Some Colorado colleges enroll more first-generation students

Should they get funding?

BY JASON GONZALES CHALKBEAT COLORADO

Colorado colleges and universities would get a special designation if they enroll a high number of students who are the rst in their families to go to college, under a bill at the Capitol this year.

e largely symbolic measure has fed a bigger debate about how Colorado funds its public colleges. It also spurred a conversation about what rst-generation students need to be successful.

e rst generation-serving label that House Bill 1114 would create would attach to schools that enroll those students at a higher rate than the state average. It would also require Colorado’s higher education department to track how well students do at those schools.

e bill would not require schools to create additional programs to help those students get to and through college. Nor would it o er colleges more money to provide such support.

Money and support make a di erence for students, said Diane Schorr, director of advocacy and initiatives at the Center for First-generation Student Success. She questioned why the state wouldn’t ensure colleges with the new designation get either.

“What I would have liked to have seen is what’s being required of the institution?” Schorr said.

Supporters of the bill — including Metropolitan State University and Colorado Mesa University — would like to prod the state to better fund schools that serve a large share of rst-generation students. ese schools often have lower graduation rates, something that works against them in Colorado’s funding formula. It also costs a lot of money to run the programs that help rst-generation students.

Opponents of the bill, including Colorado State University, say that who enrolls the most rst-generation students shouldn’t matter. Instead, they say that state funding should follow those students wherever they enroll. With limited state funding for higher education, more money for certain institutions can mean less for others. is story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe. at/newsletters

Several leadership seats change

In the early February newsletter, omas pointed to “the fourth time in just a few weeks that I have been replaced on boards” on which she says she has long served.

Laydon and Teal recently voted to remove her from leadership on entities including the following, Laydon told Colorado Community Media.

• e Northwest Douglas County Chamber and Economic Development Corporation, a group that represents the local business community;

• e Mile High Flood District, which oversees matters such as ood management, stream mitigation and stormwater around the Denver region;

• And the 18th Judicial District Forfeiture Board. (“Forfeiture” relates to property involved in a

About Letters To The Editor

Colorado Community Media welcomes letters to the editor. Please note the following rules: criminal or legal matter, according to an explainer on the U.S. Treasury Department website.) e Douglas County commissioners collectively sit on about 40 boards, according to Laydon.

• Email your letter to letters@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.

• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper.

• Letters must be no longer than 400 words.

• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.

• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for office. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters advocating for or against a political candidate or ballot issue will not be published within 12 days of an election.

Usually in January each year, the county commissioners decide which of their colleagues to appoint to boards that oversee outside entities, Laydon said.

“I was … removed from the Northwest Douglas County EDC, which is wholly within my Commissioner District,” omas wrote in a newsletter. “Teal will also take my place on this board despite the fact that he does not live nor work in NW Douglas County.”

Teal has not responded to Colorado Community Media callss for comments asking why he vote in favor of removing omas from serving on boards.

For more speci cs about the investigations omas is referring to, see Colorado Community Media’s previous story at tinyurl.com/legaldisputes.

• Publication of any given letter is at our discretion. Letters are published as space is available.

• We will edit letters for clarity, grammar, punctuation and length and write headlines (titles) for letters at our discretion.

• Please don’t send us more than one letter per month. First priority for publication will be given to writers who have not submitted letters to us recently.

• Submit your letter in a Word document or in the body of an email. No PDFs or Google Docs, please.

• Include your full name, address and phone number. We will publish only your name and city or town of residence, but all of the information requested is needed for us to verify you are who you say you are.

• Letters will be considered only from people living in Colorado Community Media’s circulation area in Adams, Arapahoe, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Jefferson and Weld counties.

• Do not use all caps, italics or bold text.

• Keep it polite: No name calling or “mudslinging.”

March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

Douglas County celebrates the diverse contributions, capacity and value of our residents with developmental disabilities. Thank you for what you bring to our community. This month, the Board of County Commissioners is formally recognizing these residents’ contributions and commending the community organizations, agencies and programs that support them throughout the year. For more information visit douglas.co.us and search for Developmental Disabilities

Nominate a special teenager for a 2023 Youth Initiative Award

Do you know a Douglas County teenager, between the ages of 13 and 19, who has overcome adversity and created positive change in their lives, as well as the lives of others? Nominate them for a 2023 Douglas County Outstanding Youth Award by March 3. Visit douglas.co.us and search Youth Awards

What’s happening with your County government?

Our commitment to open and transparent government includes online posting of information about public meetings at which the business of government is conducted. To view public meeting agendas, participate in-person or remotely, or watch select meetings via live stream, visit douglas.co.us and search for Business Meetings / Public Hearings.