Mount Virtus

The Colorado version of First Class Education’s “65 percent plan”, which was unveiled a few weeks ago by House Minority Leader Joe Stengel and some of his Republican colleagues, got some press along the Western Slope with an article by Danie Harrelson in today’s Grand Junction Sentinel.

A few points in the story need to be examined a bit more closely. First:

Colorado, whose school districts on average spend 58 cents of their budget in the classroom, ranks 47th in the nation when it comes to the percentage of state funds that schools invest in instruction, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Mesa County Valley School District 51 pumps about 67 percent of its state funding into classroom instruction, District 51 spokesman Jeff Kirtland said. That equates to roughly $76.5 million of a $112.5 million budget spent on instructional programs.

“(Taxpayer) dollars are maximized in the classroom,” Kirtland said.

Unfortunately, the reporter makes an “apples-and-oranges” comparison here. The 58 percent figure for Colorado, drawn from the most recent National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data, reflects the amount of school districts’ current expenditures (everything spent in a given school year, except for capital construction projects and debt repayment) spent in the classroom. According to these figures, Grand Junction’s Mesa Valley 51 School District is one of the better-performing districts in Colorado, spending 62 percent in the classroom.

The 67 percent referred to by the school district spokesman reflects the amount spent from its general fund - which represents a large chunk of its total budget - but skews the overall picture a bit. (Sound familiar? Look back at Denver school officials’ definitional issues.)

Read the rest of this entry »

My friend Kevin Bowden is doing great work in China - check out his new blog! You’ll find it encouraging and insightful.

Yesterday, a crowd of friends and supporters gathered in Littleton for a farewell send-off to Major Mike Coffman, our truly honorable State Treasurer who has temporarily resigned his post to spend a tour of duty in Iraq with the United States Marine Corps.

The ceremony was simple but poignant, with former State Senate President John Andrews leading the invocation, an older Army veteran leading the Pledge of Allegiance (while he stood surrounded by all the veterans in attendance), and Miss Colorado 2004 Laura Tobey singing a beautiful rendition of our national anthem.

Former Ambassador Sam Zakhem gave Mike Coffman high praise, comparing him to a modern day Nathan Hale (”I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”) Congressman Bob Beauprez honored his friend as a true patriot, reminding the audience of the hard plight and momentous opportunity for lasting change in the Middle East and lauding Coffman for helping to take on the task.

US Congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez spoke eloquently of Mike Coffman’s patriotism

In return, Coffman had kind words for Beauprez. He told how he had wrestled with the decision of whether to fill the badly needed role of providing Civil Affairs expertise to the nascent Iraqi democracy. Coffman said he realized he could in good conscience give up his short-lived run for governor, but only knowing that a “strong candidate” like Beauprez had stepped in. The departing Treasurer all but officially endorsed the Beauprez candidacy right then and there, though sources indicate that such a formal announcement won’t be long in coming either. Coffman also clearly stated his intention to run for Secretary of State. A future run for governor might not yet be out of the question, should he come home safe - God-willing - from his important duties in Iraq.

Beauprez’s appearance as the only other high-profile political figure at the event was noteworthy in itself. But his decision to move into the race has been a lot more artfully made than Democratic counterpart Rutt Bridges, who hasn’t articulated too well why he wants to be Colorado’s chief executive.

Major Mike Coffman, soon to resign his office as State Treasurer and to don again the United States Marine uniform and serve in Iraq, addressed his supporters

Coffman spoke briefly but eloquently to a receptive audience, who gave the true American hero several rounds of applause. Best wishes to Mike and his new wife Cynthia as he spends the next seven months in an unsettled and often hostile Iraqi region. Our prayers and support are with the Coffmans.

After a week-long trip to Alaska (simply awesome), the post-vacation catchup, and some bandwidth issues, I’m finally back blogging. (Because of the bandwidth issues, I’ll be limiting the number of vacation pics I post here.)

But the main reason I’m blogging right now is to encourage readers to send a letter to our dear friend and fellow blogger Jim, who recently passed through a serious life-threatening challenge and is now facing the grim reality of a long and difficult recovery. Keep him in your prayers, and check out Clay’s site for more information and where you can send Jim a card or a letter. What a ministry of encouragement that would be!