Colorado's liberal, out-of-touch House Education Committee has just voted to approve the governor's amendment to the School Finance Act that would raise taxes for most property owners in the state. The vote passed on an 8-5 party line vote, with all Democrats lining up to raid taxpayer pockets. By listening to much of the testimony, you would think that school revenues in Colorado are running dry. Nothing could be further from the truth. And whenever other possibilities for raising funds for education have been introduced, the Democrats resist - unable to dream of doing anything but hiking property taxes. The dirty little not-so-secret? The property tax increase advertised for the "children" is being used so the state government can … [Read more...]

My report for the Independence Institute on Governor Ritter's tax-raising proposal to fund new education programs is officially released today. Here is the summary: On March 12, 2007, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter proposed the “Colorado Children’s Amendment,” a plan to spend $84 million to expand preschool and kindergarten programs. To free state money to fund the programs, he proposed a mill levy rate “freeze” that would shift some of the school funding burden to local sources. On April 10, the governor revised the plan—offering tax relief to property owners in 33 school districts while creating higher property tax bills in 104 districts. The annual revenue estimate for the plan’s new version is $55 million. State … [Read more...]

In yesterday's Pueblo Chieftain, my opinion piece arguing the case against Governor Bill Ritter's property tax hike to subsidize state preschool and kindergarten programs ran as "counterpoint" to the argument for the Governor's proposal by State Treasurer Cary Kennedy. Kennedy skillfully avoided discussion of the back-door tax hike while plugging the benefits of the plan for Pueblo. How? Under the Governor's revised plan, 33 school districts will receive a tax cut while most districts will receive a tax increase. Pueblo happens to fall in the latter category. But that doesn't take into account the plight of taxpayers in Grand Junction, Englewood, Pagosa Springs, Wray, or nearby Alamosa, among others. But two points are worth repeating … [Read more...]

The reactionary Democrats in the State Capitol are at it again, and one of them got caught in a lie! This afternoon, the House Education Committee - on a party line vote - killed Senate Bill 73, a proposal sponsored by two commonsense Democrats (Senator Chris Romer and Representative Michael Garcia) and supported by the Republican caucus. The bill would require students receiving a public high school diploma to demonstrate basic English competency. It even lets local school boards define the standards. SB 73 passed the Senate 33-1, with only arch-education establishment apologist Senator Sue Windels (D-Arvada) voting against it. But the House Education Committee is stacked with a flock of reactionary Democrats, who want to preserve the … [Read more...]

It's not often I praise a liberal Democrat in our state legislature. But it only seems appropriate to highlight the fact that Sen. Ron Tupa (D-Boulder) demonstrated some common sense on the matter of school accountability today. Tupa joined the 3 Republicans on the Senate Education Committee - Nancy Spence, Josh Penry, and Mike Kopp - to kill House Bill 1284, which would have stripped the CSAP test of any effective meaning as a way for parents to judge the quality of schools. So kudos to Tupa on this one. I don't see eye to eye with him on many issues, but I have admired him more than some of his other Democratic colleagues for at least taking a more free-thinking approach to education issues. Of course, it would be a lot better if his … [Read more...]

This vicious email to Sen. Nancy Spence (R-Centennial) - to threaten her grandchildren - is despicable and criminal. Whoever authored it should indeed be prosecuted. … [Read more...]

I penned a column for the Edspresso website to give a little extra analysis to the now infamous email exchange between Representative Mike Merrifield (D-Manitou Springs) and Senator Sue Windels (D-Arvada), telling supporters of charter schools that a "special place" awaits them in the hotter realms of the afterlife. If you're so inclined, please check it out. … [Read more...]