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 … [Read more...]

The same week as several Republican state legislators launched their "First Class Education for Colorado" ballot initiative proposal, following a national organization's lead in calling upon school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their operating budgets in the classroom, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education makes this declaration under the announcement of its proposed 2005-2006 budget: DPS Budget Facts 69.1 percent of every dollar spent is allocated to instruction and instructional and pupil support. This includes the learning support provided by counselors, librarians, nurses and others, in addition to books, supplies, computers and other classroom equipment. 23.4 percent of every dollar covers school … [Read more...]

Yesterday I asked to see what the CEA's reaction would be to the "First Class Education for Colorado" proposal that would put 65 cents of every dollar of current education expenditures into the classroom. Well, the Rocky Mountain News got the scoop on that one this morning: "The Colorado Education Association, the union of teachers, views the proposal as more political than educational, spokeswoman Deb Fallin said. "What is valuable for kids is a lot bigger than what Rep. Stengel is proposing," Fallin said. "It includes counselors, school nurses, teacher training and curricular development. "School counselors are very key to student achievement and success and to reducing the dropout level." Interesting analysis. Ask the … [Read more...]

While most of Colorado's political observers have their eyes fixed on this year's fight over Referendum C or towards next year's gubernatorial race, a highly important new development was scheduled to emerge at a press conference this morning at the State Capitol. House Minority Leader Joe Stengel (R - Littleton) and several of his Republican colleagues have unveiled an initiative they are promoting to put on the ballot in the November 2006 general election. "First Class Education for Colorado" would encourage every school district in the state to spend 65 cents on every dollar (excluding capital construction projects) in the classroom. Most people may be startled to learn how little of their designated K-12 education tax dollars … [Read more...]