BackboneAmerica

Running for a seat on the Colorado Board of Education almost two decades ago, I championed the idea of an accountability test. Little did I (more…)

I keep telling myself I like my job and love my students, but when the weather is mild, students’ behavior gets wild. And boy, could I use (more…)

State Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, is sponsoring SB-130, a pilot program for three charter schools serving autistic students. (more…)

“Charters fuel DPS growth,” said a Rocky headline this week. Why do public charter schools have waiting lists while (more…)

Apart from national defense, the two giants of the U.S. economy are health care and education. In terms of expenditure, number of (more…)

Colorado High School Charter, where I teach, has an amazing culture, says a former teacher who came back as our discipline coach (more…)

There is lots of demand these days for government to “create” results. But policies pandering to that are misguided. Whether (more…)

I miss Val. Val was an ornery girl when I first met her. I mistook her for a he because of her gender-bending style. But she kept me on my (more…)

In New York the teachers union wants to organize a couple of KIPP charter schools. That couldn’t be done in Denver without concessions (more…)

Mine was a circuitous route to the classroom. I initially planned on a teaching career, belonged to Future Teachers of America (more…)

Denver Public Schools has done it again: expedience versus quality leadership. In selecting chief financial officer Tom Boasberg (more…)

“That’s real economic stimulus,” says John Andrews about GOP tax-holiday proposals in the January round of Head On TV debates. Susan Barnes-Gelt prefers the Keynesian approach, arguing that “shovel-ready projects need funding.” John on the right, Susan on the left, also go at it this month (more…)

Individualizing the Colorado education dollar for each student, kindergarten through undergrad, deserves a hard look in 2009. Difficult? (more…)

“I can’t wait to get back to work!” Is she sick? Does she get paid $1000 an hour? That’s a no to both. I teach remedial education (more…)

Innovation by local educators! Reading of it was like a personal Christmas present to me. The background dates from 2002, when I began (more…)