Chalkbeat Colorado | Jason Gonzales The Colorado state legislature is considering tax code changes to offset K-12 education budget shortages following the coronavirus pandemic. Read more from Chalkbeat Colorado.
Colorado’s Largest Teacher Preparation Program Dinged Over Reading Instruction — Again
Chalkbeat Colorado | Ann Schimke “Despite millions of state dollars spent on struggling readers since the passage of a major 2012 law called the READ Act, only about 40% of third-graders are reading proficiently — and many experts fear changes related to the coronavirus pandemic could make things worse.” In a report from state evaluators…
Pre-K Budget Decisions in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic
ECS: EdNote | Matt Weyer “Adjusted for inflation, 25 of 39 states spent less per child enrolled in state pre-K during the 2018-19 school year than they did in the 2007-08 school year. This is a potential warning that perhaps even more significant cuts today will take years — even decades — to recover from, with subsequent…
Child Care Shortages: What Can We Learn from World War II?
New America: Better Life Lab | Jahdziah St. Julien “Any positive changes will not become permanent unless we as a society mobilize. These emergencies—WWII, COVID-19—are the mothers of social innovations. They are opportunities for thinking outside the box and seeking solutions, out of which some good may come.” Many child care providers in the United…
COVID-19 Rules Threaten Parents’ Bonds With Their Kids in Foster Care
The Denver Post | Alex Ellerbeck “I just want to see her to see that she’s OK… It just hurts that I can’t hold her or kiss her or feed her, or when she starts to cry, comfort her.” According to a Public Integrity survey, 23 states placed and enforced no-visitation rules for parents of…
COVID-19 Forces the Question: Should the Youngest Learners Have Devices?
EdWeek | Linda Darling-Hammond “If you talk to K-2 teachers they will say how difficult it has been for students to navigate the tools, many tools, they’ve never used before.” In order to keep education rolling through school closures, many districts have equipped teachers and families with various devices. This story from EdWeek questions whether…
Improving Early Childhood Education Systems
Education Commission of the States A new policy brief from the Education Commission of the States (ECS) explores 23 states’ renewal applications for the federal Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five (PDG B-5) program. Learn more.
Talked With Your Child About Racism Lately? Denver Expert Recommends Doing It Now
CBS-4 Denver | Justin Adams “Young children very naturally categorize everything. They will categorize cars from trucks and blocks, red blocks from blue blocks, and in the same way they categorize people… If we’re not careful on talking about differences and celebrating differences, then that categorization can be based on negative perceptions about people rather…
Colorado School Districts Fear COVID Relief Money Won’t Make Up for Budget Cuts
Chalkbeat Colorado | Erica Meltzer “The last thing I want to do is get time for the audit, and they say, ‘Oh, you have to send this money back because you didn’t use it right… I get tired of hearing, ‘be creative.’ I’ll get creative and have to send back $400,000.” School districts are looking…
‘Barely Holding It Together’: Stresses Of An Early Child Care Center That Stayed Open
NPR | Jonaki Mehta “I’m really worried… Unless we as a nation … decide to fund early learning, I don’t know how we’re going to get back to normal.” This profile of an early care and learning center reveals how efforts to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic have weighed on its students and staff….
