AURORA | In her six months or so on the state board of education as a replacement for Karen Middleton, Jane Goff says she barely got a start on what she hopes to accomplish at the state level.

Her opponent, Chenoa Jensen, however says she has differing ideas on just what that role would be if she is elected.

Goff, a 35-year veteran teacher, said she has been pleased with the direction of the state board of education and wants to continue serving as Gov. Bill Ritter’s education plans for the state unfold.

Goff said she has been most pleased with the study groups around the state over the last year, and the push for more integration of skill sets across different levels of schooling.

“What is going on in the world of education and our needs and creative ideas in Colorado are exactly what I’ve been hoping to have conversations about for 20 years,” she said. “We can educate a well-balance, well-educated person. That, to me, is extremely exciting and we are really on the verge of being able to do that.”

Goff said she supports opening up choices for students after high school graduation, including career and technical schools.

Jensen says she is disappointed by the public education system as a whole in Colorado and nationwide.

“It is clear to me that our current education system is failing,” she said.

Jensen, who home-schools her sixth-grade son, says the state needs to work away from what she calls a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

She said that, for too long, our education system has been designed by one group of people to educate themselves, which doesn’t work in today’s diverse society.

“We have a system that has been developed by middle-aged, Caucasian people,” she said. “And that is exactly who is doing well in the system.

“I want to promote choices in education,” she said. “If you are going to force people to pay tax dollars, you need to give them the right to choose.”

Among those choices would be a push for schools of innovation, home schooling and charter schools, she said.

Both Goff and Jensen admit that the current assessment program in the state needs to be examined.

Goff said the state needs to examine the usefulness of the CSAP program at the high school level, and possibly move towards another test like the ACT to establish student performance.

“I think we ... would be crazy not to acknowledge a lot of unrest around CSAP, especially at the high school level,” she said. “It is perceived as not meaning anything by these kids and isn’t considered when they are applying for college or whatever post high school track.”

And while Jensen also agrees the system needs to be examined, she contends that there is too much assessment in schools to begin with.

She said she feels teachers spend too much time assessing students and not enough time teaching.

“I think it is pathetic,” she said. “The system is fundamentally broken. I’m not against assessment, but I am against what I have seen. For all of the assessment testing that is done, it doesn’t seem to be working. We need more solutions that I can’t even begin to tell you what they are.”

And while several charter schools chartered through Aurora Public Schools have had to appeal to the state board to get approval, both women say the system should remain in place and that charter schools should continue to be approved by local districts.

Jensen said she supported charter schools because often they are made up of like-minded groups who are looking out for the best interests of their children. She also said she would support programs like the Pilot School Program in Aurora that gives schools more autonomy in their curriculum, though didn’t specifically reference that program.

“I personally like the idea of local districts chartering their own schools,” she said. “It seems that if you want the parents to band together, that is a great way to do it.”

Goff agreed, adding that while the state board has often been pitted against local boards when dealing with charters, there is a need for that oversight.

“If there is a local decision that is made about a charter and they can’t work it out within their own works then they can appeal to the state board,” she said. “Both sides can present their rationale, and we have the prerogative to grant one way or another.”