Tag Archives: CPR

Gag orders on teachers, cutting mental health support, operating in the dark — what’s happening in Woodland Park? | Colorado Public Radio

By most accounts, the school district in Woodland Park in Teller County was doing well. 

Test scores were up, more students were participating in activities, the school climate was better than ever. There are schools with gardens. Good athletic programs. A fine drama program.

But two years ago, voters swept in a new school board with new and different ideas for the district. They enacted a series of lightning-speed policy changes — big ones that include mental health staffing and social studies curriculum and a gag order on teachers.

Now, many educators are feeling demonized and quitting, and parents are feeling demoralized and leaving. They say the nationwide culture war has come to roost in Woodland Park, just northwest of Colorado Springs, home to about 8,000 people.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/04/20/woodland-park-school-board/

More than two dozen Woodland Park teachers and staff call out sick protesting school changes | Colorado Public Radio

Twenty-five middle school teachers and staff in the Woodland Park school district northwest of Colorado Springs called out sick Wednesday to protest sudden changes in district schools. It’s the latest turmoil in the small district since a controversial new interim superintendent was selected in December.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/03/01/woodland-park-teachers-sick-out-protest/

Report: Colorado’s education system is in crisis, and teachers are feeling it | Colorado Public Radio

Colorado’s education system is in a state of crisis, leaving many teachers feeling overworked, underpaid, not respected and worried that large, systemic issues connected to underfunding are hurting their students.

That’s according to the annual State of Education report from the largest teacher’s union in the state, the Colorado Education Association.
— Read on www.cpr.org/2023/01/31/colorado-teachers-report/