Kayla Tibbals gives her acceptance speech for the ‘Lifetime Ambassador Award’, League of Charter Schools Conference, February 2025.
I attended the February 24 meeting of Archuleta School District’s Master Plan Advisory Committee as a member of the committee, and was pleased that the meeting began with a brief presentation, by ASD Superintendent Rick Holt, about public charter schools, and specifically, about our local District-authorized charter school: Pagosa Peak Open School.
This was the second meeting of the Master Plan Advisory Committee (MPAC). The MPAC has been charged with making a recommendation to the School Board, within the next few months, regarding the condition of our public school buildings. At the first meeting in January, Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) — which is semi-independent, but still part of the District — was barely mentioned during a 2-hour discussion about the condition of ASD buildings.
Knowing what I know about public charter schools in Colorado, I assume that at least a few of the 20 people at the MPAC meeting did not realize that PPOS is, indeed, a District school and is — like all our District schools — tuition free and open to all families. Thus, Superintendent Holt’s brief overview was, I believe, helpful and appropriate.
Disclosure: I serve as a volunteer member of the PPOS non-profit Board of Directors.
The Colorado General Assembly crafted and approved the state’s Charter School Act in 1993, with the goal of injecting “innovation” into the public school realm.
From the introduction to that law:
(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that…
(a) It is the obligation of all Coloradans to provide all children with schools that reflect high expectations and create conditions in all schools where these expectations can be met;
That’s quite a statement, when you take it all in. The Colorado legislators, in 1993, asserted that all of us who call ourselves ‘Coloradans’ are obligated — obligated — to provide all children with “schools that reflect high expectations”… and that not only reflect those expectations, but also create conditions where those expectations can be met.
In all schools.
How high might those expectations be, in 2025?
And how, exactly, will those conditions be created?
The next section of the Charter School Act:
(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that…
(b) Education reform is in the best interests of the state in order to strengthen the performance of elementary and secondary public school pupils, that the best education decisions are made by those who know the students best and who are responsible for implementing the decisions, and, therefore, that educators and parents have a right and a responsibility to participate in the education institutions which serve them;
In 1993, the Colorado legislators were interested in educational reform to strengthen student learning, and believed that the people closest to the children — the parents and teachers — should be encouraged to create small, innovative schools where “outside the box” educational models and systems could be tested and refined.
In the case of Pagosa Peak Open School, the two primary “outside the box” programs are Project-Based Learning and Restorative Practices. These educational methods are also found in some conventional schools, but both are currently in a state of constant refinement, nationally and at PPOS.
More from the 1993 Act:
(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that…
(c) Different pupils learn differently and public school programs should be designed to fit the needs of individual pupils, and that there are educators, citizens, and parents in Colorado who are willing and able to offer innovative programs, educational techniques, and environments but who lack a channel through which they can direct their innovative efforts…
Just as different pupils learn differently… in a similar sense, different teachers teach differently… and different parents raise their children differently, and want different experiences for those children. So the Colorado legislature decided to authorize publicly-funded, tuition-free charter schools, to explore those differences.
The Colorado Department of Education has meanwhile developed “standards” to guide instruction in all areas of academic learning, physical education, and the arts. Charter schools are expected to build their innovative educational methods to meet these same “state standards”.
Charter schools have proved threatening, however, to certain public school advocates — for whatever reasons.
Partly to defend the rights guaranteed by the Charter School Acts of 1993, advocates formed the Colorado League of Charter Schools. I can confidently state — speaking as one of the founders of Pagosa Peak Open School — that PPOS would not exist without the financial and logistical help provided to us by the League.
Five of the six members of the PPOS Board of Directors attended the annual League conference last month, to learn about the latest trends at successful charter schools, and meet some of the private companies and consultants that support charter schools.
The first event of the three-day conference was recognition of some outstanding school leaders and advocates. (PPOS Board President Lawrence Rugar was among the leaders nominated.) One special award was given to Kayla Tibbals, who has been serving for a 10 years as a lobbyist, on behalf of the League, at the Colorado legislature.
Part of Ms. Tibbals’ acceptance speech:
“What I’ve been so proud of, in my time lobbying for the charter schools, is that we are fierce advocates for choice, and also for quality. More children deserve to have quality schools in Colorado, and that’s what makes the fire burn for me, everyday. It’s not the corporate work that I do. It’s this work. And I feel like it’s the greatest job I have, to advocate on your behalf…”
Yes, politics is very much a part of the American education system, as we’ve been made acutely aware, lately, with the ongoing discussions in Washington DC about dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
Politics also played a central role in the keynote speech delivered on the last day of the conference, when we heard from Dr. Steve Perry, described in the conference program as “one of the most influential and innovative voices in education today…”
Read Part Two, tomorrow…