Tuesday Churn: Mesa name is …

Updated 2:30 p.m. – Metro State College trustees voted unanimously today to recommend changing the school’s name to Colorado Mesa University.

Originally 60 names were suggested, a list that was winnowed to eight finalists. According to a college news release, “The eight finalists were then examined by way of selection criteria including which of the names were strongest in communicating the history and heritage of the institution and the region, which best identified the location of the institution and which options provided the strongest foundation for brand clarity, perception and equity.”

The name change is subject to legislative approval.

Find out more about the process on the college’s name change website.

Metro State College recently slowed its drive for a new name because of objections by the private University of Denver that the preferred new name for Metro – Denver State University – would create confusion between the two institutions.

Mesa and Metro are interested in names that include “university” because of recent expansion of graduate programs at both institutions and because of a desire to raise their profiles and status.

Updated 11:45 a.m. – Teach for America today announced a $4 million, four-year gift from the Anschutz Foundation that will be used to expand TFA’s work in Colorado. The donation is the lead gift in a campaign to raise $20 million from Colorado supporters.

The group hopes to raise the size of its teacher corps in Colorado to 800 and grow its alumni network to 1,500 by 2014-15. The group currently has 260 members in the state. News release.

What’s churning:

Denver Public Schools officials must be feeling optimistic about the reduction in the cuts expected in state K-12 funding for next year. Monday night, they announced they have decided to restore a total of $10 million in funding that had been placed in a contingency fund, subject to state and district budgets being finalized.

DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg said that with the release of these funds, Denver schools will, on average, receive an approximately 3 percent increase in their 2011-12 budgets over the 2010-2011 school year. Some schools may still see less money, however, if their enrollments decline.

And in other DPS news, administrator Allegra “Happy” Haynes has announced she is leaving the district to pursue the at-large position on the Denver school board that will become vacant with the departure of  Theresa Peña, who is term-limited. Haynes, who served 13 years on the Denver City Council, including as its president, joined DPS in 2005 as assistant to then-Superintendent Michael Bennet to work on community partnerships. Her current title is Chief Community Engagement Officer. Her last day is May 11; Yana Smith has been named to take her place.

Three of seven seats on the Denver school board are up in November – Peña representing at-large, Bruce Hoyt representing Southeast Denver and Arturo Jimenez representing Northwest Denver.

What’s on tap:

The Boulder Valley school board meets at 6 p.m. in the Education Center at 6500 East Arapahoe Road, Boulder. Agenda.

Good reads from elsewhere:

Watering down? More high school students report taking advanced courses but achievement on national tests doesn’t reflect increased skills. New York Times.