Colorado districts announce March 20 closures forced by teachers’ union Capitol protest

At least two Colorado school districts plan to close on Thursday in light of a scheduled teachers’ union protest at the state’s Capitol.

“On March 20th, educators, students, families, and community partners from across Colorado will rally at the State Capitol to demand No More Education Cuts and call for the fully funded public schools our students deserve,” reads the advocacy event, sponsored by the Colorado Education Association (CEA).

The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD), which has 56 schools in 11 different communities, estimated more than 600 of its staffers would be absent that day, according to a release cited by 9News, the local NBC affiliate.

“While BVSD students will not have classes on Thursday, it is still considered a workday for school and district employees,” Antonia Velez wrote for the outlet. “Schools are expected to be back open on Friday.”

Another district, Adams 12 Five Star Schools, also announced closures “due to labor shortages” and mentioned the statewide rally in an email cited by the website of Westgate Community School, which will remain open.

This district serves more than 36,000 students in Adams and Broomfield counties, in the suburban area north of Denver.

‘More money is not resulting in better academic outcomes’ 

The CEA blames lawmakers for not providing more financial support to schools even as the state grapples with a budget shortfall exceeding $1 billion. 

“Despite being one of the wealthiest states in the country, Colorado chronically underfunds its public schools by $4,000 to $4,500 per student per year compared to the national average,” the event’s webpage argues. 

However, other educational analysts disagree.  

The state has seen declining and lackluster performance across student enrollment, graduation rates and test scores, according to the Center Square. 

“The data is showing us time after time that more money is not resulting in better academic outcomes for Colorado’s K-12 students,” said Kelly Caufield, executive director of the Common Sense Institute. “It’s much easier to just have the funding conversation, versus the harder conversation about priorities within the classroom and how we are addressing the needs of students.” 

Meanwhile, a growing number of public-school students are not showing up to classrooms at all. 

The State Board of Education has made it a “wildly important goal” to reduce chronic absenteeism “from its pandemic high of 35.5% in 2021-22 to 15% in 2027-28,” according to Elyse Apel for the Center Square. 

“Along with accelerating student outcomes,” she writes, “the board hopes to boost student test scores in Colorado on which the majority of students are underperforming.”