The quality of a community's schools is central to any family's aspirations. Public education has largely been a local matter for school boards and states that allocate most of their funding. Yet for the past several decades, the federal government has entered the field in important and often disputed ways. With the No Child Left Behind Act, President George W. Bush put in place requirements that schools demonstrate "adequate yearly progress" based on standardized student testing. The law was replaced during the Obama administration with the Every Student Succeeds Act. Many states also coordinated with the federal government in Common Core standards for basic curriculum. Now Republicans are promoting another direction based on charter schools, privately runs schools operated with public oversight and funding, and school choice, enabling parents to decide which public or private schools their children attend with public funding. 

The Denver Business Journal has named Rebecca Troyer editor-in-chief. Troyer brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role, most recently as editor-in-chief of the Triad Business Journal in Greensboro, North Carolina since November 2016. 

Please join CU Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano on March 22nd, 5:30 to 8:00 pm at Hyatt Regency Denver to gain insight into LASP's latest venture, The International Satellite Program in Research and Education (INSPIRE).  We will explore how students at CU Boulder and other global universities are influencing exploration and discovery in space. A panel of industry experts will familiarize you with the value of international, corporate, government and university collaboration in space exploration and discovery. 

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against an effort to keep an initiative limiting Front Range housing growth off the November ballot. The ruling sets the stage for a historic electoral battle over whether the rapid growth of areas from Colorado Springs to Greeley can be allowed to continue unabated. 

To continue supporting employers in attracting and retaining top talent, Skillful has added new resources to their complimentary hiring toolkit. The toolkit includes offer easy-to-follow guidelines that can help you write a skills-based job posting, screen resumes on skills, conduct skills-based interviews, and more. 

At skillful.com/employers, you'll also find easy-to-use templates for skills-based job postings, templates for skills-based interviews, and local training opportunities where you can learn how to adopt skills-based practices, thereby improving retention and the quality of the candidates you attract. 

Six Business Roundtable CEOs appear in a new video urging policymakers to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The one-minute video opens with Evan Greenberg, Chairman and CEO, Chubb: "My advice to policymakers: do not harm. Update NAFTA. Ninety-five percent of the world exists beyond our borders." Lisa Davis, Chair & CEO , Siemens Corporation, says: "It's important that we modernize NAFTA by preserving the good parts and bringing it into the 21st century to catch up to our digital world." Also speaking are Mark Costa, Eastman; Hubert Joly, Best Buy Co., Inc; Rich Lesser, Boston Consulting Group; and Andrew Liveris, The Dow Chemical Company. Each CEO also appears in individual videos on the benefits of trade and NAFTA at the Roundtable trade hub. 

Trade for America, a coalition co-led by Business Roundtable, held an event in Omaha to press the case for international trade and NAFTA. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) delivered keynote remarks. A penal of government, business and agriculture leaders also discussed the contributions trade makes to the Nebraska and U.S. economies. The panel included Lance Fritz, Chairman President and CEO of Union Pacific. Video will be available on Twitter @trade4america. Other members of Trade for America are the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Association of Manufacturers, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.