patrickt
11-03-2013, 06:37 AM
The article's bias is clear in the headline of "Koch group, unions battle over school race". Of course, the Koch brothers donated money but it isn't their fight.
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The conservatives who control the board have neutered the teachers union, prodded neighborhood elementary schools to compete with one another for market share, directed tax money to pay for religious education and imposed a novel pay scale that values teachers by their subjects, so a young man teaching algebra to eighth graders can make $20,000 a year more than a colleague teaching world history down the hall."
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/koch-group-unions-battle-over-colorado-schools-race-99252.html#ixzz2ja5kLvbt
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The conservatives who control the board have neutered the teachers union, prodded neighborhood elementary schools to compete with one another for market share, directed tax money to pay for religious education and imposed a novel pay scale that values teachers by their subjects, so a young man teaching algebra to eighth graders can make $20,000 a year more than a colleague teaching world history down the hall."
"
The board launched the first voucher program in the U.S. to subsidize private and parochial school tuition for wealthy families in a top-ranked public school district. (The schools, including some touting a Bible-based, creationist curriculum, received a down payment of funds in 2011, but the program is on hold pending court (http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23006232/plaintiffs-douglas-county-school-voucher-fight-turn-high)challenges (http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23006232/plaintiffs-douglas-county-school-voucher-fight-turn-high)
.) Douglas County has also added more charter schools and directed public funds to subsidize books and classes for home-schooled children."
"
The district is also developing a huge new database to track students’ and teachers’ progress. Principals will be able to upload videos of teachers at work and photos of student projects to help determine which educators deserve raises. Student assessment data will be entered as well — not just test scores, but also teacher evaluations of skills such as creativity and collaboration.Fagen, who was hired by the board in 2010 and is the highest-paid superintendent in the state, with a base salary of $270,000, said she believes most in the community back the reforms. But she is prepared for continuing dissent, no matter the election’s outcome.“I don’t think anyone expected to change a 100-year-old institution as dramatically as we have,” she said, “… and not experience some turbulent waters.”http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/koch-group-unions-battle-over-colorado-schools-race-99252_Page2.html#ixzz2ja7MyBQx
It's hard not to post the entire article but I won't. Read it if you have the time it is rather interesting and Politico's bias aside, it isn't about the Koch brothers. The union, which is a player, of course, is barely mentioned.
"
The conservatives who control the board have neutered the teachers union, prodded neighborhood elementary schools to compete with one another for market share, directed tax money to pay for religious education and imposed a novel pay scale that values teachers by their subjects, so a young man teaching algebra to eighth graders can make $20,000 a year more than a colleague teaching world history down the hall."
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/koch-group-unions-battle-over-colorado-schools-race-99252.html#ixzz2ja5kLvbt
"
The conservatives who control the board have neutered the teachers union, prodded neighborhood elementary schools to compete with one another for market share, directed tax money to pay for religious education and imposed a novel pay scale that values teachers by their subjects, so a young man teaching algebra to eighth graders can make $20,000 a year more than a colleague teaching world history down the hall."
"
The board launched the first voucher program in the U.S. to subsidize private and parochial school tuition for wealthy families in a top-ranked public school district. (The schools, including some touting a Bible-based, creationist curriculum, received a down payment of funds in 2011, but the program is on hold pending court (http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23006232/plaintiffs-douglas-county-school-voucher-fight-turn-high)challenges (http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23006232/plaintiffs-douglas-county-school-voucher-fight-turn-high)
.) Douglas County has also added more charter schools and directed public funds to subsidize books and classes for home-schooled children."
"
The district is also developing a huge new database to track students’ and teachers’ progress. Principals will be able to upload videos of teachers at work and photos of student projects to help determine which educators deserve raises. Student assessment data will be entered as well — not just test scores, but also teacher evaluations of skills such as creativity and collaboration.Fagen, who was hired by the board in 2010 and is the highest-paid superintendent in the state, with a base salary of $270,000, said she believes most in the community back the reforms. But she is prepared for continuing dissent, no matter the election’s outcome.“I don’t think anyone expected to change a 100-year-old institution as dramatically as we have,” she said, “… and not experience some turbulent waters.”http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/koch-group-unions-battle-over-colorado-schools-race-99252_Page2.html#ixzz2ja7MyBQx
It's hard not to post the entire article but I won't. Read it if you have the time it is rather interesting and Politico's bias aside, it isn't about the Koch brothers. The union, which is a player, of course, is barely mentioned.