Evan Semón/Chalkbeat
A bill introduced in the Colorado legislature would grant school districts broad discretion to turn down charter school applications if opening a new school would negatively affect long-range plans, enrollment, or district finances.
If successful, the change would represent a major shift in the balance of power between school districts and charter schools in a state with some of the most charter-friendly policies in the nation.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Jennifer Bacon, who also serves on the Denver school board, said declining enrollment in many school districts makes opening new schools more challenging, and that means charter law needs to change.
May 6, 2021, 4:09pm MDT
A bill introduced in the Colorado legislature would grant school districts broad discretion to turn down charter school applications if opening a new school would negatively affect long-range plans, enrollment, or district finances.
Subscribe
If successful, the change would represent a major shift in the balance of power between school districts and charter schools in a state with some of the most charter-friendly policies in the nation.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Jennifer Bacon, who also serves on the Denver school board, said declining enrollment in many school districts makes opening new schools more challenging, and that means charter law needs to change.
It came as some surprise for us to learn just how important early education is to a childâs life, especially for kids in low-income households, which are abundant in Mesa County.
Thereâs a growing body of evidence that preschool makes a huge difference in the lives of all children, not just at-risk children. Kids who get preschool graduate at a higher rate, earn more money as adults, save more, are unemployed less and sentenced to incarceration less often than kids who donât.
The state with some of the strongest data in this realm is Oklahoma, which fully pays for preschool for any 4-year-old whose parents want it. One enterprising Oklahoma lawmaker who believed in the promise of universal preschool (based on studies such as The Perry Preschool Project) essentially tricked the state legislature into passing his bill to provide an extra year of public schooling.
Colorado Education Interests Spend Millions On Lobbying Mostly To Retain, Gain Funding - Denver, CO - Education interests spent more than $20.5 million to lobby state government from July 2015 through March this year.
Jesse Paul / Colorado Sun
When she was a brand-new legislator besieged by lobbyists at the entrance to the Senate floor, state Sen. Rachel Zenzinger felt a tap on the shoulder from a man telling her she was late for her next committee. She rushed to the elevator, and the man accompanied her all the way to the committee room, securing several minutes of one-on-one time to make the case for his client’s bill.
When Zenzinger pushed open the door to the committee hearing room, there was no one else there. The meeting wasn’t even close to starting.
Now that Zenzinger serves as chair of the Senate Education Committee, education lobbyists don’t have to use creative tactics to get her attention. She meets weekly with key players ranging from the Colorado Education Association to Democrats for Education Reform to go over upcoming bills and hear their concerns.