Quite a week

Secret doesn’t stay in Vegas

Education Commissioner Dwight Jones confirmed Thursday that he’s one of three finalists for superintendent of the Clark County Schools in Las Vegas, the nation’s fifth largest district. If Jones is offered the job and accepts it, he will be the third major state education figure to leave the scene this year. Gov. Bill Ritter and Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, of course, aren’t running for re-election. Story

Distracted board stays on task

Despite the presumed strain of trying to keep Jones’ secret all day Thursday, the State Board of Education got a lot done, including handling a sensitive charter school case and passing resolutions opposing amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101. Story

On Wednesday, the board got an intriguing glimpse at what a new state testing system might look like and approved more innovation applications from the Denver Public Schools. Story

Charters at both top and bottom of DPS ratings

The number of all Denver schools receiving the lowest rating on the School Performance Framework has dropped by half since 2008. Story

Campaign pace picks up

There’s a lot more going on in the 2010 election than all those irritating Senate ads. Learn more about races and issues of interest to education in our Election Data Center.

Gubernatorial candidates John Hickenlooper and Don Maes talked about education and children’s issues at a forum sponsored this week by the Colorado Children’s Campaign and The Children’s Hospital. Our partners at 9News have several video clips.

Skimmed from the Churn

Outgoing House Speaker Terrance Carroll is the new chair of A+ Denver (second item) … election officials have rejected the paperwork for the second attempt to recall DPS board member Andrea Merida.

Read the Daily Churn every weekday to stay current on education news.

From the blog

Upcoming

MONDAY – The legislative Joint Budget Committee convenes at 9 a.m. to receive the latest quarterly state revenue forecasts. The news isn’t expected to be good, and school districts already have been quietly warned to prepare for mid-year budget cuts. The meeting will be in room A of the Legislative Services Building, East 14th Avenue at Sherman St. JBC member Sen. Al White recently warned a Western Slope school board that the legislature may have to make $900 million in cuts to the 2011-12 budget.

TUESDAY – The Douglas County school board meets at 5 p.m. at American Academy in Castle Pines … the Aurora school board meets at 6 p.m. at 1085 Peoria St.

WEDNESDAY – The Higher Education Strategic Planning Steering Committee meets from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Department of Higher Education, 1560 Broadway. The panel is expected to discuss a revised draft of its proposed plan (text of current draft plan).

Around the state

Brenda Smith, president of the American Federation of Teachers-Colorado, has been named to the State Council on Educator Effectiveness. She’s the first AFT member on a body that includes three members active in the Colorado Education Association. The CEA opposed and AFT supported Senate Bill 10-191, the controversial educator effectivness law that authorized the council. Smith replaces Aurora teacher Nikkie Felix, who resigned because of schedule conflicts.

Around the nation

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