Nearly 100 educators from rural areas across Colorado gathered at the State Capitol for Rural Lobby Day, despite challenging weather conditions. Their goal was to highlight ongoing issues in rural schools, including chronic underfunding, significant teacher shortages, and increasing cost-of-living pressures that are affecting both educators and students.
Rebecca Costanzo, a high school social studies teacher and member of the Brush Education Association, described the impact of teacher shortages on student learning. “We have been down an English teacher in our high school for about three years. When I graduated from college in 2011, there were hundreds of English teachers, and now we can’t even get one to come out to Northeast Colorado,” Rebecca shared. “So it’s really impacting our students and their instruction in reading and writing and other important skills that they need in the 21st century.”
Kasey Anderson, a high school science teacher with the Sterling Education Association, commented on how limited funding affects student opportunities. “Funding impacts our ability to provide materials and equipment that is relevant to the changing times, and be able to provide students with real world opportunities that will help develop their skill sets to make them more marketable when they leave our schools,” she stated.
Cheryl Prins, a high school Spanish teacher with Eagle County Education Association, discussed how housing shortages contribute to unfilled teaching positions. She said her school could not fill a position for a Native Spanish speaker due to lack of available housing, leading to the closure of a program serving mostly Latino students. “There were several different people who committed to the position, but then backed out over the summer because they couldn’t find housing, so the position went unfilled. We couldn’t run our program because we didn’t have a teacher,” she said.
Nicole Glassel, a first grade teacher from Fort Morgan Education Association, expressed concern about reliance on temporary staff and visas. “We have many teachers that are here on J1 visas, are long term subs or doing alternative licensure programs just so that we can have enough teachers in our buildings,” she explained. “Our middle school next year has 15 openings because the visas are up and they have to leave.”
Laura Daly from Eagle County Education Association summarized her motivation for participating: “I came because there are some changes that need to be made, and unless legislators hear from us and from the people that are in the schools, they don’t know what’s going on,” she shared.
Daly also noted her commitment by stating: “I came to lobby day because my students are worth fighting for. I came so that I could show them that their voice matters and that I didn’t just tell them that they can do it, but I showed it by my own actions.”
Educators at Rural Lobby Day called on lawmakers to address Colorado’s school funding system and invest more resources into rural education. They emphasized that these challenges must be addressed for both current students’ success and community sustainability.
