In a time when a large fiscally conservative grassroots movement like the Tea Parties have developed a strong voice, we shouldn't be surprised to see calls for greater transparency in government operations. Not only when it comes to the fiscal ledger ("if you can't defend it, don't spend it"), but also when it comes to those union negotiations that drive so much of government spending. Should any government contract negotiations be done behind closed doors? Why should unions be treated any differently? In Colorado Springs a citizen lawsuit has pressured one of the state's largest school districts to concede to opening up one teachers union bargaining session to public observation. (Decisions on future sessions pending... most likely on … [Read more...]
A New Way to Contact Elected Officials; A Solution for Grassroots Apathy?
Efforts to organize constituent groups to contact and lobby their elected officials have grown more sophisticated in recent years. Many of us like the ease of the online petition that automatically directs messages to our representatives based on our input location data -- though I frequently prefer to tailor the pre-fab messages with my own words. I can't be the only one who has subjected myself to an onslaught of email messages urging me to call my Congressman or state senator over the latest hideously outrageous or earth-saving piece of legislation. A result of the sheer volume of these messages, combined with limited resources and competing priorities, my eyes long since have glazed over most of them. Have I become too cynical? … [Read more...]
Taxpayers Push Back, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Goes Bold, Unions Raise Ruckus, Democrat Senators Run Away
Update II, 4:05 PM: Writing on the Townhall blog, Guy Benson offers up some exclusive video footage of the Wisconsin Democrat senators running away. John Hayward at Human Events offers some fascinating insights and concludes with a bit of powerful advice: "Governor Walker should take a page from the handbook of New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and face the unions down. Every teacher who participated in the illegal strike, or brought students to political rallies, should be fired immediately. The taxpayers of Wisconsin don’t have Hollywood celebrities and millionaire union bosses to brew up angry mobs to press their demands. They don’t have the luxury of slipping away from jobs they’re already nervous about to march around the state … [Read more...]
Weld County School Board Challenged for Taking On Local Union Prerogatives
Colorado is an interesting place for education reform, for many reasons. Among them are issues related to teacher professional membership and representation: In Colorado, public school teachers have a right to join or not join (and not pay fees to) a union or other professional membership organization. In Colorado, elected school boards are not obligated to enter a collective bargaining relationship with teachers or other employees. In Colorado, no state laws define collective bargaining for government workers, nor any of the related procedures and guidelines. In Colorado, school districts with active collective bargaining agreements are required to post them online (and have them available in the school office) for transparency and … [Read more...]
Colorado Education Association Members Can Get EMO Political Refunds Until December 15 Deadline
Spend 99.9% of member dues political funds on Democrats over Republicans (at a 50% success rate for the most heavily funded candidates)? Check. Give $250,000 in member funds to the 527 group Accountability for Colorado, with a track record of negative political smears -- a group denounced by candidates in both parties and by Denver Post columnist Vince Carroll for maliciously distorting the truth? Check. Remember: The deadline to request the Every Member Option political refund is December 15. CEA members can go directly here to make an online request of the $39 refund. To find out more information, including on local union refunds, visit the Independent Teachers web site. … [Read more...]
Time to Respond to Denver Post’s Anti-DougCo Voucher Letter Writers
Update, Noon: Here is the one-page summary of official recommendations made to the Douglas County Board of Education by the School Choice Task Force's "Option Certificates" subcommittee. So unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past couple weeks, you may have heard Douglas County -- one of Colorado's largest school districts -- is considering the adoption of a local voucher-style private school choice program. Independence Institute blogger "Eddie" has covered the story well here and here. With all the coverage in the Denver Post, it's not surprising that plenty of readers wanted to weigh in with letters published in Sunday's Perspective section. I was disappointed to see most of the letters rely on misinformed premises … [Read more...]
Ed Perlmutter Swings and Misses with Desperate Charter School Attack
The desperate silly season of electoral politics is upon us. Nowhere does the silliness and desperation resound more than from the campaign of an out-of-touch liberal Congressional incumbent in the fight for his political life. Look no further than my home district, Colorado's 7th, where Congressman Ed Perlmutter has fired a wild miss:Incumbent Democrat Rep. Ed Perlmutter has hit an all-time low in a desperate attempt to keep his fading political career alive. His latest attack ad wrongly criticizes Ryan Frazier for missing half of his volunteer board meetings at High Point Academy, the public charter school Frazier co-founded. Perlmutter’s attack ad has even disappointed the Board President of High Point Academy, Brandon Wyszynski. … [Read more...]
GOP Candidate Libby Szabo Combats Lefty Accountability for Colorado Lies
A few weeks ago I brought your attention to the devious and deceitful work of the poorly-named Democratic 527 group Accountability for Colorado. The group is heavily funded by teachers unions and the ultra-liberal billionaire tag team of Pat Stryker and Tim Gill, among others. Accountability for Colorado's dishonest attack fliers, radio ads and robo-calls against Republican state house candidates -- using some of the same recycled outlandish arguments regardless of the candidate -- have prompted inquiries to local District Attorney offices, specifically from Karen Cullen (HD 18) and Tom Janich (HD 31). The latest candidate I'm aware of to have the local D.A. investigate the use of bizarre slanders from Accountability for Colorado is … [Read more...]
Democratic AG Candidate Stan Garnett Should Hold to His Own Standard
Colorado Democratic Attorney General candidate Stan Garnett has unleashed campaign broadsides at incumbent Republican John Suthers for accepting campaign contributions from members of the payday lending industry while fulfilling his legal duty to help write new industry regulations. Certainly not illegal, but Garnett contended that Suthers should avoid the appearance of impropriety and return the contributions. But should the same standard apply, of all campaigns, to Stan Garnett? What about accepting campaign contributions from attorneys with pending cases before the state, cases the Attorney General will have to defend. Should Garnett return these contributions? … [Read more...]
Teacher Union-Funded vs. Reformer-Funded: Interesting Colorado Races
Last week I highlighted the political giving of Colorado education-related groups, making several observations. Among them was the fact that none of the groups -- not even the pro-reform **Stand for Children small donor committee -- had supported a single Republican candidate. But I wrote too soon. They just hadn't reported it yet. An Ed News Colorado story today highlights that Stand for Children has backed some of its Republican (and other) endorsements with campaign cash: … [Read more...]
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