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Education Policy Center Newsletter

From The Independence Institute
March 4, 2009
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In this issue
-- RSVP for March 20 Event: Is the K-12 Employee Pension System Fair?
-- Report Commemorates 20 Years of Colorado Homeschooling Freedom
-- New GoBash Website Takes on Boulder Valley Anti-Charter Lawsuit
-- DeGrow Tackles Federal “Stimulus” Law, School Financial Transparency
-- “Eddie” Covers Colorado, National School Choice Developments

Dear Friends,

We hope you enjoy our latest update from the Education Policy Center.

Pamela Benigno, Director

Ben DeGrow, Policy Analyst
Marya DeGrow, Research Associate

RSVP for March 20 Event: Is the K-12 Employee Pension System Fair?
How much do teachers, administrators, and other K-12 education employees really earn in
extra pension benefits? The economy is hurting, and government budgets are tight. Yet
taxpayers are still obligated to cover the costs of highly generous pension promises to
government workers. University of Colorado at Denver professor Dr. Michael Mannino,
author of the groundbreaking Independence Institute report Deferred Retirement
Compensation for Career K-12 Employees (PDF), will explain and offer ideas for what can
be done to fix the current pension system.

The Friday, March 20 event includes a 5:30 PM reception, followed by the main program at
6:15. A special pre-meeting for teachers with the guest speaker is scheduled for 5:00. The
event is FREE for all teachers and Independence Institute members. For all others, please
bring a $5 dollar donation payable at the door. Go here to RSVP, or call Nancy Miller at 303-
279-6536.

For more:
Ed Is Watching, “Deferred Compensation” for K-12 Employees Needs a Lot of Piggy Banks
iVoices Podcast, “Retirement Windfall for Denver’s K-12 Employees”
Report Commemorates 20 Years of Colorado Homeschooling Freedom
It’s hard to believe that two full decades have passed since Colorado enacted a law ensuring
the freedom of parents to homeschool their children. To commemorate the milestone and to
remind parents and supporters of the need for continuing vigilance, our own Marya DeGrow
has written a valuable issue paper titled Colorado’s Homeschool Law Turns Twenty: The
Battle Should Never Be Forgotten (PDF).

Herself a successful Colorado homeschooling graduate from the movement’s early days,
Marya combines a personal touch with a researcher’s thoroughness and precision. The
important story told in the report—built on interviews with key figures and firsthand records
—should remind readers not to take for granted the rights and freedoms secured through
hard-fought victories in the past.

For more:
Ed Is Watching, “New Report on Colorado Homeschooling History: A Call to Vigilance”

New GoBash Website Takes on Boulder Valley Anti-Charter Lawsuit

The Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center is proud to introduce a new website
dedicated to putting officials and special interests on the record about education reform:
GoBash.org. The site’s first efforts to record the Good, the Bad, and the Shameful highlight
a lawsuit filed by the Boulder Valley school board against the state to stop providing
educational options through the Charter School Institute. Thus far, Boulder Valley has spent
nearly $200,000 in taxpayer funds on the suit, and soon will decide whether to appeal the
latest decision against them to the Colorado Supreme Court. You can listen to Center
Director Pam Benigno and policy analyst Ben DeGrow discuss the story and the new website
in an iVoices podcast.

For more:
Ed Is Watching, “Boulder Valley Decision to Sue State Charter Schools Made in ‘Plush
Times’”
Jon Caldara, “What on Earth is GOBASH.org?”

DeGrow Tackles Federal “Stimulus” Law, School Financial Transparency

With his two latest opinion-editorials, Ben DeGrow takes on education-related issues at both
the national and state levels. First, he writes in the Pueblo Chieftain that, without significant
changes, the so-called federal “stimulus” money dedicated to education will end up
subsidizing the status quo. In another piece for the Denver Daily News, he explains how
greater financial transparency strengthens the “public” in public education. Ben also testified
on Senate Bill 57, a piece of school financial transparency legislation currently being debated
in the state legislature.

For more:
Ed Is Watching, “Making the Best of an Overstimulated Situation for Colorado Students”
Colorado Spending Transparency, “Public School Spending Transparency Passes the Senate”
Denver Post, “Shine a Light on School Spending”
“Eddie” Covers Colorado, National School Choice Developments
Among other topics, our prodigious 5-year-old blogger “Eddie” has been busy writing about
some developments surrounding issues related to school choice and charter schools:

“I Ask You, President Obama, to Please Save My Scholarship”

New Opportunity for Colorado’s Autistic Students a Little Closer
Please, Please Don’t Nip Colorado School Innovation in the Bud
Temperature Rises in Georgia’s Debate Over Universal School Vouchers
Colorado Charters Have Chance at Fair Share of Local Construction Funds
Colorado State Lawmakers Give School Choice a Monday Double-Whammy
More Colorado Students and Parents Choosing the Cyberschool Option

To learn more about how to exercise your rights to educational options in Colorado, as
always, please visit our School Choice for Kids website.

Contact Information
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email: pam@i2i.org
phone: 303-279-6536
web:http://www.independenceinstitute.org
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