Change Agent.

• Author: KATZ, ALAN
• Position: Steve Schuck - Statistical Data Included

STEVE SCHUCK CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE OF COLORADO -- NOW HE WANTS TO CHANGE OUR SCHOOLS

IT'S NATURAL FOR STEVE SCHUCK TO TAKE AN INTEREST in schools. A master land developer who's been involved in state politics for two decades, Schuck also is a onetime teacher and football coach who understood three decades ago the close connection between Colorado's economic future and the quality of its public schools.

From the beginning, Schuck realized that because of Colorado's distance from major shipping lines and raw minerals, the state's manufacturers needed to produce light, high-value products that could be shipped inexpensively That in itself made high-tech businesses central to the state's future. And well-educated workers integral to both.

In the early 1970s, Schuck could rattle off statistics that demonstrated Colorado's high educational standards. He was able to convince companies scouting for locations that they would find qualified employees here who, in turn, could send their children to good public schools.

But today, when Schuck looks at Colorado schools, he feels anger and disgust. He wonders where tomorrow's highly educated workforce will come from when 40 percent of the state's fourth graders are unable to read or write at grade level. An emotional man, he was enraged when the newspapers gloated over the latest CSAP numbers, which showed a slight improvement over last year's.

Sadly, the saving grace for Colorado is that the rest of the country isn't doing any better, he said.

"Our public schools today are no better or worse than our counterparts in other states with whom we compete for employers," he says. "That's a fragile thread on which to rely. So that's one side of the equation. The other is the terrible human tragedy. In the last 25 years, we've pumped more than $125 billion nationally into Title One (federal school funding) programs -- $80 billion in the last decade. And guess what? Scores have gone down. I consider this to be an American crisis, and certainly a Colorado crisis, and I want to do something about it!"

That determination may be a harbinger of permanent change.

There is no question that Schuck already has changed the face of Colorado Springs. He developed much of North Academy Boulevard, InterQuest business park, the 1,000-acre Cedar Heights and too many more projects to name. His company, The Schuck Corp., this month was named Company of the Year in real estate and construction in the 15th annual ColoradoBiz top...