The Decline of America?
Run Time: 0:19:25	Play Now	MP3	06/13/13

Are the prospects for more economic, political, and personal liberty on the decline in America? Are we instead on the road to more state control of our economy and of our lives? The data seems to suggests so, says our Constitutional scholar Rob Natelson.

Rob Natelson	Constitution

New Statewide Online School Breaks Innovative Ground
Run Time: 0:16:47	Play Now	MP3	06/13/13

Kim McClelland, Falcon School District 49 innovation zone leader, discusses the newly-approved statewide Colorado Prep Online Academy, a K-12 school. Two school districts and an institution of higher learning joined together to create the Colorado Digital BOCES as an authorizer focused solely on high-quality digital learning. CPOA will provide both online and face-to-face instruction, including opportunities for concurrent enrollment.

Ben DeGrow	Education

Colorado’s Charter School Law Turns 20
Run Time: 0:22:08	Play Now	MP3	06/05/13

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of Colorado’s groundbreaking Charter Schools Act, Education Policy Center director Pam Benigno reflects on the parental demand, political drama, and personal tragedy that make a colorful tale of how the law came to be. Today, Colorado’s public charter sector is strong and thriving. A lot is owed to the many pioneers who made it possible, as also told in the new Independence Institute paper Benigno co-authored, On the Road of Innovation.

Ben DeGrow	Education

High Court Overturns Lobato School Funding Decision
Run Time: 0:36:23	Play Now	MP3	05/29/13

Senior education policy analyst Ben DeGrow and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs professor Joshua Dunn break down the Colorado Supreme Court’s landmark Lobato ruling. By a 4-2 margin, the Court overturned a 2011 decision granting the plaintiffs’ request for an additional $1.35 to $4.15 billion a year to fund K-12 education, instead affirming that Colorado’s current School Finance Act meets basic constitutional requirements for a “thorough and uniform” education while preserving “local control” of instruction.

Amy Oliver Cooke	Education

Senator Says SB 213’s Extra Tax Dollars Not Needed
Run Time: 0:24:10	Play Now	MP3	05/23/13

Senate Bill 213, the “Future School Finance Act,” has been signed into law but won’t go into effect unless voters approve a billion-dollar tax increase initiative by November 2017. Senator Scott Renfroe, Republican from Weld County, explains why he could not support the legislation given the weakness of reforms and the availability of other existing budget funds.

Ben DeGrow	Education