Gates gives $9.7M for Colorado reforms
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is providing $9.7 million to help Colorado school districts implement and integrate key education reforms.
Part of the three-year grant will be used in four selected school districts to help them implement new content standards, new tests and new educator evaluation systems, all mandated by state laws passed from 2008 to 2010. Another part of the grant will be used to support the work of the Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Legacy Foundation in implementing those laws.
Education Commissioner Robert Hammond (left), Legacy Foundation President Helayne Jones and Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia spoke at the June 13, 2011, news conference.
The grant was announced Monday during a news conference at CDE. Helayne Jones, president of the Colorado
Omaha integration plan highlights challenges
Anyone who has read this blog over time knows that my librul heart bleeds for school integration, and particularly socio-economic mixing of student populations. Other bloggers and commenters here have pointed out that economically integrating schools is a sweet and quaint notion, entirely impractical in an environment where neighborhoods are segregated and local control rules the day.
And, some argue, since “no excuses” schools are proving that high-poverty student bodies can succeed under the right conditions, why batter one’s head against the brick wall of integration?
That all may be so. I believe in multiple strategies, though, so while letting a thousand “no excuses” flowers bloom, I also hope communities keep looking for creative ways to foster integration.
A new article in The American Prospect highlights one community’s push to socio-economically integrate its schools. Omaha might not seem the likeliest place to push an aggressive integration agenda, but the Learning
