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Home Archives for Colorado Education Association

5/13/2009 By Ben 7 Comments

Breaking: Jeffco Teachers Union Calls for Impasse over Pay Dispute

Developing story... Last night the board of the Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA)( (Colorado's largest local teachers union and an affiliate of the Colorado Education Association) voted to declare an impasse in negotiations over renewing the collective bargaining contract with Jeffco Public Schools for the 2009-10 school year. This morning JCEA notified the school district of its decision. According to the school district, the core of the dispute revolves around a proposed compensation agreement to address relative funding shortages during the current economic downturn. Under this plan, teachers would continue to receive their automatic steps and levels for acquiring seniority and credit hours. The plan rejected by JCEA … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Labor, My Life, PPC Tagged With: 2007, 2009-10, 2009-2010, acquiring, action, additional, agreement, analysis, arbitrators, automatic, backgrounder, bill, board, bonus, budget projections, carefully, Collective Bargaining, Colorado, Colorado Education Association, compensation, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, contention, contract, controversial, core, credit hours, current, decision, declare, developing, dig deeper, dispute, district officials, doubtless, economic downturn, emerge, eminently, expenditures, extra, fair, financial status, footing, funding, grievance, hard times, harmful, healthy, higher pay, impasse, increase, Independence Institute, interested parties, iVoices, JCEA, Jeffco Public Schools, Jefferson County Education Association, job protection, Jon Caldara, listen, mediation, negotiations, no work no pay, notified, occur, offer, official timetable, paid days, permanent, podcast, point, probationary period, probationary teachers, process, proposed, qualified, rejected, relative, report, reserve fund, reserved, seniority, shortages, sides, specify, stance, state funds, stay tuned, steps and levels, story, strike, substantive, taxpayers, teachers, teachers union, tenure, terms, threats, unfold, union leaders, used

12/4/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

Public Service Message for Colorado Education Association Members

Via IndependentTeachers.org, here's a 2-minute video with a local teacher friend of mine explaining how members of the Colorado Education Association can get a refund of their political money before December 15: CEA has given hundreds of thousands in political contributions to Democrat candidates and Left-leaning causes. The teachers who think that's okay have nothing to worry about. The teachers who disagree may be interested in the refund process. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Colorado Education Association, deadline, December 15, Independent Teachers, members, teacher, video, YouTube

11/19/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

House Education Appointments Uninspiring: What Will Storyline Be?

Last week I pondered in a Denver Post op-ed what the effect might be of the statehouse Democrats elevating pro-public school choice Rep. Terrance Carroll to Speaker of the House:Carroll is set to appoint fellow Democrats to the House Education Committee. In recent years, the committee, largely stacked with handpicked union favorites, has killed or watered down many K-12 education bills deemed unacceptable by the union. CEA may lose some of its leverage to bottle up education reform in committee. Well, yesterday came the revelation of the House Education Committee assignments. Michael Merrifield retains the chair, with Judy Solano as the vice-chair. Overall, the membership of the committee appears to move scarcely a whit in the direction … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General Tagged With: Carole Murray, Colorado Education Association, commentary, Democrat, Democrats, Denver Post, education reform, House Education Committee, Judy Solano, legislative session, majority Democrats, Mark Waller, Michael Merrifield, newly-elected legislators, op-ed, parental empowerment, passing judgment, public school choice, Randy Baumgardner, Republicans, revelation, school accountability, school choice, solutions, Speaker of the House, statehouse, story lines, Terrance Carroll, union favorites

11/15/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

A Promising Step to Test the Bounds of Colorado Teachers Union Power?

My post-election commentary on the impact for teachers unions and education reform was published today in the Denver Post. A key section to whet your appetite:Peter Groff's Democratic peers voted to re-elect him as state Senate president, and Rep. Terrance Carroll was selected to become the new speaker of the House. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, General, Labor, My Life Tagged With: anti-teacher, associations, Bernie Buescher, bipartisan issue, bold choice, boundaries, charter schools, citizens, coercion, Colorado, Colorado Education Association, criticisms, Democrats, Denver Post, education reform, fear, honest, honest look, House Education Committee, Laura Bradford, leadership, legislative attacks, leverage, monopoly model, outside observers, outside the box, parents, Peter Groff, post-election commentary, practitioner, profession, professional guilds, promising step, public school choice, question, Republican, scholars, seminar, source, Speaker of the House, state legislature, state senate president, status quo, students, teacher organization, teacher unionism, teachers unions, Terrance Carroll, union power

11/5/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

And a Few More Bright Spots for Colorado and U.S. Conservatives

It's the morning after... El Presidente has some amusing video reactions to last night's election results. Meanwhile, both Joshua Sharf (who ran a valiant race in an overwhelmingly Democratic district) and Rocky Mountain Right highlight the bright spots for Colorado conservatives. I concur with their lists, but let me add one more small bright spot in Colorado. The State Board of Education lost GOP chairman Pam Suckla - a Bill Ritter apologist - and gained common-sense conservative Marcia Neal, giving an effective Board majority that the Colorado Education Association can't be terribly happy with. Especially if Bob Schaffer is selected as the next chairman. At the national level, the good news is that Republicans may have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Cultural Conservatism, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, National Politics Tagged With: Al Franken, Alaska, Barack Obama, Bill Ritter, black president, Bob Schaffer, chairman, Colorado conservatives, Colorado Education Association, common-sense conservative, Congratulations, decline, Democratic district, Democratic Party, egregious overreaches, El Presidente, election results, embarrassing, firewall, historic achievement, Joshua Sharf, Left, loyal opposition, Marcia Neal, Minnesota, morning after, national level, Norm Coleman, Pam Suckla, Party, peaceful transition of power, political, political dinosaur, race, rebuilding, Republicans, Rocky Mountain Right, State board of education, Ted Stevens, Thanksgiving, United States, valiant race, video reactions

10/31/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Yes, I Am “Uncle Charley”

I am the pseudonymous conservative gadfly blogger on a local education new site. At least that's what 9News would have you believe:Not everyone agrees. An online blogger named "Uncle Charley" has written several entries for Education News Colorado trying to get readers to think about the need before they act. One blog is entitled, "More Tough Questions on DPS Bond," which talks in part about the individual items that would be funded by this bond issue and series of property tax hikes have agreed to in Denver over the past two decades. "Uncle Charley" is actually the pseudonym for Ben DeGrow, with the Independence Institute, a non-partisan conservative political think tank. DeGrow says spending $13 million dollars on athletic fields … [Read more...]

Filed Under: blogging, Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, My Life Tagged With: 3A campaign, athletic fields, Ben DeGrow, blogger, Colorado Education Association, conservative blogger, current recession, Denver voters, Ed News Colorado, education site, identity, Independence Institute, largest school bond proposal, legitimate needs, line-item veto, North High School, pseudonym, student performance, tax increases, think tank, tiny splash, Uncle Charley, Ward Churchill, whole package, William Ayers

10/29/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

“Sleaziest” 527 Ad Exposes Union Payroll Abuses, Calls for Amendment 49

Sleazy ads by the Democrats' 527 group Accountability for Colorado? Say it ain't so (from the Rocky Mountain News editorial page):The sleaziest flier this season? Probably the one targeting Republican Kevin Priola, who's running for the District 30 state House seat in Adams County. It claims a judge "issued a restraining order against Priola out of fears that he posed a threat and imminent danger to the victim." Come to think of it, a second anti-Priola flier may be worse. It says that the "judge found [my emphasis] that Priola posed a threat and imminent danger to the victim." In fact, requests for temporary restraining orders are routinely granted just to be on the safe side until a hearing can be held. In this case, the person … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, Education, General, Labor Tagged With: 527, Accountability for Colorado, Adams County, Amendment 49, Colorado Democracy Alliance, Colorado Education Association, Democrats, Ethical Standards, judge, Kevin Priola, Left-wing billionaires, member dues, Pat Stryker, political refund, restraining order, sleaziest ad, state house candidate, Tim Gill

10/24/2008 By Ben Leave a Comment

Buescher “Favored”? Deceptive Attacks on Cancer Survivor Say Maybe Not

Today the Rocky Mountain News highlights the hottest state legislative race on Colorado's Western Slope, as Republican challenger Laura Bradford faces down Democrat incumbent Bernie Buescher in HD55:"I think her chances are great," said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, who was among Republicans who stopped in Grand Junction while on an RV tour of the state. "One thing she said was, 'Gov. Ritter will not be whispering in my ear what to do.' People loved that." Buescher, however, says he doesn't hew that closely to Gov. Bill Ritter. "They're going after me on some issues, but it seems to me the fundamental attack is that I'm too close to the administration," he said. "The fact is I pushed the administration as much as any Democrat in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Colorado Politics, Education, Fiscal Policy, General, Health Care, Labor Tagged With: 527 groups, administration, Alida Messinger, attack ads, Bernie Buescher, Bill Ritter, billionaire, campaign finance reform, cancer screenings, cancer survivor, challenger, Colorado, Colorado Democracy Alliance, Colorado Education Association, Colorado Values, Cory Gardner, Democrat, desperate, Gene Kinsey, Grand Junction, HD55, headline, Health Care, health insurance, incumbent, John Bodnar, John McCain, K-12 employees, Laura Bradford, Mesa County, negative advertising, property tax hike, reports, Republican, Rockefeller heir, Rocky Mountain News, Secretary of State, state legislative races, Tim Gill, union, Western Slope

10/22/2008 By Ben 7 Comments

Teachers Union Twists Facts to Cover for Anti-Amendment 49 Violation

Joanne Kelley reports on the Rocky Mountain News Stump blog:Supporters of Amendment 49 filed a campaign finance complaint over $2,800 of "in-kind" contributions a teachers union committee made to a group fighting the ballot measure. The complaint alleges the Colorado Springs Education Association's issue committee made contributions to a group created to address statewide ballot issues when the teachers' committee was created to promote issues in its own district. "I find it disturbing to see the teachers union funnel resources earmarked for local education issues into a fight against statewide political issues they don't happen to like," said Colorado Springs resident and former school board candidate Reginald Perry, who was named on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: Amendment 49, campaign finance complaint, Colorado Education Association, Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs Education Association, Deborah Fallin, different, Ethical Standards, in-kind contribution, Joanne Kelley, local education issues, Protect Colorado's Future, purpose, Reginald Perry, reports, Rocky Mountain News, School District 11, Secretary of State, Stump, teachers union

10/2/2008 By Ben 1 Comment

CoDA’s “Educate the Idiots” Members Biggest Funders of Protect Colorado’s Future’s Campaign of Deception

If you haven't seen or heard it by now, Colorado's "progressive" Democrat coalition got a little more behind-the-scenes exposure yesterday than they would like. A series of slowly leaked documents by Face The State are uncovering the inner workings of the coalition - known as the Colorado Democracy Alliance (CoDA). The light of the day has given us some useful insights. We are starting to see what the Left's agenda for Colorado is, why they have coordinated the spending of so much money to take over the state legislature, the governor's office, and so much more. No document has received quite as much attention as this one:In a confidential internal memorandum obtained by Face The State (PDF), the Colorado Democracy Alliance outlines a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: clean government, Colorado Politics, General, Labor Tagged With: "Educate the Idiots", AFL-CIO, African-American, agenda, Amendment 47, Amendment 49, Amendment 54, Andrew Romanoff, behind-the-scenes exposure, Bill Ritter, Bridget Johnson, campaign message, campaign of deception, change we can believe in, children of color, Colorado, Colorado Democracy Alliance, Colorado Education Association, Colorado Ethics Watch, confidential, covert, Democrat, Democrat leaders, document, donors, dropouts, dues, education employees, Evan Dreyer, exclusive list, Face the State, freedom, GEDs, government ethics, Governor, Hispanic, hoodwinked, idiots, indignant response, individual rights, institutional members, issue committee, Joan Fitz-Gerald, John Stocks, leaked documents, Left, liberal structure, lies, members, memorandum, minorities, National Education Association, Native American, off the record, Okie Campaigns, operatives, progressive, ProgressNow, Protect Colorado's Future, represent, Rocky Mountain News, Rocky Mountain Right, SEIU, Slapstick Politics, smart people, special interest groups, state legislature, state Republican Party leaders, strategy group, teachers, The Daily Blogster, union elite, union leaders, union power, worker welfare

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About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

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  • The Christmas Music Countdown You’ve Been Looking For: 2022 Edition
  • Sleep Deprivation and Parental Controls: How to Ensure Your Kids are Safe from Media Exposure
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Completing the Blogroll

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