college

Testimony to the House Education Committee

My name is Frank Waterous, and I am a senior policy analyst with the Bell Policy Center. The Bell is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding opportunity for the people of Colorado.

Wade Buchanan appears on KRMA's Colorado State of Mind, along with Cindy Stevinson of Jefferson County public schools, newspaper columnist Chuck Green and Frosty Wooldridge, a columnist and commentator on immigration issues.They discussed tuition equity (SB 170) and cutbacks in K-12 education budgets.

Education is the key to many good things. It creates a better and more diverse work force. It improves the economy and our quality of life. It creates a more content populace, one that can support itself and its families. So, why would we want to deny education to anyone? Exactly. ... Editorial quotes Matt Sundeen

Negative Opportunity Note: This bill represents a net opportunity loss for Colorado. Basic skills courses provide the foundation needed by many students to achieve post-secondary success. Making basic skills courses ineligible for College Opportunity Fund stipend support could have a chilling effect on post-secondary enrollments, particularly among adult learners.

???These recommended reforms are a needed step forward. For example, the P-20 Council wants to fully fund the Colorado Preschool and Kindergarten Program. Right now, it serves only about two-thirds of the kids we know are eligible,??? said Frank Waterous, senior policy analyst for the Bell Policy Center.

Education policy leaders set positive course for fifth-year high school programs; Gov. Ritter to host two-day dropout prevention summit; College tuition and fees nationwide rise 6.6 percent this year; ???Healthy Colorado??? web site highlights the ???cost of doing nothing???; Women???s economic mobility about equal to men???s; Payday lenders have left North Carolina, and borrowers don???t miss them; Predatory Lending Association launches spoof web site

Colorado fifth in the nation in drop of local funding for K-12 schools; Colorado Public Radio wants listeners to share their experiences with education; Colorado children of undocumented immigrants can pay in-state tuition for college; College access worse for the working poor than for unemployed poor; Bell Policy Center debuts in the blogosphere with Health Blog; Poverty rising to the top of state political agendas; Is the American Dream dead, or did it move to France?

High school graduates who have access to affordable colleges or technical schools can get the knowledge and skills to become productive members of the workforce with financially successful careers.

Articles: Coming next week: Bell Policy Center???s Blueprint for Opportunity, Colorado children without private insurance are more likely to die after hospitalization, Effectiveness of No Child Left Behind act difficult to determine, Teen obesity depends on neighborhood support. . .