News
Education reform news, opinion editorials, interviews, and more from the Ready Colorado team and other partners.
Fordham Institute: Mind the honesty gap [Opinion]
“A new report from the Collaborative for Student Success aims to refocus attention on the “honesty gap” in the wake of the latest (and disastrous) NAEP results. This longstanding issue is no longer just a policy concern—it’s a glaring failure of accountability.”
Edunomics Lab: Colorado: Change in Spending Alongside Reading & Math Outcomes [Research]
Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab examined return-on-investment education data in Colorado from 2013 to 2024, comparing NAEP 4th-grade reading and 8th-grade math scores with per-student spending to assess effectiveness in using funds to drive academic progress.
AEI: State Governments Could Do More to Hire for Skills, Not Degrees [Research]
“One example is Colorado: in addition to enacting skills-based hiring, the state also created an apprenticeship program to train up workers without college degrees for state government jobs.”
Education Next: Low-Performing Students Fall Farther Behind the Pack [Research]
“The NAEP results make clear the failure of American schools to rebound from Covid. And despite the infusion of over $180 billion in federal money to rescue American schools since the pandemic, there is no evidence of a turnaround.”
Education Next: Ugly NAEP Results Are a Reminder That Schools Have Lost the Plot [Research]
“It strikes me that this captures much of the past decade-plus in education. In that time, a whole swath of intellectuals, advocates, and funders concluded that things like orderly classrooms, academic rigor, outcome accountability, gifted education, and even numeracy were overrated.”
Charter Folk: Say It Loud [Opinion]
Derrell Bradford reminds us that charter schools were designed to challenge the one-size-fits-all education system, breaking free from ZIP code-based schools to give families real choices.
Yazmin Navarro wins the CD8 seat to secure a pro-school choice majority on the State Board of Education
LITTLETON, Colo - Ready Colorado celebrates the victory of Republican candidate Yazmin Navarro in...
Chalkbeat: Colorado State Board of Education election results: Republicans hold lead over Democrats [News]
Republicans are poised to net another seat on the Colorado State Board of Education after last week’s election. State elections returns on Monday show Republicans are leading the three contested races, including in the highly competitive Congressional District 8.
Brenda Dickhoner on Dan Caplis – Amendment 80
Brenda Dickhoner, President and CEO of Ready Colorado joins Dan to discuss her staunch support of Amendment 80, enshrining school choice in the state constitution.
Fordham Institute: Mind the honesty gap [Opinion]
“A new report from the Collaborative for Student Success aims to refocus attention on the “honesty gap” in the wake of the latest (and disastrous) NAEP results. This longstanding issue is no longer just a policy concern—it’s a glaring failure of accountability.”
Edunomics Lab: Colorado: Change in Spending Alongside Reading & Math Outcomes [Research]
Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab examined return-on-investment education data in Colorado from 2013 to 2024, comparing NAEP 4th-grade reading and 8th-grade math scores with per-student spending to assess effectiveness in using funds to drive academic progress.
AEI: State Governments Could Do More to Hire for Skills, Not Degrees [Research]
“One example is Colorado: in addition to enacting skills-based hiring, the state also created an apprenticeship program to train up workers without college degrees for state government jobs.”
Education Next: Low-Performing Students Fall Farther Behind the Pack [Research]
“The NAEP results make clear the failure of American schools to rebound from Covid. And despite the infusion of over $180 billion in federal money to rescue American schools since the pandemic, there is no evidence of a turnaround.”
Education Next: Ugly NAEP Results Are a Reminder That Schools Have Lost the Plot [Research]
“It strikes me that this captures much of the past decade-plus in education. In that time, a whole swath of intellectuals, advocates, and funders concluded that things like orderly classrooms, academic rigor, outcome accountability, gifted education, and even numeracy were overrated.”
Charter Folk: Say It Loud [Opinion]
Derrell Bradford reminds us that charter schools were designed to challenge the one-size-fits-all education system, breaking free from ZIP code-based schools to give families real choices.
Chalkbeat: Colorado State Board of Education election results: Republicans hold lead over Democrats [News]
Republicans are poised to net another seat on the Colorado State Board of Education after last week’s election. State elections returns on Monday show Republicans are leading the three contested races, including in the highly competitive Congressional District 8.
Summit Daily: Amendment 80 aims to add school choice to Colorado’s Constitution, but what will it change? [News]
The ballot measure has drawn the attention — and funding — of several political groups for its divisive interpretation.
Colorado Politics: Let’s protect our children and stand up for our school choice rights [Opinion]
“Colorado was once at the national vanguard of expanding school choice. Now we can be a leader again by protecting our school choice rights in the state constitution and voting yes on Amendment 80.”
CEA— anti-capitalist, out of touch
This week, news broke that the Colorado Education Association (CEA) — also known as the state’s largest teachers union — came out against capitalism with a resolution claiming that our free market system of economics is incompatible with fighting systemic racism, the patriarchy, educational inequality, and income inequality, amongst other societal ills.
Charter school focused on black students challenged
Do Black students matter to school board members? Apparently not if you’re a school board member backed by the teachers union, if a recent charter school battle in Denver is any indication.
Bees matter; Colorado’s kids matter more
Which of the following do you think was the funding priority of the Democratic majority for the recently completed legislative session in Colorado: yet another study on bees or grants for schools to help kids learn math?
Families & Kids Have Been Flexible with Every COVID Curveball. Schools Haven’t Been Nearly as Nimble. Time to Start Funding Families & Students Directly
The COVID-19 pandemic, which began as a shock to our lives in 2020 and continues to affect everything we do as a nation, changed the fabric and rituals of daily life across this country.
Kids need open schools, a ride — and a choice
We’ve failed our children for far too long. The numbers are so astonishing it’s hard to even process what this means for our students and our society as a whole.
Brenda Dickhoner on Dan Caplis – Amendment 80
Brenda Dickhoner, President and CEO of Ready Colorado joins Dan to discuss her staunch support of Amendment 80, enshrining school choice in the state constitution.
Brenda Dickhoner on Ross Kaminsky – Amendment 80
Brenda Dickhoner, President and CEO of Ready Colorado, discusses Amendment 80 which would make school choice a state constitutional right.
Yazmin Navarro wins the CD8 seat to secure a pro-school choice majority on the State Board of Education
LITTLETON, Colo - Ready Colorado celebrates the victory of Republican candidate Yazmin Navarro in...
Anti-charter bill, HB24-1363, is defeated in first committee hearing
PHOTO: Pictured from left to right is Stephen Bartholomew, Executive Director of New Legacy...
Ready Colorado Signs on with a Bipartisan Coalition to Oppose
DENVER - This week, Ready Colorado signed onto a joint statement in opposition to House...
State Board Indicates They Will Take Away Innovative School Choice Options From Families
DENVER - This week, the State Board of Education considered rule changes that, if implemented,...
Ready Colorado Urges “No” Vote on Proposition HH
Ready Colorado, the state’s leading conservative school choice and education reform advocacy group announced today that it is formally opposing Proposition HH, which will appear on Coloradans’ 2023 general election ballot this November.
Adams 14 School Board Fails Kids and Community, Deprives Them of High-Quality Education
Adams 14 School Board rejects U Prep contract despite approving charter school last year.
Teachers Union Support Collapses, Parents Vehemently Oppose Remote Learning
New poll by Ready Colorado shows dramatic shifts in public opinion on K-12 education