Northern Colorado Gazette

By Mike Bauman

The School Board’s District Advisory Committee recently said in a report to the Board of Education, they could find little evidence that School District 6 needed additional choices at the middle school level.

A review of the facts reported this past year shows another picture.

The most recent CSAP scores shows District 6 Middle Schools declining in more areas than they’re improving in.  (24 declining, 23 improving).

Superintendent Lang said, “We have focused on the elementary schools. With limited resources, you have to find a focus and put all your energy into that. But now they are standing up straight and we can dedicate that attention to our middle and upper level grades.”

The district also fell to 3 and 4 year lows in 6th grade scores this last year.

Approximately 140 students, primarily at the middle school level, chose to commute to Severence to escape the failed institutions that are Greeley Middle Schools.

According to the Colorado Department of Education, “In authorizing charter schools, the General Assembly created an avenue for parents, teachers, and community members “to take responsible risks and create new, innovative, more flexible ways of educating all children within the public school system.”

“Different pupils learn differently,” notes the act. The act seeks the creation of schools with “high, rigorous standards for pupil performance, ” with special emphasis on expanded opportunities for low-achieving students. The General Assembly sought “to create an atmosphere in Colorado’s public schools where research and development in developing different learning opportunities is actively pursued.”

Charter schools are a means of expanding choices in Colorado public schools. The charter process provides an avenue for educators, citizens, businesses, communities and parents to direct their innovative efforts. Charter schools offer teachers a chance to be part of designing and working in semi-autonomous, creative schools under defined philosophical approaches.

While it’s unknown what need, or lack thereof, the Accountability Committee was referring to, it would seem the parents and students of middle schools in Greeley, along with the administration of the school board, recognize that there are a significant problems with Greeley’s School District 6 Middle Schools.  Further, there is no requirement in the Colorado Charter Schools Act for there to be a “need” in order for a charter school to exist.  The Charter Schools Act was designed to encourage innovation and choice in Colorado school districts.

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