Mount Virtus

Originally posted at Colorado Peak Politics. Re-posted here with permission. As author, I am solely responsible for the content.

On FOX 31 last night, political reporter did a sit-down with Governor John Hickenlooper for one of the School Cuts 101 series segments. The result? Unremarkable. Hick has been focused on budget issues, rightly so, and education reform barely shows up on his radar screen.

Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia is the administration’s point-man on education issues. Last week at the Capitol he presented the three-point education agenda. Finding money to implement SB 191 — last year’s significant teacher and principal evaluation bill — is a worthy cause. But tackling the state’s serious 3rd grade literacy shortcomings by traveling the state to ask school districts for their input? Sorry. Try this approach instead. (The third part of the agenda, promoting college completion through the implementation of statewide articulation agreements, is outside my expertise.)

But most of the questions Stokols posed to the governor are largely predicated on some other parts of the School Cuts 101 series. Mainly first, should Colorado updated its school funding model based on an Oregon proposal that allots a share of dollars based on performance? (The idea has some merit in theory, but the Cascade State approach dangerously seeks to consolidate and centralize power.)

And second, should Colorado look at consolidating school districts, as was done in Memphis? (Research shows it neither “saves money” nor “improves the quality of education.”) (more…)

Originally posted at Colorado Peak Politics. Re-posted here with permission. As author, I am solely responsible for the content.

I know the timing is impossible for it to be true, but you’d almost think my first School Cuts 101 response piece triggered some interest from the FOX 31 team with my cryptic closing:

Anyway, looking for real ideas for how to make education spending more productive and promote better outcomes for students? One good place to start is my chapter on K-12 for the Independence Institute’s Citizens’ Budget. Or check out what Colorado school districts like Douglas County and Falcon 49 are up to. More on that later… [emphasis added]

In hindsight, we’re probably just on the same wavelength. Or maybe it’s impossible for FOX 31 to ignore the groundbreaking educational changes emanating out of Douglas County. In any case, I’m pleased to see their coverage of the suburban school district’s Choice Scholarship Program, along with a great example of how the program expands options for parents.

For the most part, beautiful. Of course, being a news story, they rightfully reported the views of the opposition:

“I feel that the program will take money away from schools in a time when we desperately need money. We are cutting everything,” said Delana Maynes, with Taxpayers for Public Education. “You still have to pay teachers. You still have to turn on lights.”

(more…)

Originally posted at Colorado Peak Politics. Re-posted here with permission. As author, I am solely responsible for the content.

Local FOX 31 Denver News and reporter Eli Stokols are to be commended for wanting to look at the effects of K-12 education spending cuts and innovative ideas for addressing the challenge. But the first edition of the televised series cries out for context and correction. First of all, it’s important to stress that yes, for the past couple years Colorado schools have been experiencing real budget cuts — after years of steady increases in per-pupil funding. And of course, the cuts will have an impact, albeit an impact that can be heavily mitigated and overcome in the long run by re-thinking how our school system does business.

That being said, the “crisis” trumpeted in Stokols’ piece is painted in a dubiously overstated light. It all begins with the following graphic that purports to show Colorado K-12 spending in a long-term decline:

Hmmm… where have I seen that before? (more…)

Update IV, 5:15 PM: For the record and for the sake of full disclosure — yes, the information related to open negotiations that I have requested from Jeffco Public Schools has been done in my professional capacity as a senior policy analyst for the Independence Institute. My personal and professional opinions happen to be in very close harmony on this issue. And both versions of the recording — the low-quality one I deleted and the higher-quality one linked just below — came from a concerned citizen who attended and recorded the public meeting. Thankfully, because the district’s recording of the relevant part of the meeting was not posted due to the aforementioned “system error.”

Update III, 3:40 PM: I have obtained a better 5-minute recording of the Jeffco Board’s discussion and vote. The previous recording has been deleted.

Update II, 3:20 PM: Welcome, Complete Colorado readers:

Update, 2 PM: I received an official response from Jeffco’s communications office about the significance of Thursday’s 2-2 vote: “In answer to your question about the board vote last week on opening/closing negotiations, the 2-2 vote taken by the board has left the bargaining team uncertain as to the wishes of the board majority. Therefore, until the bargaining team receives direction from a majority of the board, scheduled negotiations sessions have been cancelled.” Also, someone has shared a recording of the relevant 5 minutes of last Thursday’s Board meeting. You may find it difficult to hear, but it’s the best I have in lieu of an official recording.

The controversies over government collective bargaining transparency in Colorado are starting to pile up. Last week I brought your attention to the unsuccessful effort of Aurora citizens to open up the city’s police and fire union negotiations. The big story has been from Colorado Springs, as transparency won a partial victory after a citizen lawsuit forced one bargaining session to be open for public observation.

Now the issue has come to life in my own backyard. By all appearances, Jeffco Public Schools officials are doing their best to keep negotiations with the Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) teachers union out of the light of day. Article 5-3-5 of the existing bargaining agreement says:

Negotiations shall be conducted in open sessions, unless both parties agree to the contrary.

On April 11 at a meeting of the Jefferson County Republican Men’s Club — after praising the district for its exemplary efforts at financial transparency — I asked featured speakers Jeffco superintendent Cindy Stevenson and JCEA president Kerrie Dallman whether any of their negotiations would be open to public observation. Stevenson deferred to Dallman, who declared that the parties had decided all negotiations would be closed. But who exactly made the decision, and how? Following up with district officials, the closest thing to a clear answer I received was that the Board of Education “meets in executive session to confidentially give direction to and receive reports from its negotiating team.”

So the school board — and certainly not all members of the school board — meet in private to instruct one group of paid district employees to close their negotiations with another group of paid district employees? It may be legal, but it doesn’t seem like the best policy to me. (more…)

In a time when a large fiscally conservative grassroots movement like the Tea Parties have developed a strong voice, we shouldn’t be surprised to see calls for greater transparency in government operations. Not only when it comes to the fiscal ledger (“if you can’t defend it, don’t spend it”), but also when it comes to those union negotiations that drive so much of government spending. Should any government contract negotiations be done behind closed doors? Why should unions be treated any differently?

In Colorado Springs a citizen lawsuit has pressured one of the state’s largest school districts to concede to opening up one teachers union bargaining session to public observation. (Decisions on future sessions pending… most likely on the effectiveness of outside public pressure.) To its credit, the Gazette has brought attention to the story to contribute to the public conversation. Even better, inquiring minds want to know: Did one of its reporters attend Friday’s session? Was there anything to report?

Meanwhile, another local grassroots effort to bring about open government union negotiations has occurred more or less under the radar. On March 3 Citizens for Responsible Aurora Government (CRAG) formally requested that the municipal government for Colorado’s third largest city provide taxpaying citizens access to observe bargaining sessions with local police and fire unions. Transparency seems like the backbone for good public policy, right? Well, in a March 23 YourHub article, CRAG spokesman Jim Frye acknowledged that the Aurora city attorney’s denial “was disappointing though not entirely surprising.” (more…)

Efforts to organize constituent groups to contact and lobby their elected officials have grown more sophisticated in recent years. Many of us like the ease of the online petition that automatically directs messages to our representatives based on our input location data — though I frequently prefer to tailor the pre-fab messages with my own words.

I can’t be the only one who has subjected myself to an onslaught of email messages urging me to call my Congressman or state senator over the latest hideously outrageous or earth-saving piece of legislation. A result of the sheer volume of these messages, combined with limited resources and competing priorities, my eyes long since have glazed over most of them. Have I become too cynical? Perhaps.

But in an amusing development, one state teachers union has contracted with a service to help overcome member apathy:

Why was [Maryland Sen. David Brinkley] getting so many calls? The Maryland State Education Association hired a company to call teachers from throughout the state, and then connect them with their senators.

Unfortunately, there was just one small problem with the approach:

Brinkley, who said he planned to vote against all three tax proposals, said teachers seemed caught off guard and ill-prepared to speak to their senators.

As Mike Antonucci wrote in response, “If you hire a company to call teachers and then connect them to their representative’s office, you might want to make sure the teachers realize what you’re doing.”

Can you imagine any other advocacy group trying so desperately to hold its constituents’ hands like helping a toddler cross the street (do I know a thing or to about that)? Especially a group on the Right? Well, if someone were to follow the MSEA’s strategy, they at least might want to find a better way to prepare members or supporters for that all-important call with their elected representative.

Update II, 4:05 PM: Writing on the Townhall blog, Guy Benson offers up some exclusive video footage of the Wisconsin Democrat senators running away. John Hayward at Human Events offers some fascinating insights and concludes with a bit of powerful advice: “Governor Walker should take a page from the handbook of New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and face the unions down. Every teacher who participated in the illegal strike, or brought students to political rallies, should be fired immediately. The taxpayers of Wisconsin don’t have Hollywood celebrities and millionaire union bosses to brew up angry mobs to press their demands. They don’t have the luxury of slipping away from jobs they’re already nervous about to march around the state capitol. The only thing they’ve got is a determined governor, who should join with his colleagues in other states to level the playing field between tax payers and tax consumers, by breaking the public unions once and for all.”

Update, 2:50 PM: Scott Walker sends out a clear message to runaway Democrat legislators: “Their actions by leaving the state and hiding from voting are disrespectful to the hundreds of thousands of public employees who showed up to work today and the millions of taxpayers they represent.”

We can debate whether new Governor Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans have chosen a wise course tactically, but there’s no doubt they have demonstrated some serious political fortitude in taking on a major problem. Senate Bill 11 was supposed to come to the floor today. A key part of the solution to a major budget challenge similar to those faced in other states, SB 11 would restrict government union collective bargaining (except for public safety workers) and requiring public employees to pay greater shares of their health and pension benefits.

Yesterday it was union protesters littering signs all over State Capitol property (a press release from U.S. Senator Ron Johnson’s office also suggests union members surrounding the governor’s private residence), and today it’s this: All 14 state senate Democrats are on the run from the police to prevent a vote from taking place. Wow. Brilliant strategy.

Of more than historical footnote, Wisconsin was the first state in the nation to grant collective bargaining rights to government workers–just over 50 years ago, in 1959. More than two decades earlier none other than President and Democratic Party icon Franklin D. Roosevelt observed what a bad policy idea that would be: (more…)

Colorado is an interesting place for education reform, for many reasons. Among them are issues related to teacher professional membership and representation:

1. In Colorado, public school teachers have a right to join or not join (and not pay fees to) a union or other professional membership organization.
2. In Colorado, elected school boards are not obligated to enter a collective bargaining relationship with teachers or other employees.
3. In Colorado, no state laws define collective bargaining for government workers, nor any of the related procedures and guidelines.
4. In Colorado, school districts with active collective bargaining agreements are required to post them online (and have them available in the school office) for transparency and easy public access.

The first three on the list could apply to very few other states. (I think Utah may be the only other state with all four.) But what they together reflect is a strong basis for local control of education. Local control for school boards to decide — in some cases restricted by the parameters of existing agreements — whether and how to bargain. Even more local control for individual teachers to decide whether and how they want to be represented.

Some of the boundaries of this local control are being tested right now in northern Weld County — Gilcrest, to be exact. The Valley Re-1 school district has an acting “Professional Organizations” policy that appears to grant some sort of representative status to the local Valley Education Association, but looks nothing like a traditional collective bargaining agreement and isn’t recognized as such by the Colorado Department of Education’s online collection. (more…)

Spend 99.9% of member dues political funds on Democrats over Republicans (at a 50% success rate for the most heavily funded candidates)? Check. Give $250,000 in member funds to the 527 group Accountability for Colorado, with a track record of negative political smears — a group denounced by candidates in both parties and by Denver Post columnist Vince Carroll for maliciously distorting the truth? Check.

Remember: The deadline to request the Every Member Option political refund is December 15. CEA members can go directly here to make an online request of the $39 refund. To find out more information, including on local union refunds, visit the Independent Teachers web site.

Update, Noon: Here is the one-page summary of official recommendations made to the Douglas County Board of Education by the School Choice Task Force’s “Option Certificates” subcommittee.

So unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past couple weeks, you may have heard Douglas County — one of Colorado’s largest school districts — is considering the adoption of a local voucher-style private school choice program. Independence Institute blogger “Eddie” has covered the story well here and here.

With all the coverage in the Denver Post, it’s not surprising that plenty of readers wanted to weigh in with letters published in Sunday’s Perspective section. I was disappointed to see most of the letters rely on misinformed premises and/or produce shoddy arguments. As a result, I feel impelled to respond. (more…)

The desperate silly season of electoral politics is upon us. Nowhere does the silliness and desperation resound more than from the campaign of an out-of-touch liberal Congressional incumbent in the fight for his political life. Look no further than my home district, Colorado’s 7th, where Congressman Ed Perlmutter has fired a wild miss:

Incumbent Democrat Rep. Ed Perlmutter has hit an all-time low in a desperate attempt to keep his fading political career alive. His latest attack ad wrongly criticizes Ryan Frazier for missing half of his volunteer board meetings at High Point Academy, the public charter school Frazier co-founded. Perlmutter’s attack ad has even disappointed the Board President of High Point Academy, Brandon Wyszynski.

(more…)

A few weeks ago I brought your attention to the devious and deceitful work of the poorly-named Democratic 527 group Accountability for Colorado. The group is heavily funded by teachers unions and the ultra-liberal billionaire tag team of Pat Stryker and Tim Gill, among others.

Accountability for Colorado’s dishonest attack fliers, radio ads and robo-calls against Republican state house candidates — using some of the same recycled outlandish arguments regardless of the candidate — have prompted inquiries to local District Attorney offices, specifically from Karen Cullen (HD 18) and Tom Janich (HD 31).

The latest candidate I’m aware of to have the local D.A. investigate the use of bizarre slanders from Accountability for Colorado is my own state house candidate Libby Szabo. Obviously, I won’t dignify the obnoxious attacks by repeating them — except to say specifically that some of them fail to comport with reality and at least one is so off-the-wall and out of left field that it really shows more about Lefty desperation than anything else. (more…)

Colorado Democratic Attorney General candidate Stan Garnett has unleashed campaign broadsides at incumbent Republican John Suthers for accepting campaign contributions from members of the payday lending industry while fulfilling his legal duty to help write new industry regulations. Certainly not illegal, but Garnett contended that Suthers should avoid the appearance of impropriety and return the contributions.

But should the same standard apply, of all campaigns, to Stan Garnett? What about accepting campaign contributions from attorneys with pending cases before the state, cases the Attorney General will have to defend. Should Garnett return these contributions? (more…)

Last week I highlighted the political giving of Colorado education-related groups, making several observations. Among them was the fact that none of the groups — not even the pro-reform **Stand for Children small donor committee — had supported a single Republican candidate.

But I wrote too soon. They just hadn’t reported it yet. An Ed News Colorado story today highlights that Stand for Children has backed some of its Republican (and other) endorsements with campaign cash: (more…)

Update, 10:30 PM: In an email this evening, Republican candidate Tim Leonard responded to the charge from his Democratic opponent as follows:

After one debate together, she clearly knows that her statement of my position is erroneous. I have used clear language to state that my position is to reduce our state government spending to equal our tax revenues — currently estimated to be a $1.1B budget decrease. And I have been equally clear that I support an “across the board” reduction in all the funded areas of our state government.

So to represent to the public that I would support absorbing 100% of our budget shortfall within public education is a purposeful misrepresentation for the benefit of fooling voters. This is the very definition of “negative campaigning”. I would hope she retracts her statement, apologizes for misleading voters, and better adheres to her pledge of running a positive campaign.

Jeanne Nicholson is a Democrat running for one of the Colorado state legislature’s most competitive races this year: Senate District 16. In an email sent out yesterday morning, she regurgitated an alleged statistic that lies somewhere between misleading and utterly meaningless:

…In these uncertain times public schools are under attack. My opponent in this race is calling for a billion dollar cut to the state’s education budget. I don’t need to tell you that a budget cut on this scale would devastate our public schools already ranked 49th in the nation in funding per student.

First of all, it should be noted there is no evidence I can find that Nicholson’s Republican opponent Tim Leonard has made any sort of a call. But that just looks like the usual election season hyperbole. What I am more concerned about is the absurd claim that Colorado ranks 49th in per-pupil K-12 funding. I’ve debunked it time and again before. But here we go again for the record so other candidates, officials and groups this year avoid repeating the spurious claim: (more…)