The charter school legislation in Colorado and its implementation are reviewed and analyzed. As of September 1997, there were 50 charter schools in Colorado, enrolling more than 11,000 students. Evaluation of these schools shows some strengths and weaknesses of the charter school system as it is operating in Colorado. The state's Charter School…

An appraisal of performance contracting in an upper income school district. (JF)

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

Financial information about the revenues and expenditures of Colorado school districts is based on audited reports furnished by school districts and boards of cooperative services. Each table is arranged alphabetically by county for school districts and by name for boards of cooperative services. Within each county, school districts are listed by…

This booklet presents descriptive and statistical information on the 17 Boards of Cooperative Services (BOCES) serving Colorado school districts as of February 1978. Section 1 presents a brief introduction and overview of the Colorado BOCES, briefly describing their function and historical development. Section 2 presents individual profiles on…

THE COLORADO BOARD OF EDUCATION WILL SERVE AS THE STATE AGENCY IN COORDINATION AND REGULATION OF THE COLLEGES. WHENEVER POSSIBLE, HOWEVER, CONTROL IS TO BE LEFT WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT. THE STATE WILL BE DIVIDED INTO 16 DISTRICTS, INCLUDING ALL THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS OF THE STATE, AS LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS. THERE ARE TWO…

The Hispano comprises the largest ethnic group in Colorado; yet a large segment of the community remains in a state of gross poverty and low educational attainment. The most prominent contributing factor is the lack of salable skills and academic preparation needed in today's highly technological society. This document addresses itself to the…

In Democracy in America, nineteenth-century political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville argued that understanding how individual U.S. states approached an issue offered "the key to all the rest." If Tocqueville was correct, and he was right about many things, higher education advocates are in for a rocky time. Over the past two or three…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) NCLB Turns Five: Key Players in Reauthorization Process Celebrate Fifth Anniversary of Landmark Education Law, Begin…

This issue of "Exchanges" highlights a number of issues in the challenge to align appropriations, tuition and financial aid (AFTA) policy. Two distinct trends in the nature of the American student population are identified: significant demographic shifts and the emerging necessity of serving adult learners. These shifts are prompting…

Colorado has been experiencing the efforts by local property tax groups to reduce the dependence for educational revenue by moving away from local property taxes to wider based taxation plans. Paralleling these efforts have been attempts by various groups, through the courts, to change the method of financing education to provide more equality of…

Investigates alternative measures of school district wealth, focusing on the issue of intergovernmental aid (particularly equalization aid), arguments for and against different wealth measures, jurisdictional implications of the use of alternative wealth measures in four states, and the effect of alternative wealth measures on state equalization…

The present monograph has been "written with a view" to presenting in a simple and concise manner to the general educational public the most significant conclusions reached in the course of an extensive study of school finance, continued for several years and covering a number of states. Some of the data have been taken from bulletins of…

The Colorado Charter Schools Act requires the State Board of Education to compile the evaluations of charter schools received from local boards of education and to review information regarding waivers from state regulations and statutes. This document is a response to the mandate. The study focused on the 14 schools that had been operating for at…

Focusing on student achievement, this 1997 evaluation study examines Colorado charter schools' record in meeting goals of the state's Charter Schools Act. The report includes only the 24 charter schools operating for at least 2 years at the end of 1996-97. Tension between two central values, autonomy and accountability, complicate state-level…