Colorado Charter School Watch
@cocharterwatch.bsky.social
Follow for news about Colorado's charter school sector. If the state won't require transparency and accountability, we'll provide it here.
Another clue that charter schools are about real estate deals, not education: "Clark plans to talk to nearby companies that might want some or all of it for their headquarters. He said he could also see it as a charter school or as a storage facility for high-end cars." #COpol #COleg
After decades, Wells Fargo sells DTC office building to local buyer
For the first time in decades, a bank doesn’t own 5700 DTC Parkway in Greenwood Village.
www.denverpost.com
January 24, 2026 at 12:06 AM
"Given the staggering profits made by non-profit and for-profit charter schools, it should come as no surprise that charter school authorizing entities have frequently renewed contracts for charter schools across the country even when 'results' are poor year after year." #COpol #COleg
Why Are Chronically Low-performing Charter Schools Renewed? | Dissident Voice
The easy answer is greed, profit, and kickbacks. But how are such actions undertaken so frequently? One of the most fundamental rationales put forward decades ago by charter school advocates for why c...
dissidentvoice.org
January 22, 2026 at 5:07 PM
In less than 3 years, we found over 400 stories of theft/fraud in charter schools. You can find them here networkforpubliceduc... Lack of regulation. Invitation for grift. #AnotherDayAnotherCharterScandal
Charter Scandals - Network For Public Education
#AnotherDayAnotherCharterScandal is now an interactive research tool. Scandals can be sorted by category/state and searched with keywords.
networkforpubliceducation.org
January 21, 2026 at 5:01 AM
Just a reminder that Colorado ranks in the bottom half of states for per-pupil funding, behind Wyoming and Nebraska. #COleg #COpol
Per Pupil Spending by State 2026
Discover population, economy, health, and more with the most comprehensive global statistics at your fingertips.
worldpopulationreview.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Houston Supt. Mike Miles helped broker a nearly $1M deal for HISD-style reforms between a Texas charter network and for-profit Colorado-based charter consulting firm he started. #COleg #COpol
Exclusive: Mike Miles helped broker nearly $1M charter school consulting deal
HISD Superintendent Mike Miles helped broker a nearly $1M contract for HISD-style reform at a Texas charter network. Experts say it raises concerns.
www.houstonchronicle.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:49 AM
"If the Supreme Court were to agree that Riverstone Academy in Pueblo County, Colorado, is allowed to get public funding and offer religious education, it opens up the possibility that this could happen anywhere in Colorado or the country." #COpol #COleg
Inside a legal test case that could mean more funding for religious education
A Q&A with Chalkbeat reporter Ann Schimke who has chronicled what some have called Colorado's "first public Christian school"
cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org
January 14, 2026 at 3:38 AM
"In late October ... Pueblo County health, fire, building, and zoning officials cited more than a dozen violations and put the school on 'fire watch,' which requires someone to patrol the school every half hour to look for signs of fire." #Coleg #Copol
Colorado’s ‘first public Christian school’ ordered to close building over safety concerns
In a Jan. 6 letter, an attorney for Pueblo County ordered Riverstone Academy to close its building because of health and safety concerns.
www.chalkbeat.org
January 11, 2026 at 10:03 PM
"Once public schools are cast as broken beyond repair, charters and microschools become steppingstones toward something far more consequential: a broad voucher system that redirects public money to private and religious education." #COleg #COpol
This isn’t school ‘choice.’ It’s public money siphoned off for private education.
In Colorado, a quiet revolution is underway, one that threatens the very idea of public education.
www.newsfromthestates.com
January 9, 2026 at 7:35 PM
"With the Trump administration ... slashing funds appropriated to our schools, a principal rationale for standardized testing is gutted. The previous threat hanging over districts and the state was a loss of federal money. Trump and CMAS supporters have lost that leverage." #COpol #COleg
Lack of accountability in state standardized testing system | NOONAN
The General Assembly kicks up its heels this month along with the National Western Stock Show. Both should offer some exciting bull rides. Last General Assembly produced one interesting bill on K-12 p...
www.coloradopolitics.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:16 PM
"We can still incubate good ideas, but we should do so where they belong: inside the public system, with the sunlight, stewardship, and community voice that public money requires." #COleg #COpol
Why America Must Rewrite Charter School Laws Now
Research shows charter school laws enable mismanagement, profiteering, and instability at the expense of students and taxpayers.
progressive.org
January 8, 2026 at 3:42 AM
Reposted by Colorado Charter School Watch
One of our most-read stories of 2025: This Charter School Superintendent Makes $870,000. He Leads a District With 1,000 Students.
(Published March 2025 with @texastribune.org)
(Published March 2025 with @texastribune.org)
This Charter School Superintendent Makes $870,000. He Leads a District With 1,000 Students.
On paper, Salvador Cavazos earns less than $300,000 to run Valere Public Schools, a small Texas charter network. But taxpayers likely aren’t aware that in reality, his total pay makes him one of the c...
www.propublica.org
January 2, 2026 at 7:31 PM
One of our most-read stories of 2025: This Charter School Superintendent Makes $870,000. He Leads a District With 1,000 Students.
(Published March 2025 with @texastribune.org)
(Published March 2025 with @texastribune.org)
"The pushback from advocates of charter schools, which many Republicans support, also underscores just how difficult it will be to get Congress to fully eliminate the Education Department." #COpol #COleg
Why ending the Education Department might be bad news for charter schools
Leaked emails show the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools landed a meeting with the Labor Secretary, who assuaged short-term concerns. Long-run worries remain though.
cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org
January 6, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Colorado Charter School Watch
Charter School Flimflam Documented tultican.com/2025/12/31/c...
Charter School Flimflam Documented
By Thomas Ultican 12/31/2025 Charter schooling has a 33-year history. In 1992, the first one opened in Minnesota and it was exactly the kind of school American Federation of Teachers President Al S…
tultican.com
December 31, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Charter School Flimflam Documented tultican.com/2025/12/31/c...
Reposted by Colorado Charter School Watch
Groundbreaking Report by National Center for Charter School Accountability - Support for charter schools has dropped dramatically, from 7 in 10 Americans in 2013 to 46% today. Part II of the Charter School Reckoning report explains why. networkforpubliceduc...
December 27, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Groundbreaking Report by National Center for Charter School Accountability - Support for charter schools has dropped dramatically, from 7 in 10 Americans in 2013 to 46% today. Part II of the Charter School Reckoning report explains why. networkforpubliceduc...
When charter schools seek to evade accountability, they switch from district oversight to CSI. #COpol #COleg
Montrose charter school seeks switch from MCSD to CSI
MONTROSE, Colo. (KREX) — On Saturday, Dec. 20, Vista Charter School (VCS) posted an open letter to the Montrose community regarding its decision to seek the release of authorization from the Montrose ...
www.yahoo.com
December 27, 2025 at 4:42 PM
"Lotus School of Excellence is a public charter school, meaning it's tuition-free and publicly funded. It also means employees typically have more protections under the Constitution than private schools or other private employers." #COpol #COleg
Colorado charter school coaches say school violated First Amendment rights in federal lawsuit
Two high school basketball coaches who were fired by a Colorado charter school are suing the school in federal court, saying their suspension and ultimate termination violated their constitutional rig...
www.cbsnews.com
December 20, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Opinion: Take note, Gov. Polis: Coloradans have repeatedly said no to school vouchers
Opinion: Take note, Gov. Polis: Coloradans have repeatedly said no to school vouchers
New federal program is a devil’s bargain and must not override the will of our people.
coloradosun.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Opinion: Take note, Gov. Polis: Coloradans have repeatedly said no to school vouchers
"A bill that aimed to create more accountability ... was killed in committee after public opposition by Gov. Jared Polis – who has launched his own charter schools – and intense lobbying by Americans for Prosperity, political arm of the right-wing network formed by the billionaire Koch brothers."
Report: Charter schools undermining Colorado’s public school system | KiowaCountyPress.net
Charter schools were originally launched with a promise to create nimble, teacher-led and community-driven laboratories of innovation.
kiowacountypress.net
December 16, 2025 at 1:16 AM
"A bill that aimed to create more accountability ... was killed in committee after public opposition by Gov. Jared Polis – who has launched his own charter schools – and intense lobbying by Americans for Prosperity, political arm of the right-wing network formed by the billionaire Koch brothers."
If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck ... @colorado.gov just forced an unwanted voucher program on Colorado residents.
'The program is, indeed, “voucher-like,” as critics and supporters have both pointed out. But it is not a voucher system. Polis is correct to draw that distinction'
sentinelcolorado.com/opinion/edit...
#EDcolo #SchoolChoice #COpolitics #COleg
sentinelcolorado.com/opinion/edit...
#EDcolo #SchoolChoice #COpolitics #COleg
EDITORIAL: Cringe and bear it. Polis right to OK federal school tax credits for state - Sentinel Colorado
The choice is simple. Policymakers can embrace an opportunity to bring more federal resources into Colorado classrooms or leave those dollars to flow elsewhere.
sentinelcolorado.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:20 PM
If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck ... @colorado.gov just forced an unwanted voucher program on Colorado residents.
Reposted by Colorado Charter School Watch
"It’s also true that many of our public schools, well, suck." Really? Isn't school choice supposed to make all public schools better? Is it possible that draining tax $$$ to private schools/charter schools simply makes them worse? #COleg #COpol
Suddenly, Colorado has a private school choice program │ Vince Bzdek
By Vince Bzdek When I was a kid going to St. John’s Catholic grade school in Denver, I remember asking my mom if she and dad minded paying taxes for public schools since all her kids attended Catholic...
gazette.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:29 AM
"When asked in October by Chalkbeat if she’d known about Riverstone’s religious affiliation when she voted on it, Ochs first said no. The next day, she called back and said she knew the school planned to use Christian curriculum, but added, 'to me that doesn’t make it a religious school.'” #COpol
School board member resigns in wake of ‘public Christian school’ controversy
Pueblo 70 school board member Anne Ochs abruptly announced her resignation Tuesday evening after a district parent raised concerns about Ochs’ role in helping a "public Christian school" open.
www.chalkbeat.org
December 13, 2025 at 3:49 PM
"When asked in October by Chalkbeat if she’d known about Riverstone’s religious affiliation when she voted on it, Ochs first said no. The next day, she called back and said she knew the school planned to use Christian curriculum, but added, 'to me that doesn’t make it a religious school.'” #COpol