Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado

The State Board of Education holds schools and school districts accountable for student test scores, hears appeals when school districts reject charter school applications, and sets standards for what students should learn and what schools should teach.

Colorado’s largest teachers union has chosen its current vice president, Kevin Vick, to lead the organization of nearly 40,000 educators for the next three years.

Colorado is racing to save the schools that serve children whose home districts can’t or won’t meet their intense needs.

The school board tasked Superintendent Alex Marrero with drafting a plan a day after a student shot two East High School deans in March. 

AIAD’s founders hoped lessons taught through an Indigenous lens would be transformational in a school district where just 50 percent of Native American students graduated on time last year.

Last school year, five times as many weapons — 200 total — were found at schools, including 13 guns and 28 fake guns.

Superintendent Alex Marrero announced new goals for the district, which focus on equity, teacher pay and a more diverse workforce.

The Denver school board voted 5-2 Thursday to pay board members, as allowed under a new state law passed six months ago.

In Colorado, school board members serve as volunteers, and have not been allowed to be compensated for their time. But a law passed in April changed that.

Younger children and white students are much more likely to regularly tune into real-time video lessons.