BSVDWatch.org

Our own Louise Benson has a guest opinion in Tuesday's Daily Camera about how the trend towards school consolidation has backfired from its original theory of saving money and creating a better education for our kids. We know this is a trend BVSD subscribes to, however BVSDWatch agrees with Louise that small is better (plenty of stats to support that idea too).

Click here to read the full article.

Article intro: 

"When small Boulder schools closed in 2003, many in Broomfield approved, thinking, "Finally some east-west equity," and some of the savings would come our way. Others here yawned, thinking, "That's not us." Our schools had been bursting at the seams for years, and had older textbooks. Our son's elementary school had 700 children, and his fifth-grade class had 33 kids with a beleaguered teacher who gave little homework.

Our aging subdivision had district-owned land for an elementary school that never got built; we got a K-8 after Broomfield threatened to form its own district with the new city and county. This K-8 school was five miles away by bus. So for middle school, we open-enrolled in a charter school promising small classes and rigorous academics, and some neighborhood kids enrolled to the existing middle school and rode their bikes.

Alas, our charter school adventure turned out poorly, and along the way I became a school activist and learned a tremendous amount about educational ills and reform, both locally and nationally. I began to see that small neighborhood schools with small classes, adequate resources and good teachers were the real answer to achievement and safety."

Click here to read the complete article.

This Friday PLAN Boulder County is having a public meeting (in a panel format) and we encourage people interested in hearing about the process moving forward with Washington School to attend. Jim Leach will be there as well as other interested parties. This is not an event to complain about the process, but to listen and participate in a civil discussion.

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Please join PLAN-Boulder County this Friday, April 18th for our Friday Noon Meeting.

Topic:
“Whither Washington School: Where it has been, where it is now, and where it is going.”
 
Panel:
Allyn Feinberg, Community Elder
Mary Young, Washington School Neighborhood
Jim Leach, Wonderland Hill Development Corp.
Charlie Zucker, Senior Urban Designer, City of Boulder
 
LOCATION:
Boulder Public Library – MAIN BRANCH
Creekside Room
 
When: Noon to 1:30 p.m.
 
This is a brown-bag event.
 

BVSDWatch-Broomfield Meeting

WHAT: Broomfield arm of BVSDWatch will meet to discuss Broomfield issues in BVSD. Bring your concerns and kudos!

WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 7-8:30pm. Free, refreshments provided.

WHERE: Mamie Dowd Eisenhower Library, 3 Community Center Drive, Broomfield. Eisenhower Room on 2nd floor.

MORE INFO: Louise Benson, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Help us make BVSD better!

The Louisville City Council recently adopted a resolution to urge the
BVSD Board of Education to save the historic structure of the Louisville Middle
School.

Although the resolution carries no legal weight, it adds strength to the
voice of the Louisville community at large to ask BVSD to reconsider their current stand. The draft resolution is available at this link.

Additional language was added during the City Council meeting. There are
also brief stories about the meeting and resolution in the Boulder Daily
Camera and the Louisville Times links below:

www.dailycamera.com

www.coloradohometownnews.com

The level of debate on the use of CSAP testing is continuing to rise.

On Monday March 17th, the debate continued on Colorado Public Radio's "Colorado Matters" at 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM.

For an overview of the panelists, and to listen to the program, check out the link below:

http://www.kcfr.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=330

For further information, check out these links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cop-AGO9h_E

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_8353627

http://www.fortcollinsnow.com/article/20080311/GUEST/106173654

http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20080310/NEWS/10353730

http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.html?id=3327


Get informed! Get involved!