Dear superintendents and BOCES directors,
I hope your summer is going well and you get some much-deserved time off. We have a few updates to share with you as you head into summer.
At June’s State Board of Education meeting, we shared CDE’s Theory of Change, which will be the foundation for our strategic plan. Thank you to everyone – including educators and district leaders -- who gave us feedback and input that helped us get to this point.
Our Theory of Change is grounded in data, keeping our districts, schools, students, and educators front and center. I’ve visited 32 school districts this year, and have seen first-hand that all of our schools and districts are different, which is important to keep in mind as we move forward with our strategic plan and how we serve you.
We developed our Theory of Change with input from around the state, including surveying superintendents to find out about your interactions with the department – what needs to improve, and what is working well. We have developed this Theory of Change to be our North Star, laying out our vision, values and priorities that will guide our work. We saw generally positive ratings but also saw outlier areas that we need to strengthen, including two-way communication with the field.
Our vision is “To create an equitable educational environment where all students and staff in Colorado thrive.”
Our role is to:
- Serve: Provide actionable support to local educational agencies.
- Guide: Effectively implement policy and legislation.
- Elevate: Share the experiences of local educational agencies and students.
Our core values are Integrity, equity, accountability, trust and service.
Our priorities are Increasing Student Engagement, Accelerating Student Outcomes, Strengthening the Educator Workforce and Providing Operational Excellence.
If you are interested in learning more, you can view the presentation to the board on our YouTube channel. It is the first item of the meeting.
Additionally, you can see our recap from the 2024 legislative session and our initial budget items that we have proposed for the State Board’s consideration.
As you know, this will be the first full fiscal year without ESSER funding since the pandemic, and I know that you are all making adjustments to your budgets because of this. On the state level, the general fund budget is tight, and we have been asked to consider reductions to help pay for any CDE budget requests in the coming year. The board will discuss and approve the budget at its August meeting.
Lastly, July has always been a time for you to recharge your batteries. I hope you get some time off to rest and recuperate. Please have a great summer, and I look forward to seeing you at CASE!
Thank you for all that you do,
Susana
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