We voters share some of the blame for raising property taxes, intriguing (albeit a mixed bag) ideas on tutoring, some initiatives coming up before the Title Board tomorrow.
There are (undoubtedly) multiple causes to the property tax problem, but those who voted to repeal the Gallagher Amendment share some of the blame.
I have posted in the past about the coming issue with property taxes, but I hope you'll indulge me in pounding the drum some more.
The video below is the second in what I hope will be more coming from the Independence Institute dealing with a variety of topics that are difficult to do in writing.
If you're not aware of how your property taxes work in Colorado, it's worth a watch (or a share with someone you think might benefit).
A mix of good ideas on tutoring (but care is needed).
I enjoyed reading the article linked fist below for its creativity on how to get tutoring (or, what you might say is equivalent individual instructional time) for students in school.
I've written in the past about how much of a fan I am of backing up solid classroom instruction with individual help and practice: we're all individuals and we all get stuck at different points in our learning thus having a practiced expert sitting next to you while you work is a particularly fruitful way to learn.
The issue is, as it often is, a case of "how?". School budgets are finite. We live in a world with finite time. Those with the means are able to afford help on their own, but what do everyday people (or, what's even more to the point, people of limited means) do?
I liked the outside the box thinking in the article. I won't transcribe out everything I saw in it, but some ideas that stuck out were:
--Rearrange the school day to carve out a few minutes from every class so that the students could go to some sort of end-of-day 30 to 45 minute long time with teachers who are there to help them start their homework.
--Bring in students from teacher's colleges and/or parents to help with tutoring.
I said in a little parenthetical element at the top that care is needed, and here is what I mean. I think ideas like the two I highlighted above are good ones, but care is needed so that
--students aren't shorted "seat time" in their regular school subjects. The article goes into great depth on why tutoring outside of school hours doesn't work.** That really only leaves taking time from regular classes for tutoring. How is that balance struck? I'm okay with a model where every class, perhaps a 2 or 3 days a week, gives up 5 minutes' time to the end-of-day tutoring session. Much more and you start eating into regular instruction too much.
--students get tutors who know what the hell they're doing. I would say that someone who isn't a good teacher or doesn't know the subject tutoring is probably worse than no tutoring. Experience has also shown me that tutors need to get with the teachers of the subject they're helping in so that both parties can synch up their styles and make sure they're not working at cross purposes.
A bunch of new questions and problems to solve to be sure, but the promise is here tutoring for people that might not otherwise get it. I think that's worth the effort.
**I disagree with the contention that tutoring outside school hours doesn't work. Perhaps it's because I taught high school and those students are semi-independent, but I have found parents more than happy to have their students come early or stay late to catch up or get help. I think, regardless of the age of the student the problem is best approached with some flexibility on the teacher's part and with proper explanations to the parents. Also, yes, education is a sacrifice. Learning is active work. If you intend to do well, it might require effort. Plain and simple. I think there should be definite limits on how much responsibility schools take on for families. If you take on too much you exhaust yourself and that ends up benefiting fewer than protecting your resources.
One last thing: in an earlier post I'd mentioned that I was supporting a bill that provided some state money to help fund out of school tutoring. The bill passed its committee and is on to its next committee. For convenience, I linked the bill's page below if you'd like to read, follow, and/or advocate on it.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/3/22/23650920/tutoring-covid-learning-loss-expand-pandemic
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1231
Initiatives up for their Title Board hearing tomorrow:
I got an email yesterday that the school choice and tax reduction initiatives I've posted about in the past are up for a Title Board hearing on April 5th at 9 AM.
Check out the screenshot to see which ones and more details about the hearing.
If you feel passionate about these topics I have some good news and something that you should remember.
First, the good news. Few people speak up at these things so I can tell you from direct, personal experience that your voice carries more weight at hearings like this than at others.
Now the caveat. Remember that they're not deciding on whether this becomes law. They're not there to remark about the wisdom (or not) of having this be on the ballot. The Title Setting Board ... sets the title.
That means that they are there to make sure the proposed initiative has a title that reflects what it would do and that it has only one subject.
If you're passionate about these topics and not informed yet, take a second and go to the Initiatives page linked first below to read up on what the proposed initiatives would do and then think it over.
If you think they are a single-subject proposal and the title accurately reflects what it would do, speak up in support. If you think the opposite, speak up in opposition.
Either way, if you want to speak up, I put a link to register second below.
https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/9068980143724216665