Homebrew: State Board of Ed looks to fill vacancy after tumultuous summer

Strange Ed Fellows

The Colorado State Board of Education needs to fill a vacancy created by Republican Marcia Neal’s June departure amid an exodus of top staffers. Eric Gorski of The Denver Post reports on “the 2015 state board of education in microcosm — unpredictable, contentious and pushing the boundaries of its limited power at a time of angst over testing, accountability and other issues.”

Most Coloradans

Colorado voters believe convicted murderer James Holmes deserves the death penalty by a 2-1 margin. The Quinnipiac poll released Monday shows sentiment is virtually unchanged from the past two years of polling. Via The Denver Post

Paycheck angst

Colorado’s three largest school districts have been pushing for teacher pay to be tied to performance. Now, trust between teachers and their districts has all but eroded as everyone scrambles to answer the question: What’s a fair way to measure performance? Via The Denver Post

Wild times

After back-to-back devastating wildfires, The Gazette’s Ryan Maye Handy reports on the tension between growth and risk in the Pikes Peak region’s wildland urban interface. The problem isn’t that people live and build in these areas. It’s that a patchwork of fire codes lets people do it unwisely.

Payout

A jury found Montrose County guilty of discrimination for firing employee Stephanie Barnett when she sought part-time work during her pregnancy. Barnett will get $306,400 in backpay and damages. County officials called the case “completely without merit.” Via The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

The other talk

Pot entrepreneur Todd Mitchem says working in the industry has changed the way he talks about drugs with his son. Others in the business agree and say it’s for the best. Via The Aurora Sentinel.

 

“class dismissed” by Robert S. Donovan, Creative Commons, via Flickr