It's been a full week since the establishment education lobby and Democrats on the House Education Committee teamed up to kill the spending transparency in Colorado's Senate Bill 57. Amazingly, this little bill that (almost) could in our Colorado state legislature is still making national waves. From an essay written by Paul Miller and published today by American Thinker:This past week in Colorado, Senate Bill 57, also called the Public School Financial Transparency Act, which simply require public school districts to put their spending online, died in committee. How could any responsible public official forbid parents from seeing how their tax-dollars are spent educating their children? The answer to that question is simple: … [Read more...]
Coloradans, You Can Make a Difference for School Financial Transparency
Update, 1/29: More coverage on Colorado Spending Transparency and Ed News Colorado, as well as a kind link from the Open Records blog. This morning the Colorado Senate Education Committee got a bit of a surprise, it might seem, with a slew of concerned citizens coming forward to testify in support of Senate Bill 57 (PDF) (sponsored by state senator Ted Harvey) - which would bring something akin to full-fledged financial transparency to Colorado public schools. It's unusual to see more than 15 average citizens come forward to testify for a piece of legislation - and rarer yet, to have many of them do so quite eloquently. Most were from the metro Denver area, a couple hailed from Weld County, and one of them drove three hours over the … [Read more...]
Congrats to D’Evelyn JH/HS
Via the Rocky Mountain News, Jefferson County's own D'Evelyn Junior High-High School received another well-earned recognition yesterday as Business Week and GreatSchools.Net teamed up to name D'Evelyn the top-performing school in Colorado:D'Evelyn is a Jeffco public school started by a group of parents in 1994. It accepts students from across the district starting in grade seven and runs through grade 12. It emphasizes structured academics and strict discipline. The school's test scores are among the best in Colorado, and the remediation rates of its graduates attending state colleges and universities are among the lowest. D'Evelyn - named for the late Independence Institute co-founder David D'Evelyn - is a school with which I have … [Read more...]
Congressional Democrats’ Cigarette Tax Hike Could Cost Colorado $24 Million
Too many real policy debates these days get clouded behind the rhetoric of "it's for the children". Sometimes they are also hidden behind a cloud of smoke. Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress are making a top priority out of reauthorizing the SCHIP program - you know, ostensibly government-mandated health insurance for kids too rich for Medicare but unable to afford decent private coverage. Like most government programs, SCHIP isn't all it's cracked up to be. The Independence Institute's Linda Gorman has one good critique of the program. A popular component of the Democrats' current proposal soon to be before Congress is a 61-cent increase in the excise tax on cigarettes, to raise funds and enrollment in SCHIP. Is it a good … [Read more...]
What I’m Thankful for #18: My Parents Decided to Keep Me
This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive. Two days to go until Thanksgiving, I would be remiss not to mention one of the things I'm most thankful for: my parents. It's true that you don't fully appreciate them and what they do until you have children of your own. My parents aren't perfect. I'd obviously be lying if I glossed over them as … [Read more...]
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...]
What I’m Thankful for #4: Spiritual Mentors
This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive. When you're young and foolish - well, you're young and foolish. The spiritual influence of my parents (the topic of a future thankfulness post) was real, but wouldn't suffice by itself. I am thankful for the influence of non-family spiritual mentors during my teenage, college, and young adult years. I can … [Read more...]
Cory Gardner Spearheads Grassroots Defense of Colorado Charter Schools
To his credit, State Rep. Cory Gardner is spearheading a grassroots effort to support public charter schools and the families they serve. Recently the Adams 12 school board unanimously decided to support legislation unfriendly to charter schools (see Resolution 1.3). Adams 12 effectively wants to beef up its own authority to deny charters, to limit parents' authority to appeal rejected charter school applications, and to undercut charter schools' already sub-par funding. But Cory Gardner (R-Yuma), a rising star in the GOP, took the initiative to craft a letter alerting charter school parents and supporters to the attack and urging them to get involved in the fight. In all, 17 Republican state representatives and 9 Republican state … [Read more...]