Colorado gubernatorial nominee Heidi Ganahl (R) | Photo provided by Ganahl's campaign
Colorado gubernatorial nominee Heidi Ganahl (R) | Photo provided by Ganahl's campaign
Heidi Ganahl, the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado, is calling attention to the state of Colorado's schools.
The Colorado Department of Education released preliminary ratings last week, which found that fewer schools earned top ratings and more schools earned lower ratings than previous years.
"Our schools are failing. If our kids are not okay, nothing else matters," Ganahl wrote in a Sept. 12 Facebook post.
After a two-year pause, the Colorado Department of Education released preliminary framework ratings for the state's districts and schools on Sept. 8.
“I know our educators and families have been working hard to help our students make up for the lost learning opportunities (during) the pandemic," Commissioner of Education Katy Anthes said, according to the Colorado Department of Education. "The frameworks demonstrate the same thing we saw with our assessment results -- that we still have work to do to rebuild following the pandemic. This is a transitional year with the process working a little bit differently, but the information in our frameworks is still critical because it helps us know where to target additional resources and support for students who need it the most.”
Ratings are calculated using statewide data that includes academic achievement, academic growth, and postsecondary and workforce readiness. The ratings, which are used to accredit schools and assign school plan types, are usually released each year, but the state paused during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the 2022-23 school year preliminary ratings, fewer Colorado schools earned the highest rating, Chalkbeat Colorado reported. Thirteen school districts were given one of the two lowest ratings, an increase from four districts in the previous rating. And 39% of school districts were not able to provide enough testing data to receive a ranking, an increase from previous years.
Eleven districts earned the highest rating this year, a decrease from 20 districts in 2019-20, according to the Colorado Department of Education. Forty-seven districts earned the second-highest rating, a decrease from 111 districts in 2019-20.
Ganahl defeated Greg Lopez in the Republican primary in June and will face off against incumbent Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) in the November general election, according to Ballotpedia.
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