does it mean to be a man, and to be a woman, today? | NOONAN
Richard Reeves, a Brit expert on masculinity, investigates what it means to be a man today. He is commenting on the number of men under 40 who are scrambling to find their masculinity and humanity in the face of women’s advances into the world of work and home. American opinion writers have weighed in on…
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A special session to settle on a ‘secret sauce’ for statewide AI regulation | NOONAN
The biggest muddle at the Capitol during the “extraordinary session” of the General Assembly was not money, that is, the $750 million blowhole in the state’s budget due, more or less, to the nation’s federal tax cuts. It was what to do with artificial intelligence, or AI. The muddle doesn’t affect AI’s mundane uses, such…
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Wily weeds win the day in Dougco due to callous commishes | NOONAN
One of the most important responsibilities of government at every level is to deliver trustworthy decisions. Leave it to today’s Douglas County commissioners, the men who lost 70% to 30% in their attempt to transform Douglas County into a home-rule county, to once again make opaque decisions, ignoring pressing needs in the county. In an…
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Feckless leaders make outrageous decisions | NOONAN
Paula Noonan We are now 80 years plus one day beyond Hiroshima and 80 years minus two days from Nagasaki, the “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” atomic bombs that killed more than 300,000 people within an instant to a year. We are roughly 80 years plus three months from the 200,000 killed in Berlin over…
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Colorado education destined for dust heap down Polis’ ‘roadmap’ to success | NOONAN
Paula Noonan “Let’s Get Ready!” This is the headline for Gov. Jared Polis’ roadmap for governors across the nation to prepare kids — not for life, exactly, but for college and work. “Success” is the ultimate goal. “Success” means community well-being and U.S. economic competitiveness with education as the basis for this achievement. The governor’s roadmap…
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Deep dives on the records of gubernatorial front-runners Bennet, Weiser | NOONAN
Paula Noonan The Democratic races in the state primaries in June of 2026 will decide the elections for most statewide offices. The top competition is between current Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. There’s no time like the present to begin the analysis of who has the most promising record for…
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Trump cuts take toll on Colorado schoolkids | NOONAN
Paula Noonan Trump’s goop has hit the fan and educators and students will feel the spray. The Trump administration is withholding $80 million from Colorado’s school districts. The withholdings affect important programs helping non-English-speaking students. That’s not a surprise. The lost dollars also impact teacher professional development and projects supporting students with disabilities. Let’s examine…