School board candidates Joe Colgan and Bill Bowlby revealed differing styles at a public forum Thursday.

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Photo by STEVE LEWIS/Herald

Joe Colgan, candidate for District E, speaks during a 9-R School Board candidate forum on Thursday evening at Durango City Hall. At left are District C candidate Andrew Burns, and District E candidate Bill Bowlby.

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Colgan, who was appointed to fill a vacancy in August, pointed to his experiences as a board member for the
Durango Adult Education
Center and La Plata Economic Development Action Partnership and longtime involvement in Rotary clubs and Boy Scouts.

Bowlby, in contrast, asked big-picture questions while citing academic literature and news reports.

In response to a question about how to improve communication between Durango School District 9-R and the community, Colgan said conversations often prove valuable.

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Check out the Durango Telegraph list of events! LI & League of Women Voters School Board candidate forum is mentioned!

To help keep girls in school and on track for success, the National Women’s Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund went straight to the source: Latina students and the adults who work with them every day. Our new report, Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation, explores the causes of the dropout crisis for Latinas and identifies the actions needed to improve their graduation rates and get them ready for college. 

Latinas are dropping out of school in alarming numbers. Forty-one percent of Latina students do not graduate with their class in four years—if they graduate at all. Many Latina students face challenges related to poverty, immigration status, limited English proficiency, and damaging gender and ethnic stereotypes. And the high teen pregnancy rate for Latinas — the highest of any ethnic group — reflects and reinforces the barriers they face.

To view the report and listen to the stories, click here!

The legislative poverty task force met the same week Denver Public Schools students were heading back to class, the same day three community organizations announced a campaign to demand accountable public schools, and just as the district moves to place more students into college-prep courses.

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DENVER - Children across Denver grabbed their backpacks and lunchboxes Wednesday morning as they headed back to school.

Wednesday was the first day of classes for Denver Public Schools, the second largest district in the state, and Superintendent Tom Boasberg was ready and waiting for his punctual pupils to arrive at Stedman Elementary School.

"We've got our highest enrollment in 30 years," Boasberg said.

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The Campaign for Accountable Public Schools convened on Tuesday in front of the Denver Public School headquarters for a press conference to launch their campaign to draw attention to the needs of Latino and other minority students, and families in the public school system... Click Here to read the entire article!

DENVER - Amber Mendoza wished she didn't have to stand in front of district headquarters Tuesday afternoon. But the East High sophomore is part of a movement to push for an equal education for Hispanic students.

"All students in DPS have the right to college preparatory education," said Mendoza, a member of Jovenes Unidos or Youth United. "We believe that all DPS students deserve equal services regardless of race, income, or legal status."

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Community activists are knocking on doors, holding forums and even rapping to improve the odds that people will turn out for the November school board election. To read the entire article, click here!