About 1,800 educators and community members met on the west steps of the State Capitol yesterday to send a clear message to the Legislature and to Coloradans: We must all work together to make sure that there is adequate and sustainable funding so our students can continue to learn the skills necessary to successfully compete in a global economy.

Click here for the news article: http://www.coloradoea.org/aboutus/publications/news/12-04-11/Concerned_Coloradans_rally_at_Capitol_for_increased_education_investment.aspx

Join your local and empower yourself and the profession. Attached is the early enrollment paperwork. In a nutshell, if you sign up now and commit for next year (it is a contract for the entire year), you will not pay dues until your first paycheck next year. www.ppea.org/gl/images/library/File/2012%20COMPLETE%20EE%20Packet.pdf

NEA released the following story illustrating the excellence and abilities we have grown accustomed to in our region. Congratulations to Judy! Huzzah! http://neatoday.org/2012/03/10/judy-near-from-colorado-named-nea-2012-esp-of-the-year/

Check out the article on Merit Pay, testing, and Harrison SD2. http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_test_generation

If you are frustrated by attacks of public education nationally, NEA created a foundation to help. It is called the 51 Fund and aims to provide one consistent voice to the debate in the US.  Check it out here:
http://51fund.neafoundation.org/ 

Dianne Ravitch offers a great opinion on why teachers are frustrated with the current dialogue on the business model. Check out this interview from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/28/134134735/Op-Ed-Rage-Simmering-Among-American-Teachers

On Tuesday, February 22, Cathy Royce, President of PPEA and Kelsey Moore, President of Canon City Education Association traveled to Denver to participate in the rally in support of Wisconsin's public employees.

Also seen in the crowd from PPEA were Maryann Barrett, Administrative Assistant and Mike Stahl, Uniserv Director. Mike will be heading to Wisconsin in a few weeks to start his new position with Wisconsin Education Association. He was seen wearing his Green Bay Packers hat and Wisconsin sweatshirt.

Ari Armstrong, of http://freeColorado.com was there recording interviews with participants from both the union side and the TEA Party activists who were gathered on the sidewalk at the foot of the Capitol's steps. Below is the link to his interview with Cathy.

Click here to find out what's happening with evaluation legislation in Wyoming.

Current American education policy is built on these assumptions: The quality of American education has plummeted because our schools are filled with teachers who can't teach. Teachers' unions and contracts tie the hands of school administrators. And teachers' unions protect bad teachers. Here are a few reasons why these conclusions are leading our educational system in a bad direction.

When the new Congress is sworn in this January, it will have to tackle the nation’s most pressing matters, including education and the economy. The nation is on the road to economic recovery, but the economy is still shedding jobs, especially in the education sector. High unemployment rates and a record number of home foreclosures are wreaking havoc in communities across the country.

On education specifically, Congress will have to tackle two main issues—revising No Child Left Behind and setting spending priorities for critical programs and services affecting students and working families, programs such as early childhood education, Head Start, college loans for deserving students, and many others.