Amy Oliver Show: Denver Teachers Judged on Encouraging Social Activism
In this clip from the August 30 Amy Oliver Show, Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno discusses controversial new language in Denver Public Schools’ evaluation framework that gives the highest rating to teachers who encourage students to “challenge and question the dominant culture” and “work for social justice.”
Please Don’t Send a Class of Little Eddies on an Occupy Denver Field Trip!
Should Denver Public Schools use its evaluation system to give teachers the highest rating for encouraging students to “challenge and question the dominant culture” and “work for social justice”? Little Eddie shares an imaginary scenario of a teacher taking his class on a field trip to Occupy Denver. It’s not clear what exactly the language means, but it clearly doesn’t sound like the appropriate role for a teacher! DPS high school teacher John Peterson, who told his story to 9News education reporter Nelson Garcia, certainly agrees.
Pam Benigno Challenges Political Agenda in Denver Teacher Evaluations
On Wednesday, August 29, Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno told Denver 9News education reporter Nelson Garcia that it’s an “abuse of power” for Denver Public Schools (DPS) to rate teachers in a way that can “promote a political agenda.” Click the image below to read the story and watch the video. According to DPS’ […]
Romney and Obama: Both Wrong on Medicare
With both campaigns peddling the idea that any cuts to Medicare, now or in the future, are automatically a bad thing, we run the risk of poisoning the well for any future reform of the system. Continue reading
Bloomberg: Taxpayers Gouged by Transit
Bloomberg News, or at least a writer named Stephen Smith, has discovered that the transit industry is gouging taxpayers with its schemes for high-cost rail transit and high-speed rail. Smith says there are two causes for this gouging. First, “agencies can’t keep their private contractors in check,” and instead hire “consultants who consultant with consultants […]
Teachers or Union Politics? A (Brief) Colorado Tale of Two Recognitions
Have you ever played the “one of these things is not like the other” game with only two things? The results usually are neither too difficult nor surprising. But playing a quick game, like we’re about to do, can still be informative in its own way.
Okay, let’s go. The first item comes compliments of the […]
One page summary against Obamacare
A new issue paper by Linda Gorman of the Independence Institute: “The Real Cost of ObamaCare: The End Of Reforms Promising Personal, Private, Portable, Affordable Health Care” Continue reading
Is Amtrak Cheaper Than Flying?
The London Telegraph reports that flying is less expensive than taking the train in about half the routes in Britain. This shouldn’t be a surprise: trains require far more infrastructure than planes and maintaining that infrastructure is expensive. Passenger trains in the United States have an advantage over those in Britain: the former share most […]
Charter School Paradox Makes Case For Adding Private Educational Choice
A quick hit this afternoon. The Cato Institute’s Adam Schaeffer today has released the summary of a new data analysis by RAND Corporation economist Richard Buddin, seeking to explain what he calls “The Charter School Paradox”:
On average, charter schools may marginally improve the public education system, but in the process they are wreaking havoc on […]
Amy Oliver Show: Dougco Schools Launches Parent-Friendly App
On the second hour of the August 28 Amy Oliver Show, guest-host senior policy analyst Ben DeGrow discusses Douglas County School District’s innovative parent-friendly mobile electronic app with local mom Sandy Haworth and superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Fagen. The story of the Dougco schools’ new app was recently covered by Denver 9News education reporter Nelson Garcia. […]
Ten Myths in the Medicare Ad Wars
Instead of a “serious national discussion about the future of Medicare. What we are getting instead is something akin to school yard taunts.” Get the facts from health policy expert John C. Goodman Continue reading
What Would Drive Families to Deceive to Get a Child into Aspen Schools?
A little over 18 months ago, a story broke out of Ohio that a mom was charged with a felony for falsifying information about where she lived to get her daughter into a different public school. Neither Kelley Williams-Bolar nor any other parent should be forced to choose between finding a better education and obeying […]
