Our View - Thursday

Making the grade

Most GOP education ideas get passing marks

It’s still a few months until the 2008 legislative session begins, but lawmakers are already laying out their agendas. On Tuesday, Republicans unveiled their ideas for improving public education in the state. Some of the ideas look as if they could get some traction in the Democrat-controlled Statehouse.

One that piqued our interest would establish more accountability by requiring students to pass an exam before they could graduate. A report in Wednesday’s Gazette noted that students would have several chances to pass the exam. “If they fail again, they would get an improvement plan and have to retake the tests as seniors, said Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton.”

In addition to helping the students who struggle with the test, such a program might help isolate schools that aren’t getting the job done. Officials could then decide how to address those problems.

This proposal might actually have a chance. Bipartisan support could propel it to the governor’s desk and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff seems to be on board. “I think there is a core set of skills and knowledge that every child ought to master to get a diploma in Colorado,” Romanoff said.

Another proposal we’d like to see succeed is a retread of an bill co-sponsored in the 2007 session by Democrat Sen. Chris Romer. It would require students to be proficient in English in order to graduate. Call us wacky, but it seems like a pretty good idea that those entering the workforce have a solid command of the language they’ll need to succeed.

Although we like some of the ideas, one seems to flout the idea of local control of schools. The state constitution provides for the state to establish public schools, but gives local school boards the power to direct instruction in their districts. A bill GOP Sen. Josh Penry hopes to introduce usurps that local control by setting a state-wide curriculum. We caution him not to give too much power to the state.

The state should set the standards students must attain to graduate, but local districts are assigned the responsibility to make sure they meet them. If the Legislature or the state board of education were to dictate curricula, why would we need local boards? It’s better to leave such responsibilities with local boards that are more responsive to the voters, so board members can be changed if they don’t make the grade.

Sen. Nancy Spence of Centennial is backing a favorite of ours — a plan to reward individual teachers who perform exceptionally well. According to the Gazette news story, her proposal would set up “a state fund to be distributed to local school districts that want to reward high-performing teachers with higher pay.” Workers — and make no mistake, most teachers are real workers — react positively when their employers recognize a job well done. As well as rewarding excellent teachers, it could also encourage good teachers to excel and mediocre teachers to become good teachers. And that would certainly benefit students.

Although Romanoff, a Democrat, seems to be open to some of the GOP’s ideas, not all in his party are so welcoming. Rep. Michael Merrifield said the emphasis on testing and more classroom time bucks studies that show they don’t work, would cost more money and could keep some students in school an extra year. Gee, we always thought classroom time and testing were why kids were in school. And if kids don’t have the skills they need in the marketplace, keeping them in school until they do would be a favor to them. Dumping unprepared graduates into the real world doesn’t help anyone. It’s better to make sure they’re ready for the challenges ahead.

Merrifield wants to wait for the Gov. Bill Ritter’s P-20 Education Coordinating Council to complete its recommendations on how to improve education. With all due respect to the members of the committee, our kids can’t keep waiting; they need help now.

Merrifield was dismissive of the GOP agenda, saying, “We have the P-20 Council working very diligently, full of experts and stakeholders full of vast experience — far more experience than the combined members of the Republican press conference.” We’d remind him that it was the education experts that put education in the condition it’s in.

We’re temporary Tribe fans

On Wednesday, in this space, we issued a challenge to our counterparts at The Lima (Ohio) News, another Freedom Communications paper. We offered a wager of buffalo steaks that the Rockies would triumph over the Cleveland Indians if the Indians make it to the World Series.

We received notice Wednesday afternoon that the challenge had been accepted. Today’s editorial in the News reads, in part, “Needing just one more win — and having four shots at it — it’s looking like the Indians will take on the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.

“Certainly, another shot at the Atlanta Braves or Florida Marlins would have been nice, but having gone six decades without a World Series championship, the Indians getting another shot is what matters. Under different circumstances, the National League opponent wouldn’t mean that much, just so long as the Indians made the World Series.

“But, then the editorial page staff at The Gazette, our sister paper in Colorado Springs, Colo., came up with a friendly wager: ‘If the Rockies and Cleveland square off, we’ve got some buffalo steaks that say our team can whip your team,’ a Wednesday editorial stated.

“Yeah? Well, we’ve got some Kewpee hamburgers and some Red Pig Inn ribs that say, not only will the Indians be handing out the whipping, but you’re also going to need to tell us what sides go best with those buffalo steaks you’ll be sending.”

Kewpee burgers and Red Pig Inn ribs are supposed to be pretty good. We’ll let you know.