Educating Colorado

Title: Colorado Schools' Broken Bank

Framing of Project – early ideas

Member classifications and emails:

Sarah Horn 971-570-7315, sarahmhorn@gmail.com

Kristen Painter 651-500-9230, Kristen.Painter@Colorado.Edu

Keith Moore 303-886-8181, keith.moore@colorado.edu,

Statement of Purpose:

Colorado’s public university system has a shortfall in state funding causing it to raise tuition rates and change ratio of in-state and out-of-state students. This project will define factors that have led up to this problem, how this issue is affecting the educational community now and how the University and state of Colorado are planning to solve some of ancillary issues.

Scope and Scale

Colorado's public college system is at a crossroads. Traditionally one of the states that offer the least financial support to its public school system, the project will address how Colorado's budget shortfalls caused by the economic crisis will affect public school funding, from the perspective of college and high school students, parents and the community. Also how Colorado compares to the rest of the nation.

Division of Labor

We will all be working equally on each piece but will have one person be managing progress

Reporting - Keith is going to be the lead

Media - Sarah

Coding/web editor– Kristen will be making sure things are working and are consistent

Web Site design - We will be equally responsible

Preliminary story topics and media needs: 4-8 story ideas and media considerations:

Define by Perspectives

Parents of Colorado students

Out of state students – will they still be able to afford it

Professors that are working on this issue

Colorado State department of education and the process

Administrator at CU

Budget - outlining how much they are getting

Talk about federal funding – limits to loans

Case studies: Massachusetts and California

What are fees going to?

How have expenses changed?

What are the immediate repercussions?

Media considerations

· Tuition changes

· Map with spectrum of funding or in-state tuition

· Videos of interviews with each defined perspective

· Audio slide shows of interviews

Anticipated barriers or obstacles:

- Staying focused and keeping it newsworthy and topical

- Getting as much budget and other information from the state as we need to understand the issue

- Staying organized and on-track during a short amount of time