Monday Churn: Benson speaks up

What’s churning:

Noting recent critical news coverage about the University of Colorado, President Bruce Benson says, “Many CU alumni and friends have shared with me that they feel the coverage paints an unfair picture of our university. I agree in some cases but not all.”

Benson gave his take on “perceptions” vs. “reality” in a statement circulated by email and Twitter late last week. The president argued that the Regents set salaries and budgets transparently, the university is being run efficiently, that administrative and faculty salaries are reasonable, and that CU tuition remains a good value.

“Tuition on all our campuses is at or below peer averages. Many similar universities charge thousands more than we do, even though their state support is also thousands more per student,” Benson wrote. “Peer averages” is higher ed jargon for the average of tuition charged by comparable institutions around the country. Read the full statement here.

Brittany Anas of the Boulder Daily Camera has been breaking lots of CU news lately – read her coverage here.

What’s on tap:

Check here for a full list of education-related legislative hearings this week.

TODAY

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., will be a guest teacher in the classroom of Teacher for America member Liz Foreman at the Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts. The event kicks off Colorado Teach for America Week.

The Denver school board has a work session, public comment and meeting starting at 4:30 p.m. at district headquarters, 900 Grant St. The work session is first on the agenda and includes discussion of an innovation schools proposal from Grant Middle School, which wants to extend its school day and its school year. The public comment portion, which begins at 6:30 p.m., is focused on Monarch Montessori and Northeast Academy, two charters whose applications were rejected by the DPS board. But the State Board of Education has reversed the district board’s decisions and sent the applications back for review. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. and is scheduled to include a vote on resolutions regarding the two schools. Agenda, with links to innovation proposal.

TUESDAY

The Jefferson County school board convenes a special meeting at 7:30 a.m. in room 356 of the Capitol to review legislative issues. Agenda

The Aurora school board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. at district headquarters, 1085 Peoria St.

The Cherry Creek board meets at 7 p.m. at Heritage Elementary, 6867 E. Heritage Place in Centennial.

WEDNESDAY

The University of Colorado Regents have a special meeting scheduled for 12:30 p.m. at 1800 Grant St., 5th floor conference room. The agenda won’t be posted until sometime today, but there’s expectation that 2012-13 tuition will be discussed.

THURSDAY

The governor’s Education Leadership Council meets starting at 1 p.m. at the Colorado Education Association, 1600 Grant St.

The Denver school board’s regular meeting and public comment session starts at 5 p.m., 900 Grant St.

Good reads from elsewhere:

UNC tuition: The University of Northern Colorado trustees, meeting last Friday, indicated they probably will raise resident undergraduate tuition 7 percent for 2012-13. A final decision won’t be made until later, reports the Greeley Tribune.

More ASSET support: The Fort Lewis College trustees last week endorsed Senate Bill 12-015, the measure that would create a special class of tuition for undocumented students attending state colleges. Get the story from the Durango Herald.

One of the strategies of the bill’s supporters is to gather endorsements from college trustees in order to put lobbying pressure on the Republican-controlled House, where a similar measure died last year. If the bill passes, each college would have the option or offering the new tuition rate or not.

The EdNews’ Churn is a daily roundup of briefs, notes and meetings in the world of Colorado education. To submit an item for consideration in this listing, please email us at EdNews@EdNewsColorado.org.