What’s churning:
Expect a busy day in the K-12 world as Douglas County school board members vote on vouchers, Denver mayoral candidates discuss K-12 education and Gov. John Hickenlooper joins U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan for a conference call on education reform.
We’ll report on it all – in fact, we’re delaying our usual Tuesday newsletter until Wednesday – but here are details about the when and where:
2 p.m. – Hickenlooper joins Duncan’s conference call on education reform. According to the media advisory, Hickenlooper and Duncan “will discuss the importance of improving and reforming our education system in Colorado and across the country.” It also lists the talk as “following President Obama’s speech,” apparently referring to Obama’s speech Monday at a Virginia middle school, in which he called for an overhaul of the No Child Left Behind law before fall. Check the New York Times story on the speech.
5:30 p.m. – Denver’s mayoral candidates gather at East High School to discuss “their priorities for Denver’s public schools,” according to the invite. Eli Stokols of Fox31 and Cynthia Hessin of Rocky Mountain PBS will moderate. At least six of the ten candidates are confirmed to show – Carol Boigon, Michael Hancock, Doug Linkhart, James Mejia, Chris Romer and Theresa Spahn. Sponsors include Get Smart Schools, Ed Reform Now, Colorado Children’s Campaign, A+ Denver, Stand for Children, Democrats for Education Reform, Colorado League of Charter Schools and the DPS Foundation. Several of the same groups recently surveyed six candidates and four responded in full.
6:35 p.m. – The Douglas County school board meets in closed executive session at 5 p.m. at district headquarters, 620 Wilcox St. in Castle Rock, and they’ve set 6:35 p.m. as the time they’ll emerge and begin the public portion of the evening. Public comment is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. and a vote on the resolution to approve the Choice Scholarship Program, also known as vouchers, is set at 8 p.m. Read the latest version of the program and see EdNews’ latest story on the voucher pilot, including links to prior coverage.
What’s on tap:
The Jefferson County school board holds a special meeting on state legislation at 7:30 a.m. in room 354 at the state Capitol. Agenda.
The Aurora school board meets at 6 p.m. in the Educational Services Center, 1085 Peoria St. Agenda.
Good reads from elsewhere:
Concurrent enrollment: Many students taking advantage of free college classes already on track to succeed. Denver Post.