Video Professor getting ready to flunk out?

Michael Roberts profiled John Scherer, the self-proclaimed Video Professor whose computer-education company was one of Colorado’s most unlikely success stories, four years ago — but in the time since, the prof has been racking up some failing grades, and plenty of complaints from critics. The most recent black mark came…

“Educator effectiveness” grants: Nonprofits to invest $1 million

Colorado sure is serious about “educator effectiveness,” which is school-reform-speak for firing teachers whose students aren’t learning — a strategy endorsed by President Obama and central to his federal Race to the Top grant competition. To that end, the Colorado Department of Education has announced that two nonprofits plan to…

Race to the Top: Colorado tries again

After not succeeding the first time, Colorado is try-trying again to win Race to the Top. The state submitted its application today for round two of the federal education-reform grant contest, in which it stands to win up to $175 million. Colorado came in fourteenth out of sixteen finalists in…

Immigration may lower crime rate, says CU prof Tim Wadsworth

University of Colorado sociologist Tim Wadsworth says it was “complete and utter happenstance” that his study about immigration was released just as debate over the issue is at its most contentious. “It was accepted for publication [by Social Science Quarterly] last October and was put in the lineup. I don’t…

Dumpster diving: Do it at CU-Boulder and face a $1,000 fine

I’ve found some of my most cherished possessions by dumpster diving, including a headless, armless half-mannequin nicknamed Venus de Milo that proudly models robes in the corner of my bedroom. But if I saw Venus’s shapely figure peaking from the top of a dumpster in Boulder this week, taking her…

Denver Public Schools bans travel to Arizona over immigration law

Mayor John Hickenlooper may not be into talking about the Arizona immigration law that potential gubernatorial-election opponent Scott McInnis thinks is so nifty — but Tom Boasberg, superintendent of Denver Public Schools, is not nearly so reticent. At 1:45 p.m. today, Boasberg and DPS board members will be front and…

Gun ban lifted at CU: Promote safety by hiring this clown!

The University of Colorado at Boulder’s on-campus gun ban has been junked by the Colorado Court of Appeals. So how to promote gun safety if attendees can begin arming themselves before chem class? Perhaps by adapting DIRC (Dangerous Irresponsible Rider on Campus), a program intended to promote safe biking and…