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Home Archives for 2005

Archives for 2005

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Denver Teachers Sated

Any last outside chances that there would be a teachers strike in Denver this year all but evaporated yesterday as 1,767 members of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) voted to accept the bargained contract and only 617 voted against. Roughly 600 DCTA members did not vote. Of the district's 4,200 teachers, about 3,000 belong to DCTA. Teachers get back a lost step on the salary schedule, a pay increase, more planning time, and more say in areas of professional development and instruction. Meanwhile, the district and union have planned to phase out the salary schedule with the new ProComp performance-based pay plan, the funding of which has to be approved by voters in November. The brewing tensions within the district … [Read more...]

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First Hearing on Teachers’ Union Complaint Today

Wayne Rutt and Paul Marrick, the co-founders of Parents for Truth, have their first appearance before a judge today at 1 p.m. in Denver. The hearing was originally scheduled for 9 a.m. today but was postponed in favor of hearing a series of procedural motions. Marrick and Rutt, who filed the original complaint against Poudre Education Association (PEA) - the local Fort Collins teachers' union -, for violating a series of state election laws have filed a motion to expand the complaint to include both the statewide union (CEA) and the local Poudre School District. Their lawyer also filed for a continuance (a delay of hearing), citing that the school district dragged its feet in responding to their subpoenas and Open Records request for … [Read more...]

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This Might Just Leave You Scratching Your Head

I received the following report concerning the latest meeting of the Denver Metro Young Republicans: Karen Bauer, one of three people removed from President Bush’s Social Security meeting posed as a Rocky Mountain News journalist while grilling Jay Bob Klinkerman at a regular meeting of the Denver Metro Young Republicans. Klinkerman is chair of the Colorado Young Republicans, a group unaffiliated with the Denver Metro Young Republicans. Ann Imse, staff writer for the Rocky Mountain News and photographer Evan Semon, escorted Bauer into the meeting. "They were waiting in the restaurant area until our meeting began. They then joined our meeting in progress in a private room. They declined signing our guest form or to introduce … [Read more...]

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Not the Best News for Prospective Home Buyers

News like this could put a damper on the search to buy a first home. But then again, since most of the prices listed in the article are outside of our range, it could be best just to ignore the story and move on. Motto for the cost-conscious House Hunter searching through endless listings and making visit after visit: "I only need to find one." And it ain't going to be in Cherry Hills... NOT EVEN CLOSE! … [Read more...]

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Calling Out the Fearmongers on “Theocracy”

This article in today's Rocky Mountain News on the organized Family Research Council rally against the judicial filibuster highlights an event that will likely prove to be further fodder for the fearmongering Left, but it was good to see some pre-emptive remarks at the rally: "This is a way of Salazar and these people on the left of trying to silence debate," [President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights Bill] Donohue said. "When you use, 'theocracy,' that's saying we're like a bunch of ayatollahs, (that) we're radicals. Who's using the incendiary language? He is. . . . What Salazar is doing (is) he's muddying the whole concept of the First Amendment." "We're not going to be a theocracy, so stop with the scare … [Read more...]

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Unveiling Parents for Truth in Education

Remember Paul Marrick and Wayne Rutt, the Fort Collins parents who were disgusted to see the electioneering the teachers' union did at the expense of their children and decided to do something about it? Well, these days they've taken their determined efforts even further by launching the organization Parents for Truth in Education to raise awareness and to raise funds for their formal complaint against the teachers' union. You can also get up to speed concerning the facts and issues by reading their news clippings. Check out their brand-new website. To top it all off, Wayne and Paul have been given a microphone and a platform to get the message out not only about this particular case but about any future issues that may arise. Tune … [Read more...]

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True Democrat Colors Shine Through

It is fairly safe to say that Colorado voters gave Democrats the majorities in both houses of the state legislature last fall because of their promise to "fix" the state's budget problems. Events this week on two fronts show why voter trust was misplaced. First, Democrats tried to renege on a small compromise they made in HB 1194 (aka the "no refund for you" Romanoff rip-off) only a day after the House approved the bill to send to voters as Referendum C on this fall's ballot. Part of the deal to make HB 1194 more fiscally palatable involved the suspension of 19 different tax credits during the plan's five-year tenure. The next day Democrats tried to push a late bill into committee that would have instantly restored a $38 million child … [Read more...]

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Schaffer and Santorum on Social Security

Former US Congressman and current Republican National Committeeman Bob Schaffer weaves his own family into a clear, straightforward, and common sense case for Social Security reform: Our five-year-old daughter Mary was named after her great-grandmother Mary who is in her nineties. It is interesting how critics of President Bush’s plan to rescue Social Security act like we must favor one Mary at the expense of the other if we support the president. It is a worn tactic perfected by people in Washington, DC who like to avoid responsibility by pitting one group against another. We sure hope it doesn’t work this time. Improving Social Security must not be delayed. The first wave of baby boomers will retire in three years. Ten years … [Read more...]

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The Pain of Wasting Education Dollars

From the case files of "Why Putting More Money into the Education System Doesn't Mean Better-Educated Students"... The Washington Times reports today on a high-ranking D.C. schools bureaucrat who is really raking in the dough: Robert C. Rice last year earned a $124,923 salary as the school system's assistant superintendent for standards and curriculum and acting chief academic officer, records show. When he was promoted to interim superintendent for five months last year, his salary rose to $175,000 a year. Mr. Rice stepped down from the interim job in September, but pay documents show he is still receiving his interim salary as a "special assistant to the superintendent" -- a position created for him. The newly created job makes … [Read more...]