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As Grand Junction’s children head back to school, you may notice some improvements, thanks to our new “Strengthen Our Schools” laws.
You’ll see more 4- and 5-year-olds in preschool and full-day kindergarten. Children who participate in high-quality preschool are far less likely to lag behind their classmates, repeat a grade or drop out. Yet too many families can’t afford such programs. So we made 25,000 additional slots available so more young minds than at any other time in Colorado’s history will start school ready to learn.
You’ll see safer local schools. Nearly 90 percent of the school districts in Colorado reported a health or safety problem in at least one of their facilities. So we decided it was time to “Build Excellent Schools Today.” The BEST Act is steering millions of dollars toward school repairs – the single largest investment in school construction in state history. We also created school safety resource centers to assist in preparing and responding to school crises.
There is more support for gifted students and those with dyslexia. New laws will help teachers identify highly gifted students as well as those who may need extra help. Our new laws will help kids with special needs excel to their full potential.
Also, there are more skills for students and more training for teachers. We are investing in teachers and encouraging schools to innovate. We’re providing incentives for college students to teach math and science after graduation. And we adopted an innovative blueprint for public education – the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids – to prepare all students for postsecondary work, either college or technical training.
I am proud to have supported these new laws; please contact me and let me know what you think of the changes you are seeing in Grand Junction’s schools.
REP. BERNIE BUESCHER
Grand Junction
One Response to “Results of ‘Strengthen Our Schools’”
Posted August 26th, 2008 at 12:39 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Mr. Buescher,
Many local residents are indeed concerned qabout the declining levels of student success in District 51. Regrettably, I am not sure the solutions passed by the legislature will result in any changes in those outcomes. My question for you, what in the new laws will cause any changes in the actions of district administrators and the Board of Education so that increases in student performance will move from dreams to reality?
What incentive is there in the new laws for any adult in D51 to change what they are doing to better meet the needs of students? Mandated change from Denver has produced plenty of data to show the current status of D51, but it has not resulted in any change in student outcomes.
A couple of suggestions:
– How about changing funding so the district is paid quarterly based on the number of students present that quarter (or the quarter before). Currently the district recieves funding based on the October count. The single count gives the district no incenitve to keep students in school. Indeed, the district recieves full year funding even if the student does not show up a single day after the October count. With a 30% dropout rate, the district obviously needs an incentive to change its actions so more students stay around.
– How about changing the state law so that local school boards may bargin with unions and establish ways to remove lower performing teachers from the classroom. The BOE currently says that state law prevents them from moving teachers who cannot teach out of the classroom. The district has the data to identify teachers who have low performance for years, but the BOE claims its hands are tied by the state. How about changing those law?
Those are just two ideas that might provide some of the incenitve the adults in this district need in order to change. I will leave it to others to suggest other changes.
Sir, your efforts are acknowledged. But the suggestion here is to change the focus so that the adults in charge of educating the children of this community have an irrestible incentive to change their decision-making behavior to better meet the needs of the students. Then and only then will student outcomes reverse their current trend and start to improve.
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