Students Launch Statewide Project to Make 2013 the Year of the Student

Students Launch Statewide Project to Make 2013 the Year of the Student

MEDIA RELEASE
June 13, 2012

Students Announce Project Calling on State Leaders
to Do the Right Thing for Education in 2013

Growing Statewide Coalition Launches Effort
to Make 2013 the " Year of the Student"

DENVER – Warning that ongoing education cuts are endangering Colorado's students, communities and economy, a diverse group of students gathered today at the Capitol to announce the official launch of an unprecedented public engagement project to make 2013 the Year of the Student – when the General Assembly uses the 2013 legislative session to start reinvesting in Colorado's preschools, schools, colleges and universities.

Joined by representatives from the more than fifty community and advocacy organizations that have endorsed the Year of the Student project so far, the students described how the legislature has failed to ensure that all Colorado's students have a fair shot at success in their communities and the competitive 21st century workplace.

"It's good that the cuts to schools and colleges weren't as bad as we thought they'd be this year, " noted the 9th grade founder of the Douglas County Kids Campaign, Hayley Stromberg, "but school funding in Colorado right now isn't OK. What happened in the Capitol this year isn't going to make things better for students at my school or at schools and colleges across the state."

Among the stories told from the personal experiences of the students:

• High school classrooms that can't hold enough desks for the number of students in the class and where there were no textbooks to distribute;
• A rural school where cuts resulted in a turnover of about two-thirds of teachers in a four-year period and the elimination of high level math;
• Mounting debt for higher education students;
• Early childhood education made affordable only through the generous subsidies of the preschool provider.

"Colorado can do much better," commented recent Overland High School graduate Luna Abraha, "and I'm hopeful that it will, now that this coalition is coming together for the Year of the Student."

The Year of the Student launch gives individuals and organizations that support public education simple ways to add their voices to the call for meaningful action in the 2013 legislative session. A website (www.2013forstudents.org) allows supporters to sign a "call to action" online, to download a hard copy of the "call to action" for signature gathering, and to add their organization as an endorsing partner. Year of the Student signatures will be gathered over the next seven months and then presented to the newly elected General Assembly in January 2013.

At a Capitol press conference, students put together a six-piece puzzle, representing the components of a complete education system:

• Meeting the needs of every student no matter how they learn, no matter what challenges they face.
• A quality education for every student, no matter where they live.
  Universal access to quality preschool so that every child is ready to learn and ready to thrive when they start school.
• Quality, affordable higher education for all Colorado students.
• Resources (e.g., career and college counselors, career and technical education opportunities, and concurrent enrollment programs) to provide every student with the opportunity to find their path to success in the 21st century economy.
• A highly effective, well-supported teacher in every classroom.

Stromberg suggested how state leaders can go about the hard work of fixing Colorado's education funding shortfall: "They can do the same thing my parents and teachers tell me to do when I've got a tough assignment or a problem to figure out: think outside the box; take responsibility; don't make excuses; ask for help when you need it; and, most important, don't give up just because something is hard, especially if it's the right thing to do."

Recent Yuma High School graduate Annsley Brophy summarized, "If the legislature does not fix this problem, students will keep paying the price."

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A list of endorsing organizations and boards follows.

Organizations supporting the 2013: Year of the Student Project
(as of June 12, 2012):

100 Black Men of Denver
4blackyouth.com
Adams County Education Consortium
AFT Colorado
Autism Society of Colorado
The Bell Policy Center
Boulder Valley Gifted and Talented
Children's Voices
Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented
Colorado BOCES Association
Colorado Children's Campaign
Colorado Council of Churches
Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council
Colorado Progressive Coalition
Colorado PTA
Colorado Rural Schools Caucus
Colorado Seniors4Kids
Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition
Denver Institute for Urban Studies
Douglas County Kid Campaign
Earth Force
Education Foundation of Eagle County
Every Child Matters Colorado
Get Smart Schools
Grassroots St. Vrain
Great Education Colorado
Great Futures Colorado Coalition
Greater Park Hill Community
Heart and Hand Center
Hulstrom Options K-8 PTA
Impact on Education
Jefferson County Association for Gifted Children
Kandie Land Academy
The National Center for School Engagement
Our Kids, Your Kids Coalition
The Partnership for Families and Children
Sims-Fayola International Academy
Strong Schools Coalition from Douglas Co.
Students Making a Reliable Tomorrow (SMART)
Support School Libraries
Taxpayers for Public Education
Tennyson Center for Children
Through Christ Everything is Possible
Tubman-Hilliard Global Academy
United States Student Association
Urban Colors Arts and Mentoring
We Teach the Children
Women Informed Network
The YESS Institute
You Can Begin Again
Young African Americans for Social and Political Activism
Youth Directions

Endorsing Board Resolutions
(as of June 12, 2012):

Aurora Public School Board of Education
Boulder Valley School Board of Education
Colorado Commission on Higher Education