Both Marc Holtzman [no link yet available on his Web site] and Bob Beauprez are touting their support of the popular "65 percent solution" education initiative. A ceremony was held at the State Capitol today to celebrate the submission of the petition signatures that officially put the measure on Colorado's November ballot. In our separate RMA interviews with the two candidates several months ago, I came away with the convincing impression that Holtzman had a much stronger grasp of the issue than his rival did. I am more confident he could hold up the arguments in a debate with a formidable opponent who may be in the pockets of the education interest groups. Why were the two Republican candidates practically shouldering one another … [Read more...]

The editorial board of the Pueblo Chieftain rips State Senator Peter Groff and his Democratic colleagues for the economic and political travesty that is Senate Bill 66, which would require all businesses with 10 or more employees to offer those employees unpaid leave to attend functions at their children's schools. Key quote: We know of many working parents who have been able to arrange with their employers to get time off to attend important school functions for their children. Employers who value their individual employees often make allowances through scheduling to give workers time to take care of their youngsters’ school affairs. In any event, though, the state should not mandate this arrangement. Giving it the color of law … [Read more...]

Today's "On Point" by Vincent Carroll is priceless: he highlights a Colorado Democrat legislator who has introduced a bill that reveals some combination of total economic illiteracy, shameless populist pandering, and/or a statist thirst for destructive power. Out of deference and good will, we will presume the motive to be the first. From Carroll's piece: … [Read more...]

Berny Morson of the Rocky Mountain News reports on a briefing yesterday put on by Pam Benigno of the Independence Institute. Months of interviews and research have gone into the still-ongoing findings about how fights and assaults are reported on Colorado's School Accountability Reports (SAR). The short story of a complicated topic? Reporting violent incidents in schools is a lot closer to obscure legal technicality than common sense. Perhaps you remember the story of a student murdered in a Denver high school cafeteria, recently reported as a "Dangerous Weapons" incident. This anecdote is only the most extreme and striking of many points of confusion on the SAR. Parents and taxpayers deserve a clearer and fairer picture of the … [Read more...]

Karen Crummy of The Denver Post reports this morning that the Marc Holtzman campaign is courting former House Speaker Lola Spradley as his gubernatorial running mate. The salient observation from the article is that Spradley does not fit the campaign's recent anti-establishment tone. Republican consultant Katy Atkinson astutely observes that Holtzman "could be trying to balance the ticket." To me it appears that Holtzman may be backing off the strident attack footing that resulted in some bad press last week. Floating Spradley's name as a potential running mate might refocus and stabilize the direction of his unconventional, heavily grassroots campaign. Spradley, who hails from tiny Beulah north of Pueblo, was Colorado's first-ever … [Read more...]