The Denver Post carried an op-ed online by ACE’s Executive Director Norton Rainey on the defeat of a tax credit bill that would have given low-income families access to quality private schools.
Defeat of tax credits to attend private school
March 8th, 2010ACE Welcomes Mitt Romney to Denver!
March 2nd, 2010
ACE has lots to celebrate during its Tenth Anniversary this year, and we can think of no better way than with a special luncheon with former Governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney!
Governor Romney is a great advocate of school choice, and we are honored to have him join us for this one-time luncheon in support of ACE.
This luncheon is proudly brought to you by the Luncheon Host Committee and presented by our generous sponsors:
ACE 10th Anniversary Spring Luncheon with
Governor Mitt Romney
Thursday, May 27, 2010
12 PM - 1:30 PM
Denver Marriott City Center
To RSVP visit www.acescholarships.org/romney
There is a cost to attend; visit our online registration page for details
Like us, Governor Romney recognizes the social and economic benefits to improving graduation rates and producing a well-educated workforce. He knows that our financial well being tomorrow depends on the quality of our education system today.
So please consider joining us for what should be an exciting celebration. This will be a unique opportunity to hear one of our nation’s leading policy experts discuss the critical issue of reforming our public school system so every child has access to a quality school.
Attendees will receive a complimentary, autographed copy of Governor Romney’s new book just released today, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.”
We look forward to seeing you as we celebrate ten years of providing hope to at-risk children!
Seating is limited for this one-time event, so please visit our online registration page at
www.acescholarships.org/romney; all proceeds benefit ACE, a 501(c)(3), and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed under the law.
ACE 10th Anniversary Spring Luncheon Host Committee
March 1st, 2010
Luncheon Host Committee
ACE Board of Trustees
William Armstrong, Chairman, Cherry Creek Mortgage Company
Don Bailey, Chairman & CEO, Triton Investment Company
Kendall Bailey, Arby’s/ The Bailey Company
Bill Bergner, President, Berco Resources, LLC
Richard N. Brown, Denver
George Caulkins III, Greendeck Capital
Jay Cleary, Principal, Financial Designs, Ltd.
Terry Considine, Chairman & CEO, AIMCO
Alex Cranberg, Chairman, Aspect Energy
Peter Dea, President & CEO, Cirque Resources
Steven Farber, President and Founding Partner, Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck
John Fox, Chairman, MWHC Holding Inc.
Mike Fries, President & CEO, Liberty Global
Steve Friess, Friess, Inc.
Charlie Gallagher, Chairman & CEO, Gallagher Enterprises
Francisco Garcia, Founder & CEO, Garcia International
Caleb Gates, Retired V.P. & Principal, Denver Investment Advisors
Henry Gordon, President, Strata Capital
John Ikard, President & CEO, FirstBank
Bud Isaacs, Chairman, RIM Operating
Mike Kennedy, President, Kennedy Real Estate Investments
Don Law, President, Prima Exploration
John Leede, Manager-Exploration, Leede Operating Company
Dick Lewis, Chairman & CEO, Avant Premium Water
Scott Lowery, Chairman, CEO & President, Collect America
Tom Marsh, Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin Space Systems
Anne McCarthy, Executive Vice President, Western Union
Ed McVaney, Retired President & Founder, J.D. Edwards
Julie Mork, Managing Director, ECA Foundation
Jim Mulvihill, Principal, Black Creek Capital
Ralph Nagel, President, Top Rock LLC and Chairman of ACE Board of Trustees
Michael W. O’Shaughnessy, President, Lario Oil & Gas Company
Jack Overstreet, President, Legacy Energy
Bill Owens, Colorado Governor 1999-2007
Roger Parker
Tom Petrie, Vice Chairman, Executive Client Coverage Group, Merrill Lynch Petrie
Jim Piccone, President, Resolute Natural Resources
Paul Rady, Chairman & CEO, Antero Resources Corporation
Ben Rainey, President & CEO, The Pando Group
Walter Rakowich, CEO, ProLogis
Scott Reiman, President, Hexagon Investments
Blair Richardson, Partner, Bow River Capital
Dick Robinson, Co-Chairman, Robinson Dairy
Jeff Ross, President and CEO, Ross Aviation
Dick Saunders, Chairman & Treasurer, Saunders Construction Company
Rick Schmitz, Partner, SKS Ventures, LLC
Vince Schmitz, Chairman, Citywide Banks
Scot Sellers, CEO, Archstone-Smith
Mark Sexton, CEO, Evergreen Energy, Inc.
Eric Sipf, Chairman, Imerica
Chris Smith, President, Cochlear Americas
George Solich, President, Cordillera Energy Partners, LLC
Dell Van Gilder, President, Van Gilder Insurance Corp.
Luis Villarreal, President, Save Our Youth
Bonnie Vivian, Retired President & CEO, Denver Biomedical
Jim Wallace, Partner, BWAB Exploration
Eric Weissmann, Managing Director, Kachi Partners
Peter Wells, Chairman, Wells Property Holdings
Scot Wetzel, Chairman, United Western Bank
Pat Wiesner, President, Wiesner Publishing
Wayne Williamson, Partner, Plexus Capital
Don Wolf, CEO, Quantum Resources, LLC
Earl Wright, President & CEO, AMG National Trust Bank
ACE Board of Advisors
Ben Addoms, President, Quintess
Robert Attai, Partner, Husch Blackwell Sanders, LLP
Brad Billingsley, Partner, Lockton Companies
Tony Bolazina, President, Northern Trust Bank
Lindsay Brown, Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle
Judy Cain, Partner, EKS&H
Blake Carlson, Partner, Carlson Associates
Melissa Corrado-Harrison, First Vice President, Merrill Lynch
Michael Davis, Associate, Greenberg Traurig
Debbie Donner, President, Han Chaparral
Rick Eldridge, President and CEO, Intuitive Insurance Corporation
Nate Ford, Partner, Faegre & Benson, LLP
Eric Holt, Managing Director, Bessemer Trust
Mike Hommel, Owner, Designs by Sundown
Patrick Johnson, President, SimonDavis, Inc.
Hendrik Jordaan, Partner, Holme Roberts & Owen, LLP
Brian Jumps, Partner, Kamlet Reichert, LLP
Randy Kenworthy, Managing Partner, Caddis Capital
Kurt Kittleson, President, Concord Energy
David Livingston, President, United Western Bank
Bruce MacDonald, President, MacDonald Hardwood Floors
Tate McCoy, Executive Vice President, Lockton Companies
Bryan Miller, Vice President, InnerWorkings
Tim Miller, CEO, Synergy Services Inc.
Kevin Mitchell, Partner, RedCloud Capital, Inc.
Marcus Mollmann, Owner, New West Investments
Todd Neugebauer, Partner, CHx Capital, LLC
Rick O’Donnell, President, Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence
David Puchi, Managing Director, Baceline Investments
Tim Schafer, Principal, Schafer Thomas, P.C.
Joseph Smith, Partner, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott, LLP
Jerry Sommer
Josh Stewart, CEO, X Jet
Shawn Stigler, Partner, Stigler, Wussow & Braverman Ltd.
Mike Ward, Owner, Mike Ward Infiniti
Eric Wolf, Partner, Bow River Capital
School Choice Bill Killed
February 24th, 2010Yesterday the House Committee on Finance considered HB 10-1296, sponsored by Representative Spencer Swalm and Senator Josh Penry. Norton Rainey, ACE executive director testified in support of the bill, as did Jacque Graham, Principal at Inner City School and Theresa Gallegos, the mother of an ACE scholar.
The idea behind HB 1296 came from former U.S. Senator Hank Brown, and it would provide low-income families with an annual $1,000 tax credit for enrolling their child in a private school. The bill would also provide a grant of $1,000 to any public school that loses a student to a private school as a consequence of the tax credit.
Regrettably, the bill was killed on a Party line vote, six to five.
It is unfortunate, as the bill would have given low-income families a tremendous financial incentive to send their child to a private school, reduced public school class sizes as more children took advantage of the tax credit, and provided public schools with a $1,000 grant to help them give the children that remain behind a better quality education.
The bill would have even had a positive fiscal impact on our state, with a savings of $4.9 million in the first year, $8.7 million in the second year, and as much as $36 million in ten years, according to the official fiscal note prepared by Legislative Council.
It’s hard to imagine rejecting a bill that would do so much:
- Provide a much-needed financial benefit to low-income families;
- Allow low-income children to attend quality private schools;
- Support public schools with a $1,000 grant for not teaching a child who left for private school;
- Save the State of Colorado millions of dollars during one of the worst recessions in our history and at a time when the Legislature is proposing to cut K-12 education spending.
During the hearing several comments stood out as particularly alarming:
- The full-time lobbyist for the Colorado Education Association (the teacher’s union) testified against the bill, stating that the legislation “doesn’t support public education.” This statement perfectly sums up what is wrong with the CEA. The lobbyist was right that the bill’s intent was not to support public education, even though it would have provided each school $1,000 for every child they lost. The bill was intended to support children, not the bureaucracy of our public education system… and shouldn’t that be the point?
- Other representatives who voted “no” agreed with the CEA lobbyist, saying the bill “undermined” public education. It’s hard to imagine that giving a public school $1,000 for every child that leaves their school would be seen as undermining public schools. After all, most of the children who would choose to leave would do so because the public school wasn’t effective. Talk about rewarding failure!
While it was frustrating to watch this bill go down in defeat, ACE was proud to support the bill and share with the committee some of the amazing things that are happening through this organization. ACE will continue to provide these low-income children with immediate relief from failing public schools, and we will continue to support efforts to extend school choice to every child in Colorado.
Betsy DeVos
February 1st, 2010ACE was proud to host Betsy DeVos for a special businesswomen’s luncheon on February 1, 2010 at the Denver Country Club.
A special thanks to the Host Committee and our Luncheon Sponsor A. Line Boutique.
Host Committee
Betty Arkell, Kendall Bailey, Judy Cain, Cathy Carpenter Dea, Debbie Donner, Sidney Gates, Emily Keimig, Laurie Leprino, Michelle Livingston, Anne McCarthy, Susan Morrice, Heather Mulvihill, Diane Padalino, Laurie Richardson, Jeanne Saunders, Janice Sinden, Michelle St. Pierre, Jennie Virgilio, Bonnie Vivian, Kristi Wells, Krista Wolf
Betsy DeVos
As a leader in both the political arena and the national school reform movement for over two decades, Betsy DeVos combines a passion for equal opportunity in education with significant political experience.
As a board member of the Advocates for School Choice, a national advocacy organization for the school choice movement, and as a board member of the Education Freedom Fund, a Michigan-based scholarship organization she has led with her husband, Betsy has devoted significant time and energy to ensuring that children from disadvantaged families have educational options and hope for a brighter future.
She was also instrumental in bringing about the emergence of political action on behalf of school choice when, in 2001, she founded the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP), a Michigan-based political action committee which was the precursor to All Children Matter and which led the fight to build a bi-partisan coalition of supporters for charter schools in Michigan’s legislature.
Betsy has been deeply committed to working with both Democrats and Republicans to ensure that every child has equal access to a quality education. Betsy’s vision for All Children Matter is to continue building and expanding a bi-partisan political coalition that advances education reform and equal opportunities in education for all children.
Experienced in the private sector, Betsy DeVos is Chairman of The Windquest Group, a privately held small business founded in 1989.
Betsy is also very active in the community and currently serves on a number of national and local boards, including the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Kids Hope USA, The Acton Institute, and Compass Arts.
A graduate of Holland Christian High School, Betsy received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Political Science from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Betsy and her husband, Dick, have four children, aged 25 to 16. They reside in Ada, Michigan.
Meet Alberto
January 15th, 2010
Alberto, a highly focused second grader, tells us that someday he wants to be a “fireman because they rescue people, or maybe a policeman who catches bad guys… and,” as he changes gears with a grin, “I have a pet scorpion.”
His ACE teacher describes him as, “Amazing; very smart and always prepared. He’s up at 4 a.m. to arrive ready for school.” For Alberto, “the best thing about school is the learning, and my favorite class is science because we learn about nature [which may explain the scorpion] and I also want to be a geologist ‘cause I like cool rocks.”
Alberto speaks nearly flawless English and Spanish (required in his bilingual school) and sports a better-than-second-grade command of Mestizo, a centuries-old blend of Portuguese and French, which he learned on his own.
Yet the deeper reality behind these eyes is that Alberto has lived most of his seven years in local shelters with his single mom – a stark contrast to the stable and secure world found within the doors of his ACE private school.
A Decade of Service
January 4th, 2010Ten years ago several business leaders, including Alex Cranberg, Charlie Gallagher, Ed McVaney, John Saeman and myself, joined together to form a non-profit organization out of a growing concern for the quality of education being offered to Colorado’s low-income communities, particularly in inner-city Denver.
More kids were dropping out than graduating; far fewer were going on to college. So the Alliance for Choice in Education was formed one decade ago this year to give choice to children who ordinarily have none.
Middle- and high-income families have educational choice: they either move to neighborhoods with good public schools or pay private school tuition. Low-income parents don’t have that luxury. Their children attend the government assigned, neighborhood school, whether it’s a good school, or not; whether the educational environment suits their child’s learning style, or not; whether that school will prepare their child for the future, or not.
For ten years ACE has provided a lifeline to these kids, offering them a chance to start anew in a private school of their choosing. The results has been consistently higher graduation rates, higher ACT scores, higher college-acceptance rates, more satisfied parents and more confident children.
After more than 6,000 scholarships totaling more than $15 million, we feel more empowered than ever to continue applying pressure to the status-quo; to continue rejecting the notion that some children can’t learn; to continue leveling the playing field for at-risk kids and providing them with an opportunity to learn in a safe and structured environment.
A decade of service is indeed a milestone that should be celebrated, but it pales in comparison to the hundreds of milestones ACE kids have reached throughout the years – the first in their family to graduate from high school; the first to attend college; the first to reject the temptations of their troubled communities and strive for something greater.
Many years ago (I won’t say how many), I was the first in my family to graduate from college. My life was forever changed by the opportunities that opened up to me. Ultimately that’s the mission of ACE – to change kid’s lives through education.
Thank you for your support these past ten years. Here’s to another great decade.
Ralph Nagel
Chairman of the Board
Spreading His Wings
December 11th, 2009The Denver Nuggets’ soaring star, Chris “Birdman” Andersen continues his work giving back to the Denver community.
ACE will be at the Nuggets home game vs. the Phoenix Suns tomorrow night and will be presented with a check from Birdman and the Arby’s Foundation that will directly assist more low-income children.
A HUGE thank you to Birdman, his agent Mark Bryant, and Geoff and Kendall Bailey from Arby’s.
Dr. Howard Fuller
November 20th, 2009School choice advocate Dr. Howard Fuller was in Denver this week at the request of the Piton Foundation and the Donnell-Kay Foundation.
Dr. Fuller has long been a friend of ACE and sat down to be interviewed for our latest video. By fighting for expanded parental choice for four decades, Dr. Fuller has developed a way of articulating the need for reform that people understand and can relate to:
“On Feb. 1, 1960, four students from North Carolina A & T sat down at a lunch counter and demanded to be served. Here in 2009 … we can have four students go sit down at a lunch counter where they are welcome but they can’t read the menu. My question is, how in the world did we get here? How could this be?”
Dr. Fuller was speaking to an audience of educators and parents at Manual High School, and EdNews Colorado covered the event.
More from Dr. Fuller:
“This question about educating our children isn’t just a moral issue, which it is. It isn’t just a social justice issue, which it is,” Fuller said. “It is really an issue that deals with, how do you sustain a democracy?
“One thing I’ve learned over all of these years is that many people support change as long as nothing changes,” Fuller said. “We go to these conferences and we discuss change and we make the mistake of thinking that the discussion constituted the change.
“I have seen so many great schools that are educating the very kids that people say cannot be educated,” Fuller said, then paraphrased Mortimer Adler’s Paideia Proposal. “So what I’ve concluded is … there are no unteachable children. What there are, are adults who have not yet figured out how to teach them.”
Competition, Competition, Competition!
November 9th, 2009A new paper released by Marcus Winters of the Manhattan Institute looks at the effects of charter schools within the New York City School District.
The bottom line:
The analysis reveals that students benefit academically when their public school is exposed to competition from a charter.
- In both math and reading, the lowest-performing students in public school benefit from competition from charter schools.
- For every 1 percent of a public school’s students who leave for a charter, reading proficiency among those who remain increases by about 0.02 standard deviations, a small but not insignificant number, in view of the widely held suspicion that the impact on local public schools of students’ departures for charter schools would be negative.
- Competition from charter schools has no effect on overall student achievement in math.
We see the benefits of competition in nearly every aspect of our daily lives. And yet we are the only developed nation with an educational monopoly. Charters - and private schools - represent competition to the public bureaucracy.
This study makes last week’s DPS elections all the more depressing. It will be a travesty if the new Denver school board turns its back on the bold reforms undertaken by Michael Bennet and Tom Boasberg.
We need more studies like this one that show the benefits of competition in our education system.