Educators: State must unite efforts

Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 11, 2006 at midnight

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Colorado's school superintendents want to see better statewide coordination in the effort to improve schools.

A delegation of superintendents told the State Board of Education that Colorado needs a plan that includes a vision statement for schools and a model curriculum.

Districts are designing curriculums in isolation, said Telluride Superintendent Mary Rubadeau.

As a result, she said, "We're not producing the results we're all looking for."

The superintendents issued a report titled "A Call for State Leadership," but they stopped short of charging that state Education Commissioner William Moloney is not providing that leadership.

Leadership has to come from school administrators and teachers, as well as state officials, said Jefferson County Superintendent Cindy Stevenson.

"We all know our leadership needs to get stronger, we all know our leadership needs to get more passionate," Stevenson said.

The superintendents said they would like some relief from requirements to file data with the state Department of Education. The data filed each October, used to determine funding, can take weeks to compile, several said.

They said the Education Department should be an agency that helps districts with educational problems, and less of an agency that enforces state and federal requirements that come with funding.

The state master plan for education should be drafted jointly by the Education Department and the districts, the superintendents said.

"We don't want it to be your plan. We want it to be our plan," Brush Superintendent Bret Miles said, referring to both local and state officials.

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