ProgressNow.org Daily News Digest

Schroeder to fill vacant state ed board seat : Schools : Boulder Daily Camera

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/dec/23/schroeder-fill-vacant-state-ed-board-seat/ Former Boulder Valley school board member Angelika Schroeder has been chosen to fill a vacant seat on the state Board of Education. She will represent the 2nd Congressional District, filling the seat vacated by Evie Hudak, who was elected to the Colorado Senate in November. Schroeder will begin serving on the state board in January.

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Legislature 2009: Tweaking existing programs on agenda : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/02/school-overhaul-not-in-09/ School reform measures in 2009 are more likely to tweak existing programs than introduce new reform. "I don't think the legislature ought to second-guess the whole process that we have put in motion last year," said Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. "I know there's always a real danger in that." Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, House education committee chairman, wants to boost the number of high school students who take community college courses. The idea has been on the books since the late 1980s, but has foundered amid squabbling about whether funding should come from the public school budget or higher education budget.

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Free us or fund us, say colleges - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_11352703 Several prominent college leaders want lawmakers to step aside and allow them to raise the price of tuition as they see fit — especially with severe state budget cuts looming. University of Colorado president Bruce Benson — with presidents at other schools lining up behind him — is urging the legislature to loosen regulations that public colleges and universities have to abide by in doing business every day. Benson believes the schools could save money and time if they could make decisions for themselves and not have to run everything through the loop of the legislature and the state Department of Higher Education. Most important for parents and students is the presidents' desire to raise in-state tuition rates without permission from the governor or lawmakers. The push comes out of frustration among colleges that the $812 million higher education gets from the state is the most vulnerable when lawmakers need to find budget cuts.

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Frank: CSU layoffs likely | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan,

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090105/NEWS01/901050329/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 The CEO of Larimer County's largest employer is preparing plans for layoffs this year. Interim CSU President Tony Frank said he believes there will have to be staff reductions at Colorado State University in 2009. Excluding graduate students or post-doctoral researchers, CSU has about 5,690 employees, from professors and research associates to administrative assistants, maintenance workers and police officers. "There are tough times ahead, and there will probably be people at the institution we'll probably have to let go," Frank said. "The university is in very good shape financially. There will be tough times ahead, but we've been through tough times before." Frank said state lawmakers are relatively limited in what they can do to balance the Colorado budget, and that means cuts to higher-education funding from taxpayers is likely. CSU's annual budget is about $820 million.

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CSU’s president preparing staff for more cutbacks - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_11368690 Interim Colorado State University President Tony Frank is preparing his staff for cuts, including layoffs, as the state faces a budget shortfall of roughly $600 million or more. Frank says lawmakers are limited in what they can do to balance the budget and that cuts to higher education funding are likely. He says it is too early to say how many layoffs might be necessary. Frank has already pared $1.5 million by eliminating two administrative positions. Most hiring has been frozen. Colorado State's annual budget is about $820 million. The school has about 5,690 employees, not including graduate students or postdoctoral researchers.

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DPS board considering where to look for Bennet’s successor - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_11363675 Denver Public Schools officials are considering whether to look within or search elsewhere to replace outgoing Superintendent Michael Bennet. The seven-member elected school board met Saturday night in private session to discuss the selection process. "The key criteria for the board is continuity and stability," said Theresa Peña, board president. "The real tragedy in urban education is new superintendent, new reforms and you start all over. What happens in that whole pendulum swing is teachers get screwed and kids' education is compromised." The goal, Peña said, is to maintain the district's focus on improving achievement.

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DPS ponders post-Bennet scenario : More Politics : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/03/dps-ponders-post-bennet-scenario/ If the political musical chairs fall into place in such a way that will land Michael Bennet in the U.S. Senate, two of the three top spots in Denver Public Schools will be vacant. DPS has been without a chief academic officer since the September departure of Jaime Aquino. If Bennet leaves the superintendent's seat, that leaves only Chief Operating Officer Tom Boasberg in a top job. Boasberg is also, by several accounts, the person expected to be tapped to take Bennet's seat. "I think that continuity is really critical," said School Board President Theresa Pena. "We would look very seriously at any internal candidate." Pena has called a board meeting for 5 p.m. today, three hours after Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to announce he is appointing Bennet to the Senate seat.

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CSU interim president shows boldness | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan,

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090104/NEWS01/901040341/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 Tony Frank is certainly not acting like a placeholder as the interim CSU president. In the approximately eight weeks he's been in charge, Frank, the interim leader of Colorado State University, has slashed $1.5 million in university spending and put the campus police chief on indefinite administrative leave. He's also warned that spending and staffing cuts may be coming. And he's done it all virtually without public complaints from CSU's faculty, staff, students or hordes of graduates normally eager to second-guess university decisions. "I've probably been lucky. I'm sure there are some (critics)," Frank said. "I think there's a bit of a honeymoon period, when people are willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

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News : Mesa State sees increased enrollment (Montrose, CO)

http://montrosepress.com/articles/2009/01/05/news/doc496009bc6708a350921344.txt Young people are continuing to hit the books. After setting an all-time high enrollment record of 6,261 for the fall 2008 semester since the college's opening in 1925, Mesa State is still seeing improved numbers. The college offers a one-month class program during January and Mesa State saw its enrollment increase this year for the January semester, up to 521 from 404 students in Jan. 2008.

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Many Greeley graduates rely on remedial work | GreeleyTribune.com

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090105/NEWS/901049949/1002/NONE Many students fresh out of Greeley’s high schools are finding college to be an exercise in relearning old material. As many as half the students need remedial classes in reading, writing or math when they attend college, according to a recent report by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. Students leaving Northridge High School for college rank among the worst in Greeley-Evans School District 6, according to the annual report, released in mid-December. Nearly 52 percent of the school’s first-year students in college needed the remedial courses. Greeley Central High School is next, with about 46 percent of the students requiring the makeup courses, followed by Greeley West High School, with about 34 percent. Statewide, about 30 percent of all students needed the remedial courses in one of the three disciplines, leading David Skaggs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, to declare the study “a reality check.”

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CU program measures learning click by click : Education : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/02/cu-program-measures-learning-click-click/ University of Colorado students actually are learning things in class, and researchers have the data, the evidence and the clickers to prove it. Clickers are a way for professors to determine whether a concept they just taught is understood. How many think the correct answer is A? B? C? Students press a button on their clickers to record their choices, and the results appear immediately on the prof's laptop in the front of the classroom. But the worry always has been that students simply go along with what the smart student sitting nearby thinks.

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Durango Herald News, 9-R’s budget gets squeezed in deficit year

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/01/04/9Rs_budget_gets_squeezed_in_deficit_year/ Durango School District 9-R's recently announced changes to Kids Kamp, the district's after-school program, are only the most visible sign of an increasingly tight budget. Southwest Colorado's largest school district again is operating under a deficit budget this year. District 9-R expects to spend $306,000 more this year than it takes in, out of a $39 million budget. For years, 9-R has slowly spent down its fund balance, a reserve it must keep by state law and district policy. By the end of 2008-09, 9-R's fund balance is expected to slip to less than $4.2 million. At 10.65 percent of the total budget, that is barely more than the district's board-required minimum of 10 percent. State law requires a minimum 3 percent fund balance.

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Parents speak up about school lunches : Schools : Boulder Daily Camera

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jan/05/parents-speak-up-about-school-lunches/ More than a quarter of the parents who responded to a Boulder Valley school-food survey said their child won't eat cafeteria cuisine more often if it's more nutritious and tastier, while 18 percent said their kids might eat school food every day if it improves. About 20 percent of the 4,232 families that responded to the nutrition-services survey said better food might prompt their kids to eat school lunch two more days a week. Boulder Valley parent Celeste Landry said her daughters -- who never eat school food -- might start buying hot lunch daily if it becomes healthier and tasted better. "We would love it," Landry said. "Packing a lunch is not something I want to do first thing in the morning."

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University leaders balk at idea of going private - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_11266933 Higher-education leaders reacted coolly Thursday to a lawmaker's suggestion that colleges and universities could go it alone without state funding. The comments came at a meeting of the legislature's Joint Budget Committee, where leaders from various universities and colleges responded to the idea from Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland. He had asked institutions how they would operate if they didn't have state support. Marostica appeared to be the only lawmaker on the six-member panel entertaining the notion. University of Colorado president Bruce Benson was among higher-education leaders who spoke at the hearing. He said higher-education funding represented 30 percent of the state's budget in the early 1970s but now accounts for only about 10 percent. Benson said Coloradans need to hold higher education in greater esteem "like they do in California or on the East Coast." He said that higher education in Colorado, adjusted for inflation, is getting less than what it received before the last recession.

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Gov. Ritter backs 9% tuition hike : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/dec/18/tuition-hikes-store-colorado-college-students/ Colorado college students will likely face another round of tuition increases next year as the state struggles to come up with more public funding. Gov. Bill Ritter and the state Department of Higher Education are suggesting a 9 percent hike at the research universities, such as the University of Colorado and Colorado State University. In-state students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences at CU now pay $5,922 a year in tuition. Other four-year schools would see a 7 percent increase, while rates would go up 5 percent at community colleges. It appears that the governor’s earlier $30 million proposed budget increase for higher education will be scaled back or scrapped because of the recession. Higher-education leaders on Thursday met with the Joint Budget Committee to discuss budget requests for the upcoming school year. “We can’t afford you anymore,” state Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, told the higher education leaders.

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Colorado college tuition likely to rise next year : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/18/tuition-hikes-store-colorado-college-students/ The state's financial problems could bring another round of tuition increases for colleges, lawmakers told higher education officials Thursday. The budget increase submitted by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education faces no chance of approval, members of the legislature's Joint Budget Committee said. "We can't afford you anymore," said Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, a committee member. The comment came during a meeting between college leaders and lawmakers to discuss budget requests for the 2009-10 school year. Gov. Bill Ritter has already warned that the budget will be tight as the national recession deepens. A formal revenue estimate will be presented to the committee Friday.

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UNC board first to call for ‘tuition equity’ law | GreeleyTribune.com

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20081219/NEWS/812199996/1002/NONE Arguing that higher education is beyond reach for many Latino students in Colorado, the University of Northern Colorado board of trustees passed a resolution supporting legislation that would grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Last week, the board voted unanimously to support “tuition equity” for all in-state students. The trustees are believed to be the first college governing board in Colorado to take a public position before an in-state tuition bill is expected to be introduced next session. UNC trustees and supporters say tuition equity would improve access to college, thereby reducing high school dropout rates and powering the economy with a more educated work force. However, at least three other versions of the proposal have failed in the statehouse, most recently a bill that died in the appropriations committee in 2005.

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DPS backs ‘tuition equity’ : Education : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/19/dps-backs-tuition-equity/ Denver Public Schools board members on Thursday put their support behind a change in state law that would allow undocumented students to pay less for college. Board members voted 6-0 - with one member absent - in favor of a resolution for "tuition equity." The resolution, which was passed Monday by the Denver City Council, calls for in-state tuition rates for children who were brought to the U.S. illegally and who have since graduated from Colorado high schools. Because those students don't have legal citizenship, they now must pay out-of-state tuition rates. Those rates are usually at least double in-state rates.

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CU grads plunging into uncertain waters : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/dec/18/cu-grads-pluging-uncertain-waters/ As 2,189 students receive their degrees at Friday’s University of Colorado commencement, many are coming to terms with a looming reality: They’re launching their post-collegiate careers in the midst of the worst economic crash since the Great Depression. “I’m definitely fearful,” said Melanie Whitten, an environmental design major. “Knowing how many higher-qualified people have been laid off recently makes (the job search) a lot scarier, as someone without as much experience or as wide a skill set as some of the other people now looking for work.” But a recent survey of employers could help temper the worries of new graduates. Employers say they will hire about as many new college graduates from the Class of 2009 as they did from the Class of 2008, according to a report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

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GJSentinel.com: Education one of a few bright spots in grim economy

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/12/18/121908_1a_education_outlook.html The employment outlook in a spiraling economy is dicey at best. Education is forecast to weather the storm fairly well in Colorado as the rest of the state settles into a recession in 2009, but the outlook for the education sector in Mesa County is a bit of a mixed bag. Colorado’s economic future is a grim picture, according to economist Richard Wobbekind of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. He predicts unemployment will rise from 5.5 percent at the end of 2008 to 6.5 percent in 2009. Local education is one of a few industries projected to increase jobs, Wobbekind said, by adding the bulk of 4,400 government jobs projected to come in 2009.

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It’s a family affair for Ritter family | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan,

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20081219/NEWS01/812190322/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 August Ritter will have a graduation experience that few graduates ever share. His father, Gov. Bill Ritter, will give the commencement speech. "A lot of parents, at the time of their graduation, offer advice to their sons and daughters, and the fact that my dad gets to offer advice in my commencement speech is pretty cool," Ritter said. But he joked that his father's speech wouldn't be easy. "I said to my dad, 'It can't be easy to offer a commencement speech in a recession,' " he said. Ritter will graduate from CSU today with a bachelor's degree in natural resource recreation and tourism with a double minor in Spanish and business administration. He accepted a position at The Travel Society LLC, a Denver-based travel company, and will begin Feb. 1.

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Graduation day finally here | coloradoan.com | The Coloradoan,

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20081219/NEWS01/812190321/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 After 15 years of envisioning the end goal, Scott Vycital will receive his college degree Saturday. Vycital, 33, an Iraq war veteran, will graduate with a degree in business accounting from CSU. "I don't think I ever had any doubt it was what I wanted to do, but I just had some searching to do," he said. Universitywide, 1,483 undergraduate and 340 graduate students will receive their diplomas today and Saturday during Colorado State University's winter commencement ceremonies. Gov. Bill Ritter is the keynote speaker at today's Warner College of Natural Resource's graduation.

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UCCS: Refusal to fund gay event biased | Gazette.com

http://www.gazette.com/articles/student_45079___article.html/williams_decisions.html University of Colorado at Colorado Springs officials on Thursday said that embattled student-body president David Williams did not act objectively in refusing to approve funding for a gay, lesbian and transgender student group event. Williams said he plans to appeal the decision to the Board of Regents, the governing body over the University of Colorado system. In November, the student Judicial Board found that Williams was not in violation of the school's mandate that student leaders be objective in making activity fee distribution decisions. Spectrum, a campus gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender student group, had applied for $2,100 for its National Coming Out Day observance in October. Williams argued that even though he did not give his approval, he also did not veto the budget request because he believes Spectrum is entitled to funding through the student government association. Because he didn't veto the request, it passed after five school days under the student constitution.

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The Pueblo Chieftain :: Grant to help improve students’ health

http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/12/19/news/local/doc494b8028d5ea6171108204.txt A group of parents at Irving Elementary School will work this year to improve health for children and their families, with the help of a grant from the Kellogg’s Corporate Citizenship Fund. Action for Healthy Kids is partnering with Pueblo City Schools to provide assistance to underserved schools to improve nutrition and physical activity policies and practices this school year. The focus this year in Colorado will be based at Irving Elementary School.

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Data show attendance dip on late-start day : Education : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/19/data-show-attendance-dip-on-late-start-day/ Attendance in Denver Public Schools was down across the city last Friday, when the district started classes three hours later so teachers could train together. But DPS staff told board members Thursday that the drop wasn't nearly as much as some had feared. "Overall, it was not dissimilar from any other days," said Happy Haynes, assistant to the superintendent. Haynes presented a report showing the district's overall attendance last Friday was 86.17 percent. That's a drop of nearly 3 percentage points from the previous Friday, when attendance was 88.93 percent.

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