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Roman targets achievement gap

Candidate for state board has educator background
Roman

Henry Roman, the Democratic candidate for the Colorado Department of Education, has had a long background as an educator.

Roman has spent 45 years in the field, including time as a mathematics teacher, a principal, executive director of secondary education and superintendent. Since his retirement, he has continued to work as interim superintendent and as a consultant on superintendent searches.

“I helped Ignacio, Alamosa, Walsenburg, Estes Park and others find their superintendents,” Roman said, “and you really learn a lot about school districts and their boards, their problems and their achievement gaps in that process.”

The state board of education primarily helps develop and set policies to implement education legislation enacted by the Colorado General Assembly. Roman thinks collaborating with legislators while they’re crafting bills would lead to more effective legislation.

“The legislators would have a better idea how everything fits together,” he said. “We could make our concerns known in a more meaningful way and talk about how money can be attached to unfunded mandates.”

Roman’s passion is to close the achievement gap for children from lower socioeconomic levels.

“One of the ways to do that is by creating quality early-childhood education,” he said. “The gap is already wide when they come to kindergarten, and it just keep getting wider after that.”

The big difference between Roman and his opponent, Republican Marcia Neal, is that he doesn’t necessarily think all federal involvement in education is bad.

“It’s our choice to decide whether to accept it or not,” he said. “Title I reading is a very good program, well-researched and very effective.

The nutrition programs make a difference, too. I would agree that the special-education mandates were pretty stringent, and they don’t fund them. Sometimes it’s just a matter of how we go about doing it.”

abutler@durangoherald.com

Henry Roman resume (PDF)

Henry Roman

Political affiliation: Democrat.

Key Issues: Develop quality early child care education, collaboration with Legislature to create better laws; work to increase respect for teachers.

Family: Wife, Anna, two grown children.

Occupation: Retired teacher and superintendent.

Residence: Pueblo.

Favorite U.S. President: John F. Kennedy.

Oct 1, 2014
Neal: Stop over-regulating


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