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...]

While I plan to blog on this more at length later this week, I wanted to pass on the information about today's hearing of the complaint by Fort Collins parents Wayne Rutt and Paul Marrick against the teachers' union. A good summary update can be found over at "From the Desk of...." Let me just add these observations of the tedious all-day affair: the CEA / PEA legal team passed up the chance to cross-examine the complainants' campaign expert Rich Beeson and instead filed another motion to dismiss, mostly on flimsy charges (the judge ruled against them on all but one count). It was a sight to see when Marrick's and Rutt's attorney Scott Gessler unloaded both metaphorical barrels on the union's political expert Craig Hughes. The … [Read more...]

Looking for a worthwhile cause to support? Know someone who is? Then please read this message from Paul Marrick, co-founder of Parents for Truth in Education: We’re two parents in the town of Fort Collins, Colorado. Next week we go head-to-head with the teachers unions in court, and we desperately need to get the word out about our cause. We filed a legal complaint against our local union for violating election law last year. In our first hearing, the union’s motion to dismiss was rejected and we managed to get the statewide Colorado Education Association and the local school district enjoined as co-defendants. We go to trial next week. Our legal complaint states that the union illegally conducted blatant campaign … [Read more...]

The Colorado Education Association (CEA), the state's largest teachers' union as well as the largest roadblock in the path of true education reform, was called to the carpet today in an awesome column by the Denver Post's David Harsanyi - "True or false: Union backs school choice." Of course, the answer is a resounding "False," though you have to wade through the garbled doublespeak of union officials to see it clearly. Harsanyi's column unravels a recently published letter from CEA President Ron Brady written in response to one of his earlier pieces. With today's offering, Harsanyi again proves that he is at his best when he exposes union officials' duplicity: Being accused of having a "narrow view" on education by a group that … [Read more...]

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...]

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...]

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...]