Bill in Colorado legislature puts state-testing call in parents' hands without penalizing schools
A bill introduced in the state legislature this session aims to give parents the freedom to decide whether their children should take standardized state tests, without it hurting their schools.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, is not getting her hopes up too high after the bill was sent to the State Military and Veteran's Affairs Committee, where it may never reach a hearing, but said she wants to go out swinging in her last year in the legislature.
"If this creates any kind of outcry and reaches the ears in Washington, maybe we will get someone to listen to us," Solano said. "Change is slow, so I continue to be outspoken."
House Bill 1049 would change current laws that penalize schools or districts that aren't able to get 95 percent of their students to take state tests. Not hitting the 95 percent mark can keep
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Bridge Project helps Denver-area kids catch up
Jefferson Jiple was raised in Liberia until the country's civil war forced his family to seek refuge in Ivory Coast. It was there where his mother made the needed plans for him and his six siblings to immigrate to the United States.
When the family landed in Colorado seven years ago, Jiple was trilingual but academically far behind other kids his age at school. But with help from the Bridge Project — one of many nonprofit organizations receiving funding through Denver Post Charities' Season to Share — Jiple caught up with his peers and is in his second year of college, with hopes of becoming a doctor.
"When we first came over, it was hard to be at the same level as other kids my age," said Jiple, an 18-year-old
Read more:Bridge Project helps Denver-area kids catch up - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19844802#ixzz1kruAZWKY
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