Supreme Court has chance to end state university ethnic discrimination

By granting certiorari in Fisher v. University of Texas, the Supreme Court has a chance to correct one of the most obnoxious aspects of modern jurisprudence. By that I mean permission given to state universities—in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)—to use public resources to play racial and ethnic politics. I worked full time in public higher […]

Colorado K-12 Tax Hikes Challenged: Economy Squeezes Household Incomes Harder Than School Budgets

Five of Colorado’s nine largest school districts have placed property tax hikes on the fall 2012 ballot. Over the past decade all five of the tax-proposing school districts have significantly grown spending on “current” operating costs. From 2005 to 2010, median household incomes in all five counties covered by the five districts fell short of per-pupil school tax revenues. Asking voters to increase property taxes this year may not be an easy task.

“Parent Trigger” Debate Triggered as Won’t Back Down Movie Opens in Colorado

I’m getting too excited to wait much longer. Tonight is the special Colorado screening of Won’t Back Down, the new feature movie about empowering parents to improve failing schools. Put simply, it brings the “Parent Trigger” reform concept to the big screen.
So as you look forward to catching the movie, either tonight or when it […]

Privatize or Contract Out?

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) spends $50 million more than its peers on employee benefits, says KPMG in an audit of the agency. Reducing benefits to national average levels (easier said than done) and contracting out some services such as cleaning would allow MARTA to erase a $33 million deficit in its annual […]

Amy Oliver Show: Reforms vs. Tax Hikes in Jeffco Schools

Sheila Atwell, executive director of Jeffco Students First Action, makes a case for greater accountability in Colorado’s largest school district. She explains why the Jeffco Public Schools 3A and 3B tax hike proposals represent a misguided approach that burdens homeowners and business owners without the promise of better results.

Jerry Brown Tries the Google Car

California Governor Jerry Brown rode in a self-driving car with Google co-founder Sergey Brin on their way to Google headquarters, where Brown signed legislation creating a framework for introducing driverless cars into California by 2015. Meanwhile, automakers are incrementally automating driving with the introduction of a variety of new technologies. On October 23, Volvo and […]

Is This Conservative Alternative to Federal Education Policy Just Too Sensible?

Four months ago, while introducing you to the education policy blueprint of a major party presidential candidate, I noted that one of the hardest areas in which “it might be hard to make a contrast” between Obama and Romney is K-12 education.
Every time one of these major national elections comes up, serious questions and debates […]