2009 Archives

SB09-236, Transparency & New School Construction, Shot Down!

Even with bipartisan sponsorship, SB 236, Transparency & New School Construction, was overwhelmingly shot down by the Senate Education Committee, with only Senator Chris Romer voting for the measure. In Senate testimony February 25th, it was apparent there are still many misconceptions about the current statutes -- one educational representative testified that public hearings are already required, even though the statute clearly states a local planning authority MAY require a board to hold a public hearing!

Other senators commented that the problem is only a local Jeffco issue (really, 500,000 constituents are not relevant?), and Senator King expressed concern that the bill would make it easier for neighborhoods to challenge controversial schools, which he would not support. Obviously, we disagree, we believe leadership means defending tough decisions, not making them in secret.

Read more about the transparency bills in the new Lakewood Edge, edited by former Rocky Mountain News journalist Charley Able.

With $2.5 billion in bond requests from school districts in front of voters just this last election, greater individual project public input and local coordination only makes sense. We need to build a coalition of support for reform, and would appreciate hearing from anybody interested in putting the "public" back in public schools!

We will continue to provide information to legislators to build support for the 2005 Colorado Legislative staff's recommendations on a public process for public school facilities (link available on Best Practices Models page) Change happens when the people demand it,as is evidenced by the wave of spending transparency measures passing through the legistlature. If you know of anyone who has concerns or experiences in this area, please contact us!

Senate Sponsor -- Senator Lundberg

House Prime Sponsor -- Rep. Murray

Additional Senate sponsors:

Senators Brophy, Cadman, Harvey, Kopp, Mitchell, Penry, Romer, Scheffel, Schultheis

Additional House sponsors:

Representatives J. Kerr, Looper, Marostica, McNulty, Nikkel, Sonnenberg, Summers, Tipton

Thank you all for your support!

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!

SB09-057, Transparency in Public School Spending, Killed by House Ed Committee!

After hours of public testimony, the House Education Committee, on a straight party line vote, failed to pass SB09-57.

So strong was the support of Democratic legislators for paid lobbyists positions, (see below), it was reported that Representative Mike Merrifield made unusual efforts to get the committee vote submitted for certification before House leadership could get the bill re-assigned to another committee for re-hearing.

Following is a list, assembled by COST, on education lobbies' campaign contributions to House Ed Members. Except for $500 to Representative Massey, all contributions went to Democrats, and each Democrat supported the education lobbyists' position -- "no" to real transparency.

House Ed Committee	Education Contributor Connection	Amount

Randy Baumgardner (R)	none listed	n/a

Debbie Benefield (D)	JEFFERSON COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOC	$4,450
	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$2,525
	TOTAL	$6,975

Tom Massey (R)	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$500
	TOTAL	$500

Michael Merrifield (D)	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$4,250
	PUBLIC EDUCATORS ADVOCATING FOR KIDS	$500
	COLORADO FEDERATION OF TEACHERS	$500
	TOTAL	$5,250

Karen Middleton (D)	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$2,125
	COLORADO FEDERATION OF TEACHERS	$1,000
	TOTAL	$3,125

Carole Murray (R)	none listed	n/a

Cherylin Peniston (D)	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$4,250
	BOULDER VALLEY EDUCATION ASSOC	$500
	TOTAL	$4,750

Kevin Priola (R)	none listed	n/a

Christine Scanlan (D)	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$4,250
	COLORADO FEDERATION OF TEACHERS	$750
	TOTAL	$5,000

Sue Schafer (D)	JEFFERSON COUNTY EDUCATION ASSOC	$4,250
	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$1,000
	COLORADO FEDERATION OF TEACHERS	$500
	TOTAL	$5,750

Judy Solano (D)	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$4,250
	COLORADO FEDERATION OF TEACHERS	$1,500
	TOTAL	$5,750

Ken Summers (R)	none listed	n/a

Nancy Todd (D)	COLORADO EDUCATION ASSOC	$4,650
	TOTAL	$4,650

Colorado to Receive Over $1 Billion For Education from Stimulus

Education expenditures in Colorado will be exploding. The February 23rd state budget submission increases education spending to $3.24 billion for 2009/2010, up from $3.175 billion the prior year. In addition, the state is scheduled to receive over $1 billion from the stimulus package, $760 million of which is to "stabilize" state funding (approximately $349 million of the $1.049 billion total must be spent for designated programs such as Title 1 for low income families and IDEA for individuals with disabilities).

This whopping injection to the general fund for education, increases funding available by 25%, and will be doled out by the Colorado Department of Education; no news on their website as to how the money will be distributed, but the general guidelines have been published on the federal Department of Education website (click here). In addition, the Omnibus bill which recently passed also likely includes the "usual" $300 million plus in grants to Colorado for Title 1, IDEA and the like. So, while there may need to be additional clarity, schools have come into a veritable windfall.

Do follow your local district, and give them input as to how you believe the increased general funds as well as the program-specific funds should be spent.

For more information on the stimulus projects, the official government website is www.recovery.gov, Colorado's web site is www.colorado.gov/recovery ; a good project-specific searchable database following the considerable "pork" planning on applying for these federal funds is www.stimuluswatch.org .

TRANSPARENCY IN EDUCATION