Monthly Archives: October 2012

Tuition subsidies: A difference of degrees

Posted on October 29, 2012 by axooms

States subsidize college for many of their residents.  Generally this has been perceived as a good trade-off: a state (and its taxpayers) benefit in a variety of ways by having a more educated populace and workforce. But with budgets under … Continue reading →

Posted in College and Career Preparation, Fiscal & Economic, Higher Education, Innovation, Teacher Compensation, Teacher Preparation | Leave a comment

Income, race and affirmative action

Posted on October 22, 2012 by axooms

An interesting and persuasive essay on affirmative action from the New York Times’s David Leonhardt makes an important point.  The guiding principle behind affirmative action was fairness. However, in applying the principle of fairness, affirmative action programs simply filtered candidates by … Continue reading →

Posted in Higher Education, Poverty | 1 Comment

SchoolChoice and the Marriage Problem

Posted on October 16, 2012 by axooms

One of the biggest changes last year in DPS was the implementation of the SchoolChoice program, which matches candidates with schools by using an efficient algorithm so that there are no two students who would trade places. That this was … Continue reading →

Posted in Engagement, Fiscal & Economic, Innovation, Whimsy | Leave a comment

The contortions of Arturo Jimenez

Posted on October 15, 2012 by axooms

DPS Board Member Arturo Jimenez contributed an Op-Ed to Sunday’s Denver Post in which he explained his rationale for opposing the upcoming Bond.  Mr. Jimenez stressed that the largest problem he sees in DPS is the chronic underachievement of Denver’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Charter Schools, District Performance, Fiscal & Economic, Poverty, School Performance | 2 Comments

Pensions Matter (even if they bore you)

Posted on October 13, 2012 by axooms

An insightful Donnell-Kay Hot Lunch on Friday focused on pensions [update: see this piece and linked podcast].  Now I think pensions are pretty important, but I understand why eyes glaze over when the topic arises. And even if you don’t get … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiscal & Economic, Teacher Compensation | 5 Comments

Teacher Attrition in Charter Schools

Posted on October 2, 2012 by axooms

One of the traditional complaints about charter schools is that they have high teacher turnover.  Particularly when hired through alternative channels (such as Teach for America), many critics believe – and several studies have borne out – that charter teachers … Continue reading →

Posted in Charter Schools, Teacher Preparation | Tagged | 1 Comment