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Neal: Stop over-regulating

Wants state education job to finish what she started
Neal

Republican incumbent Marcia Neal wants a second term on the Colorado Board of Education because she still has work to do.

The retired Grand Junction teacher had originally planned to step down after completing her first six-year term, but was convinced to submit her candidacy earlier this year.

“My primary seemed to be about who’s more against Common Core,” she said about the national standards of student achievement in math and English language arts, to be measured at the end of each school year. “I’m hoping this term we could get Colorado to pull out of the (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career) testing. It would require legislation to approve it.”

Neal is concerned about excessive regulation at both the state and federal levels and how it impacts small school districts. In Colorado, 78 percent of the school districts are rural, but only 12 percent of the state’s students attend rural schools.

“Schools are telling me that the PARCC tests will take the better part of a month and a lot of money to administer the test, even using technology,” she said. “In many ways, educators have gotten caught up in minutiae and testing scores. These smaller schools are much more focused on their children.”

Neal taught history for 25 years and served eight years on the Mesa County Board of Education before winning the seat on the state board in 2008.

“Many people at the state level don’t understand rural school districts,” Neal said. “When Gov. (John) Hickenlooper first started, he asked why we didn’t just consolidate some of the rural districts, but he only said it once, because he got so much feedback. It would be pretty difficult to consolidate Creede and Silverton, for example, and in the San Luis Valley, they’re proud of their schools and take ownership.”

abutler@durangoherald.com

Marcia Neal positions (PDF)

Marcia Neal

Party Affiliation: Republican.

Key issues: Eliminate the testing associated with Common Core standards; increase resources and support for rural school districts; improve oversight of School Trust Lands Fund.

Family: Widowed, with three grown children.

Residence: Grand Junction.

Favorite U.S. President: Andrew Jackson.

Oct 1, 2014
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