A survey shows members of Colorado’s largest nonunion teachers association support pentions reform and reduction of government regulations.
“The people making decisions for students should be the professionals closest to the students,” said Monika Troutman, a teacher in Jefferson County Public Schools. “It is imperative that teachers be given more flexibility.”
More than 300 Colorado teachers responded to the annual survey from the Professional Association for Colorado Educators. Eighty-nine percent supported letting teachers have 401(k)-style retirement accounts rather than the typical government pension plan.
“It is sad that in a career already hindered by limited pathways for advancement, good teachers can be essentially punished both financially and professionally if they choose to move to another school district or have to move for a personal reason,” said teacher Sarah Lindholm.
Seventy-seven percent supported a plan to deposit some of each student’s state funding into an account teachers control and can use for classroom supplies. Eighty-one percent supported allowing teachers to get a waiver from state or federal mandates, such as student seat time and curriculum prescriptions.
Learn more:
“PACE 2014 Education Policy Membership Survey,” March 2014: http://coloradoteachers.org/images/pdfs/pace2014survey.pdf.
—Staff reports
Image by Vanderbilt University.
Joy Pullmann is a research fellow on education policy for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of The Federalist, a web magazine on politics, policy, and culture.
