|
Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 09:59:22 AM MDT
|
Once again, Colorado's failure to fund schools adequately is interfering with pioneering reform efforts. The Denver Post reports today:
[School Finance Act] Co-sponsor Rep. Christine Scanlan says the House Education Committee will begin scaling back plans to give cash bonuses to schools that boost achievement among their large populations of at-risk students. She plans to amend the bill to drop funding for so-called "centers of excellence" from $4.4 million to $2 million, dedicating the majority of what's left instead to programs that pay for outside help for struggling schools.
The move is in part a response to the $150 million the state plans to take from the K-12 education budget and partly thanks to worries that the bill as now written causes too much pain for small and struggling schools.
Working within a budget that is several sizes too small for the needs of Colorado's kids, the only way that funds can be freed up for valuable reforms like "centers of excellence" is to take funds from other schools and districts. In the case of the Senate version of the School Finance Act, the reforms were financed by reductions for small and declining enrollment districts that are already struggling to maintain their teaching corps and educational opportunities.
Do we want meaningful and sustainable reform? Do we want to upgrade our schools to 21st century standards? Is our goal a great education for every child, or just a system of triage that tries to maximize outcomes with the inadequate resources we've set aside for educating the next generation?
Colorado seems to be looking educational reform and quality on the cheap. How's that working out for us so far? |
| Great Ed :: Reform without resources (cont.) |
|
|
