Updated: More than 50 yellow school buses from Falcon School District 49 in El Paso County circled the state Capitol today to protest proposed cuts in K-12 funding. The convoy left the district at 7 a.m. and, upon arrival, D-49 School Board President Dave Martin met Sen. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, on the west steps, handing over the keys to the buses as a symbolic gesture.
Read more about the action in the Colorado Springs Gazette and in the Denver Post.
What’s churning:
The College Board – the people who bring you the SAT and a lot of other tests – is leading a national campaign to increase the number of Americans who have college degrees, and it’s bringing its State Capitals Campaign to Denver today, along with the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, both based in Colorado.
The groups are hosting a two-hour session for policymakers and invited guests at the Governor’s Mansion this afternoon. Speakers include former Gov. Roy Romer, DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg, state budget director Henry Sobanet and several other state officials, higher ed leaders and assorted policy experts.
The campaign, named the College Completion Agenda, is promoting a goal of 55 percent of Americans aged 25-34 having at least an associate’s degree by 2025.
An estimated 41.6 percent of Americans in that age group had associate’s degrees or higher in 2008. Colorado’s percentage was 41.5, 19th among states.
You can get more information about the campaign, its specific proposals for reaching the goal and state-by-state information on the Completion Agenda website.
What’s on tap:
Metro State College officially breaks ground on its Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center, which will include a SpringHill Suites hotel. The event starts at 3:30 p.m. at the site on the corner of Auraria Parkway and Speer Boulevard.
Good reads from elsewhere:
Looming layoffs: America’s public schools may see the most extensive layoffs of their teaching staffs in decades. New York Times. Also from the Times, a study finds KIPP schools enjoy financial advantages over traditional public schools.