A Republican-led defense of charter schools in the state Senate today resulted in the adoption of Pueblo’s renowned Cesar Chavez Charter School as a model for reaching at-risk kids in Colorado. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , of Las Animas, and Democrat Sen. Abel Tapia, of Pueblo, joined ranks on the state Senate floor to move the concept forward.

“This is thrilling,” Kester said after the debate. “It has tremendous potential all over the state, especially in places where kids are poor and are falling behind in school.”

The development came as senators debated Senate Bill 61, which had begun earlier in the legislative session as an attempt to rein in the growth of charter schools authorized by the state. Republicans and dissenting Democrats, including Tapia, headed off that attempt, however, amending the bill extensively before approving it.

Amendment 17 allowed the state to duplicate the Pueblo School District 60 Chavez charter program up to three times anywhere in Colorado, where there is need to help low-income kids get into a proven model that actually works. The Chavez program has been widely recognized for its dramatic success in boosting the achievement scores of children from some of Pueblo’s poorest neighborhoods.

“We’re trying to get other districts to emulate that model,” Tapia said.

Kester agreed and added, “If you want to advance the Cesar Chavez school and it’s success…this is a tremendous amendment.”

Although most charter schools are authorized by their local

school boards, the General Assembly voted a few years ago to let the state authorize charters, too, in cases where local board were uncooperative. Charters are independently run, publicly funded schools set up by parents and other groups that want to customize to tailor curriculum to meet kids’ wide-ranging needs, from gifted-and-talented to at-risk.

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , R-Centennial, a longtime advocate of education reform, suggested that the Chavez program offered the best blueprint for charter-based programs reaching pockets of at-risk kids.

“Why would we not want to duplicate it in other parts of the state?” she said.

All 15 Republicans and five Democrats, including Tapia, voted for the amendment.