By Joshua Wolpe, DENVER DAILY NEWS
After meeting with legislative leaders and budget staffers following Monday’s news that Colorado faces a $382 million shortfall in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, Gov. Bill Ritter said Thursday the state has to “squeeze out efficiency” wherever it can.

Cuts, not taxes
Ritter wants state agencies to cut their budgets by 10 percent, adding furlough days on top of the four days already in place for state workers, and said that job cuts were possible.
However, when the topic of a tax increase was raised, Ritter said: “Two thousand and nine is not the year to consider that. We have to make sure our values and priorities match when we review proposals and determine what needs to be cut. We will make decisions item by item by item.”
Each furlough day saves the state government approximately $2 million, according to Ritter, who also said there would be a hiring freeze.
Republican leaders said the scope of government spending has been unbalanced for a long time, and were pleased at the talk of reductions.
“We (Ritter and May) spoke Thursday, and we’re in agreement finally,” said House Minority Leader Mike May, of Parker. “He (Ritter) has called for reducing the size of government — which we’ve called for forever — and we’re pleased the governor has finally taken a step in that direction.”

Hopeful news
With the economy in such a negative state, lawmakers are reaching for any good news they can find. Ritter cited a recent report from Moody’s Economy that had good news for Colorado’s economy in comparison to the rest of the nation. They predicted that Colorado will be one of only five states to which jobs growth will return starting in the last quarter of this year.
“We will continue to make tough choices to position Colorado to lead the country out of the recession,” he said.
State agency officials have been asked to focus on cutting their least efficient programs as part of the 10-percent budget cut.
“We will do everything in our power to ensure the health, life and safety functions of our government remain in tact,” said Ritter.

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Sheriffs Say Ban On Texting While Driving Will Be Tough To Enforce

FACE THE STATE
House Bill 1094, which bans texting while driving, is set to go into effect December 1, 2009. But local sheriffs across the state are skeptical of the bill’s impact, saying it will be “extremely difficult” to enforce.
The gutted product of a bill aimed at banning cell phone usage while behind the wheel, HB 1094 makes texting and e-mailing while driving illegal for everyone and prohibits the use of cell phones for drivers under 18, except in an “emergency” situation. Since being signed by the governor this spring, questions have been raised about how law enforcement officers will implement the new law, or if it’s passage alone is enough to discourage drivers from texting and driving.
“I haven’t given it a lot of thought yet,” said Yuma County Sheriff Sam McCoy. “It will definitely be on a lower level of importance. It’s kind of like a seat belt law. Although it is important that people wear safety belts, how much time do you have to go out and enforce that?”
Bill sponsor Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, says recognizes the practical difficulties facing law enforcement, but believes citizens will choose to abide by the new law.
“I’m realistic about their ability to enforce their law, but I think people generally try to be law abiding, especially while driving,” said Levy. “It’s important to say, via the law, that it’s illegal to text while you drive because it’s not safe.”
Under the new law, a motorist guilty of texting while driving receives a “Class A” civil traffic violation, the harshest category. Other class A offenses include speeding at least 10 miles per hour over the posted limit, according to Trooper Ryan Sullivan with the Colorado State Patrol.
“With a Class A, points can be assessed in addition to a fine,” explained Sullivan. “Class A is a little bit more serious than Class B.”
The Weld County Sheriff’s office also voiced concerns about the reactionary nature of the law, which was introduced after the death of a girl in Fort Collins due to a distracted driver who was talking on the phone.
“This law is going to be extremely difficult to enforce, unless there is an accident and self-admittance that there was texting,” said Weld County Sheriff’s spokesperson Margie Martinez. “This is a reactive law to a very tragic incident, but it is a reaction and it will be very difficult to enforce.”
Levy said she had been contemplating running this bill “long before” the accident in Fort Collins. “To me, that just reinforced the need for it,” she said.

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FACE THE STATE
Face The State has obtained data from the Colorado Department of Transportation claiming 65 jobs “created or sustained” as a result of the federal stimulus package through May, though a breakout of new jobs is unavailable. According to CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman, “the stimulus really saved jobs more than it created them.”
Colorado is slated to receive over $500 million for statewide transportation projects from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $400 million of which is designated for “shovel ready” projects to commence this year. Three projects allocated a total of $7 million in ARRA funds were begun by the end of May and are ongoing). Since receiving the money in March, a total of 2,593 hours were logged by “direct, on-project” workers for a total payroll of $83,068.20.
According to the state Department of Labor and Employment, the number of employed Coloradans dropped by over 83,000 over the year ending May 31, adjusted for normal seasonal fluctuations.
Stegman said the stimulus funding has largely allowed the department to stay on course with planned projects that might otherwise have been scrapped or deferred. “We were facing some huge cuts to transportation funding and looking at almost no summer projects,” she said.
CDOT requires all contractors to track and report the number of jobs on each site and hours worked by employees on stimulus-funded projects. Normally, CDOT does not require contractors to track worker counts or payroll for reporting to the state.
A recent fact check by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for Public Policy questioned the Obama administration’s claim that the stimulus would save or create 150,000 jobs, calling it a “soft statistic” based on “educated guesswork.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, voted against the stimulus bill. “No doubt, I never had faith that big government bureaucrats could do anything quickly or efficiently,” he said. “[T]he Ritter administration has unfortunately demonstrated exactly that with their handling of stimulus dollars.”
State lawmakers made their own efforts to increase employment through transportation projects funded by FASTER, an omnibus bill that raised vehicle registration fees by $265 million. State Rep. Glenn Vaad, R-Mead, said that until the increased revenue from FASTER kicks in, the stimulus money helps to bridge the gap.
“It’s responsible for keeping people employed in the interim,” said Vaad. “The $265 million for repair from increased vehicle fees won’t be available until at least a full year has gone by.”
As previously reported by Face The State, stimulus-funded CDOT projects are marked by specially designed signage produced at a cost of up to $1,237 apiece.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Six-year-old Madison Sedbrook did what many little girls her age do — she ate cookie dough.
What would ensue for the Highlands Ranch child was a nightmare. Flu-like symptoms — including fatigue, fever, nausea and vomiting — turned into abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea. All from eating the clearly delicious, but nearly deadly raw cookie dough material.
Attorneys representing Sedbrook’s family filed a federal lawsuit against Nestle USA in Denver on Tuesday. The suit is one of the first in the nation after Nestle last week voluntarily recalled its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products after the Food and Drug Administration warned of the risk of contamination with E. coli bacteria.
A second lawsuit was filed Monday in California by an 18-year-old woman, and a third suit was filed in Washington yesterday, said an attorney with the Seattle-based law firm Marler Clark, a foodborne illness law firm representing victims of the cookie dough outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the nationwide outbreak now encompasses 70 people in 30 states. Thirty people have been hospitalized, and seven have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, what doctors determined Sedbrook had developed as a result of her E. coli infection.
Her battle with illness began on April 20th, landing the little girl at a Highlands Ranch emergency clinic on May 4th. As Sedbrook’s condition worsened, her family finally brought her to Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree on May 6th. She was discharged from the hospital on May 9th, but was soon rushed to the Children’s Hospital in Aurora on May 13th. It was at this hospital that Sedbrook became anemic and required a blood transfusion.

Sickened by E. coli
It was not until around May 18th that tests indicated that the little girl was suffering from E. coli O157:H7, associated with the Nestle cookie dough outbreak. Sedbrook continues to recover from her illness today.
One of her attorneys, Drew Falkenstein, estimates the cost of medical bills at anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000. The family is still awaiting final billing numbers from the various medical agencies involved. The lawsuit seeks to cover the medical costs.
One concern is that because Sedbrook was so close to total kidney failure, there could be lifelong complications, which would raise the cost of medical bills, as well as the negative impact on her life.
Nestle said in a statement that it advises consumers not to eat its cookie dough products raw.
“We want to strongly advise consumers that raw cookie dough should not be eaten,” said the company. “This message also appears prominently on our packaging.”
But Falkenstein says companies like Nestle package and market their products in a way that does not discourage consumers from eating such products raw.
“Everybody eats these products raw, it’s as simple as that. And Nestle well knows that,” he said. “A significant percentage of the people who eat this product are eating it raw, and they know it and they’re marketing directly to that. You take a look at the shape and the size of the package — it’s so easy to just grab it from the refrigerator, squeeze out a little bit, eat it, put it back in and let it go.”

How did the product get contaminated?
Falkenstein said he is curious to see what will be revealed during the discovery process, especially how the E. coli strain could have found its way into the cookie dough. The strain is usually found in cattle manure, say health officials.
The attorney believes Americans should be worried about standards in the food industry and whether current laws are tough enough to protect consumers.
“I don’t just focus on the fact that we’ve got a cookie dough outbreak, I look at the last three or four years, and this is no longer a ground beef problem, it’s no longer a raw foods problem. This is about products that are billed to us and marketed to us as being ready to go … What is next, who knows?” asked Falkenstein. “It is scary, it is something for Americans to be concerned about.”

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO
To no one’s surprise, the Colorado State University Board of Governors Wednesday officially chose Joe Blake as system chancellor and Dr. Tony Frank as permanent president of the Fort Collins campus.
Both were announced as “sole finalists” for those jobs on May 26.
Frank has been acting president since last November, when Larry Penley abruptly resigned as CSU system chancellor and Fort Collins president.
Following Penley’s departure, the board decided to split the jobs of chancellor and Fort Collins president. Blake was CEO of the Greater Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and was vice chair of the CSU board.
The Blake appointment stirred some controversy because of his non-academic background and because of the way the board handled his selection. A Denver District judge ruled last Friday that the board violated open meetings laws when it discussed Blake during a closed meeting on May 5. The judge ordered some of the recordings of that meeting made public. A CSU spokeswoman said Wednesday the board is still considering a response to the order.
The closed meeting was challenged by the Fort Collins Coloradoan, the Pueblo Chieftain and the Colorado Independent, and you can get more background in this Coloradoan article.
Designation of sole finalists has become increasingly popular in higher education. Advocates of the practice argue that candidates for top jobs don’t want their names made public unless they know they’re going to be selected.
A bill introduced late in the 2009 legislative session by Democratic leaders proposed to ban the practice and require additional transparency in the search process, but the measure was killed. The bill was sparked in part by the CSU developments.
While Blake’s initial appointment didn’t sit well with some academics and Democratic politicians, other observers hope that he and University of Colorado President Bruce Benson – another non-traditional executive – can use their political and business connections to advantage as the state’s higher ed system struggles with deep financial challenges. Among other presidents of larger state institutions, Kay Norton of the University of Northern Colorado has a non-traditional background, which Steve Jordan of Metropolitan State College has academic credentials. Along with Benson, both have been vocal supporters of more funding for state colleges and universities. The three backed an unsuccessful legislative proposal last spring to give colleges freedom to set their own tuition rates.
According to a CSU statement, Blake has a five-year employment agreement with an annual salary of $275,000, a monthly car allowance of $750 and standard CSU employee benefits. Frank also has a five-year agreement, an annual salary of $350,000 and a yearly car and housing allowance of $42,000.
Frank’s academic background is in veterinary medicine, and he’s held various vice presidential posts at CSU and previously served as provost. He’s been at the Fort Collins campus for 16 years.
As the CSU system currently is configured, each campus has a president, and they report to the chancellor and the board of governors. Joe Garcia, a lawyer, was named president of CSU-Pueblo three years ago after serving as president of Pikes Peak Community College. CSU-Pueblo, with about 4,500 students, was the University of Southern Colorado until becoming part of the CSU system in 2003.
The system also includes Global Campus, a new, online-only degree program, the state agricultural extension service and the state forest service.
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By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS
A new report from the Colorado Progressive Coalition gives Gov. Bill Ritter and the Colorado legislature a “C-” for their efforts in the 2009 session to increase racial equality within Colorado.
The Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity evaluated and graded Ritter and members of the Colorado legislature on their responses to 12 pieces of legislation that the Colorado Progressive Coalition (CPC) said would have created a “more just state for Coloradans of color.” The inaugural report’s goal was to hold elected officials accountable for public policies that result in racial inequality, according to Arthur Way and Carlos Valverde of the CPC.
“Simply put, we must not be silent concerning race,” said Way. “Unfortunately, talking about race is similar to wearing polyester bell bottoms — nobody thinks it’s cool anymore. This does not mean that it’s not necessary.”
The racial equity scorecards for the lawmakers were based on a 100-point scale. Lawmakers got 80 points for voting favorably on the 12 bills that CPC determined would have helped advance racial equity. Lawmakers received an additional 20 points for being the lead sponsor of the bill, and 10 points for being a cosponsor.

Barely passing
Colorado lawmakers in the 2009 session received an average score of 70 on the legislative report card, and lawmakers of color received an average score of 85. While CPC acknowledged that Ritter signed all of the bills that they deemed favorable into law, the nonprofit said the governor’s grade reflects the entire legislative body as a whole, as well as his leadership in preparing for a multiracial future.
Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said he doesn’t agree with the C- grade, but added everyone could agree that more work needs to be done to promote racial equality. Additionally, Dreyer pointed out some the pro-racial equality policies that Ritter has supported —tuition equity, the Colorado Healthcare Affordability Act and the Colorado Criminal and Juvenile Justice Commission — that he said proves Ritter’s commitment to increasing racial equality in Colorado.
“Over the past two years, Gov. Ritter has demonstrated an extremely strong commitment to increasing educational, healthcare and job opportunities, as well as fairness in the criminal justice system, for Colorado’s communities of color,” said Dreyer. “This is something that is extremely important to him and is something you can see very clearly in a number of areas and is a commitment that dates back to the three years he spent in Africa providing food and healthcare to some of the most impoverished communities in the world.”

Missed opportunity
The CPC said lawmakers missed an opportunity to advance racial equality in Colorado by not passing SB 286 — which would have reduced sentences for non-violent criminals.
According to the CPC report, people of color in Colorado represent 55 percent of the prison population but only 25 percent of the population. Also, blacks are less than 5 percent of the state population yet constitute 20 percent of the population, they said.
As a result of the high proportion of minorities behind bars, CPC said that SB 286 would have had a positive effect on communities of color. SB 286 did not get passed in the 2009 legislative session because it was introduced so late in the year.
However, a version of SB 286 is expected to come back in the 2010 legislative session.

Bright spots
The Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity might not have given a great grade to the 2009 legislative session, but Tammy Johnson from the Applied Research Center said there is good news in the document. She said the report card lets Colorado join Minnesota, California and Illinois in being on the cutting edge in encouraging state leaders to proactively address racial discrimination.
“The good news is that there are solutions to the very deep (and) systemic racism that plagued public education, healthcare, housing, criminal justice and unemployment systems,” she said. “The challenge that this report card brings forth is whether or not state leaders have the foresight to advance these solutions.”

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Closing arguments are expected Tuesday in a lawsuit challenging a voter-approved initiative that prohibits the so-called practice of “Pay to Play.”
Amendment 54 was narrowly passed by voters last year after critics said the initiative would violate constitutional law by limiting free speech. Dubbed the “road to clean government,” Amendment 54 prohibits campaign contributions by any entity connected to an organization that receives a government no-bid contract of $100,000 or greater.

Campaign contributions for favors?
Proponents — some who used the initiative as an attack on unions — said the law is necessary to prevent giving campaign contributions in exchange for favors, such as if a labor boss provided a contribution in exchange for a board appointment.
But the lawsuit seeks to suspend the restriction on campaign contributions, while still requiring the public posting of no-bid contracts of $100,000 or more. Critics of the law say that it “silences the political voices of teachers, firefighters and nurses” by prohibiting them from giving political contributions because they are members of unions that collectively bargain with government agencies.

Silencing voices?
“Amendment 54 is a dangerous measure that will silence the voices of hardworking Coloradans and take away their right to participate in the political process,” Jess Knox, the lead proponent of several pro-union measures last year, said in a statement at the time Amendment 54 was being pushed.
Jon Caldara, president of the fiscally conservative Independence Institute, said he is a fan of the law in that it brings about transparency in government.
“I particularly like some aspects such as creating a database for transparency so we know who has no-bid contracts,” he said. “The questions is, is it too far reaching, and the court is going to decide that. It’ll be interesting to see.”

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO
DENVER — The headline from the June state revenue forecasts is bad enough – Colorado state government faces a cumulative general fund revenue shortfall of $838 million through the middle of 2012, meaning no respite from budget cutting and fund shifting.
But, while higher education actually may be somewhat shielded from further cuts, the fine print of the forecasts contains some disheartening news for K-12 schools.
Legislative and executive branch economists gave their quarterly revenue forecasts to the Joint Budget Committee and other legislators during a standing-room-only packed with executive branch officials and lobbyists.
Revenues are $249 million short to fund the current 2008-09 budget, which closes June 30. However, mechanisms approved by the 2009 legislature will allow Gov. Bill Ritter to balance that budget without the need for additional legislative action. Total state spending from all sources is about $18 billion. The tax-supported general fund provides about $7.5 billion of that.
“We will be able to hold 2008-09 solvent … so we will not have to have a special session,” concluded Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge and chair of the Joint Budget Committee.
However, the $249 million gap will roll into the 2009-10 budget, which along with additional projected shortfalls will bring the total to $873 million through the 2010-11 fiscal year, declining slightly to $838 million by the end of fiscal 2011-12. (The 2009 legislature previously had to cut or replace $1.4 billion in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 budgets.)
While the forecast appears to mean the 2010 legislature will have to look hard for budget cuts and fund transfers, it may be difficult to get serious money out of higher education or K-12 spending.
State colleges and universities traditionally have been the budget-cutting victims in past downturns because higher ed has no dedicated or protected sources of revenue.
But the federal stimulus – the American Recovering and Reinvestment Act – requires states to keep higher ed state spending at 2005-06 levels to be eligible for federal aid. That’s just what the 2009 legislature and Ritter did – reducing state support to those old levels and then keeping overall college spending at 2008-09 amounts with $300 million in stimulus funds. (Tuition increases of 9 percent across the higher ed system also are part of the budgetr.) The plan is to effectively freeze college spending at current amounts through 2009-10 and 2010-11, when the stimulus ends.
Additional cuts in state support would require federal waiver to avoid loss of the stimulus money.
So, “higher education is not an option because it actually is protected by the federal government,” Keller said.
K-12 is protected by Amendment 23, although it now appears doubtful that the $110 million in school aid that’s being held in “escrow” until January will be released.
There also is expected to be increased debate over whether some parts of K-12 spending – primarily the so-called factors of cost of living, at-risk and school size – are covered by Amendment 23. Earlier this year, some lawmakers urged doing that, but the escrowed $110 million was the compromise that made it out of the 2009 session. Even that step was seen as an A23 violation by some/
Deeper in the economic forecasts is additional bad news for education. The Office of State Planning and Budgeting is projecting 0 inflation in 2009, which could dramatically affect calculation of the Amendment 23 formula for the 2010-11 budget year.
“We’re showing very low levels of inflation – flat – for 2009,” said Todd Saliman, OSPB director.
Inflation in 2008 was 3.9 percent for 2009-10 budget, meaning state support of K-12 spending increased 4.9 percent, including the 1 percent sweetener required by A23. Legislative Council is predicting .4 percent in 2009 and 1.6 percent in 2010. The OSPB is predicting 0 percent in 2009 and 1.5 percent in 2010.
If OSPB is right, that could mean a 2010-11 increase of state support for K-12 of only 1 percent plus enrollment growth and whatever backfilling the state has to provide because of drops in local property tax revenues.
According to the OSPB forecast, “the budgetary increase for K-12 education in FY 2010- 11 is predominately anticipated to be a function of changes in pupil count, changes in local share from revisions to property valuations, and the mandatory 1.0 percent increase required per Amendment 23. Because personal income growth from 2008 to 2009 is projected to equal 0.2 percent, the 5.0 percent General Fund maintenance of effort requirement for K-12 total program will be suspended for FY 2010-11.”
With so much pressure on the overall budget, many lawmakers will resist giving K-12 more than A23 requires.
Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins and chair of the Senate Education Committee, attended Monday’s briefing, along with several other lawmakers who aren’t JBC members.
After the meeting, he predicted to EdNews that the debate over the factors will reopen and said, “K-12 is not positioned well,” given the predicted low inflation. He noted that things could be especially difficult for districts with declining enrollment – well over half of Colorado’s 178 districts. Even with the current state increase, many districts are cutting overall spending – and resisting teacher demands for raises – because overall costs are rising faster than state aid.
State personal income also is declining, which could reduce revenue flowing into both the State Education Fund and the amount of general fund money that has to be used to support the Amendment 23 formula.
The SEF receives one-third of 1 percent of income tax revenues. The Legislative Council report said that that the fund received $407.9 million in 2007-08, will get $339.9 million in 2008-09, down 16.7 percent, and $340 million in 2009-10.
Some legislators, most notably Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, argue that a Colorado Supreme Court decision earlier this year allows lawmakers to eliminate tax exemptions and raise revenue with voter approval. The budget pressures could make doing so attractive, but there will be countervailing political pressures in an election-year session.
House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, said Monday, “For many lawmakers, this will be one more push to engage our constituents in a larger discussion about the role of government.”
The next revenue forecasts will be issued in late September, at about the same time the Ritter administration will begin making detailed suggestions for budget rollbacks to the JBC.
Ritter said Monday, “I will be meeting with the JBC, legislative leaders and my budget staff in the coming days to put together that balancing plan.”
The annual December forecasts tee up the budget debate for the legislative session, and then lawmakers generally wait for the March forecasts before finalizing the upcoming fiscal year’s budget.

One more higher ed note
The 2008 legislature created a Higher Education Federal Mineral Lease Revenue Fund designed to provide a revenue stream for backlogged college construction projects. The OSPB forecast estimates that those revenues will be sufficient to continue payments on existing projects but recommends that no new projects be started because of weak interest revenues in the fund.

Do your homework
For budget mavens, both reports provide a great deal of detail both about state finances and the current condition of the state and national economies. (The Legislative Council report also includes economic snapshots of various Colorado regions.) As is usually the case, legislative economists generally are more pessimistic this time than those in the executive branch. The major difference in this round of forecasts appears to be over estimates of unemployment.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
As expected, the state is still facing an estimated $249 million budget shortfall for the current budget that ends next Tuesday.
Lawmakers may have already frantically slashed $300 million from the budget during the waning hours of this year’s legislative session — part of closing an estimated $1.4 billion shortfall over two years — but a Legislative Council economic forecast released Monday states that they will need to come up with another $249 million to balance the budget. The shortfall comes from a decrease in income and sales taxes as a result of the economic downturn.
Lawmakers say, however, that they will not need to reconvene for a special session. Instead, they plan on borrowing from next year’s budget to cover the deficit. The result will be starting next year’s session needing to fill a gap of at least $384 million.
Gov. Bill Ritter said he was not surprised by the forecast and added that this past session was successful in that lawmakers came close to balancing the budget while “protecting investments in education, health care, transportation, public safety, and while preserving the safety net for our most vulnerable populations.”
“We now will move quickly to continue the budget balancing and do the hard work this situation requires,” said Ritter. “It will mean making even more difficult choices. We’ve done it before and we will do it again.”
Lawmakers faced a nightmare of a challenge this year attempting to balance the budget. Higher education was nearly cut by an additional $300 million before the governor asked lawmakers to go back to the drawing board to find cuts in other areas. It is likely to become a target again next year.
Republicans are already worried that Democrats will ask for solutions to be found through increased taxes and changes to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
To make matters more dire, the voter-approved Referendum C, passed in 2005, expires at the end of 2010. The measure allowed the state to take a five-year timeout from revenue-collection limits enacted under TABOR.
Republican Sen. Greg Brophy, of Wray, says he is convinced Democrats will immediately begin looking into repealing or amending many TABOR restrictions. He is most concerned about the Interim Commission to Study Long-Term Fiscal Stability, a 16-member bipartisan committee on which he sits, that will begin meeting July 8th to develop budget and long-term fiscal recommendations.
“I think the committee is set up with the not-so-subtle goal of coming up with an excuse to rid the state of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, and I think that’s a shame because I think TABOR has kept us from the problems that have befouled the State of California, for instance,” said Brophy. “I wish that we can take an honest look at how state government and all governments can be responsible with money and grow at a rate that is sustainable.”

Rainy day fund
Brophy and other Republicans have recommended that lawmakers look into creating a rainy day fund in which several departments would face budget cuts with the cuts going into a fund that would support the state during harsh economic downturns.
House Minority Leader Mike May, of Parker, was extremely critical of the governor Monday, arguing that Ritter is not talking about spending cuts or a rainy day fund, instead taking a “wait and see” approach to the budget.
“This governor has been consistently wrong in his approach to the state budget: He’s tried hope, he’s tried delays and he’s tried gimmicks. He’s failed with all three approaches,” said May. “We need responsible budget action now, because every day of inaction means fewer options and tougher choices in the future.”
Of the rainy day fund Republicans are pushing, Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, chair of the Interim Commission to Study Long-Term Fiscal Stability, said instead of supporting tax cuts over the years, Republicans should have created a rainy day fund at the time with additional tax dollars.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do it when we had a chance to do it. We cut taxes instead of creating a rainy day fund,” he said. “We cut taxes from 5 percent to 4.635 percent, or something in that vicinity, all of which could have been used for a rainy day fund.”
The chairwoman of the bipartisan Joint Budget Committee was not shy Monday in acknowledging the reality lawmakers and citizens will face in the coming years.
“Colorado doesn’t have ‘fat’ in its budget so the cuts we make down the road are going to hurt,” said Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge. “Each department felt cuts to their budgets, and each will undoubtedly see more in the next fiscal year.”

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By Nancy Mitchell, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO
The Denver Public school board late Thursday approved the opening of 10 new schools beginning in fall 2010, including the district’s first immersion school in Chinese and four more campuses of the high-performing Denver School of Science and Technology.
The votes came at the end of a standing-room-only, five-hour meeting in which several speakers heatedly urged the board to focus less on approving new charter programs and more on improving existing neighborhood schools.
Of the 10 new schools, nine are charters. The tenth, the Denver Green School, was created by Denver Public Schools teachers and principals and will use the environment and sustainability as its overall theme.
“People are asking for support of our neighborhood schools,” said Deborah Ortega, who has four grandchildren in DPS. “It should not be like pulling teeth to get support for our neighborhood schools when the perception is that open arms are given to charter schools.”
This fall, eight schools are scheduled to open in DPS as part of the district’s process soliciting proposals for new school models. Six of those eight are charters.
Much of the fear around the new schools stems from where they might be located. The 10 new schools approved Thursday do not have specific sites. Instead, board members plan to approve locations in October or November.
That worries those who fear their neighborhood schools will be forced to share building space with a new charter program. Of the six charters opening this fall, four are going into neighborhood schools though many parents and teachers at those schools did not want to share their buildings.
“My concern is this process is backward,” said Amber Tafoya, who described herself as a future DPS parent. “In order for us to have full community support for a charter, we must know where it’s going.”
Re-igniting an old debate
DPS launched its request-for-proposal or RFP process a year ago in the hopes of quickly importing high-performing middle and high school programs, areas where traditional city schools have struggled.
The process wasn’t intended only for charter schools but they’ve made up the overwhelming majority of applicants. And DPS’ approval of 15 new charters in two years seemed, at least on Thursday, to have re-ignited the debate between traditional and charter school advocates.
“Charter schools, it’s a business,” said Joseph Salazar, co-chair of the Colorado Latino Forum. “It’s a business to make money, that’s what charter schools are about.”
Ortega, a member of the Latino Forum and the recently formed Denver Education Advocacy Network, urged the board to postpone any vote on the new schools until DPS staff had completed a “cost analysis” of each proposed charter as well as an analysis of its academics.
“We think the board should postpone the action so that all communities across the city can know exactly where these charters are being proposed to go,” she said.
“And to take a vote before we know where they’re going to go – there are going to be a lot of pissed-off people showing up at their schools in September finding out their school has been targeted for a charter.”
Patrick Ridgeway, one of the parents who founded the popular Academia Ana Marie Sandoval school in northwest Denver, said DPS is turning to charters because it doesn’t know how to improve its own schools.
“Why can’t the district partner with me, partner with these people,” he told the board, indicating the jam-packed audience, “partner with teachers? Don’t sit up here and make decisions for me because I’m capable of doing it, I’m capable of working.”
DPS’ “90 percent” talking point
In response, DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg said teams of experts had reviewed the new schools applications and that the public had opportunities to view them and weigh in on their merits.
“Ninety percent of our students go to our existing traditional DPS schools,” he said, repeating an increasingly common refrain. “Ninety percent of our focus and our time and our energy and our money go, and will go, and will continue to go, to make those schools as strong and as effective as possible …
“In addition, we welcome the introduction of high-quality new schools and new programs,” he said. “I don’t see in any way those two things being oppositional or in contradiction. I think we as a district need to do both.”
Board members voted mostly unanimously to go along with staff recommendations in approving the 10 new schools and rejecting four others. They deviated only once, in rejecting an application from Global Village Academy, another language immersion school that staff earlier recommended they approve.
Board members Jill Conrad and Kevin Patterson voted to approve Global Village, with Conrad citing the need for more language instruction in Denver schools. But four board members voted against it.
A seventh board member, Michelle Moss, was absent. She is recovering from surgery for cancer.
Board members also approved placing one of the Denver School of Science and Technology campuses at the Green Valley Ranch ECE-12 now being built.
“This is really how we should be doing the charter process,” said board member Arturo Jimenez, referring to approving a school in a specific location.
Jimenez said he has received numerous calls from parents in Northwest Denver, the area he represents, who prefer to emphasize traditional neighborhood schools over charters. He said he received more than 25 calls on Thursday alone.
“In Northwest Denver, we would like to focus on the existing public schools,” he said, sparking applause from the audience.
Board member Jeanne Kaplan, who has raised concerns about paying attention to neighborhood schools, said she has “come to the conclusion there definitely is a need for charter schools.”
“But we really do need to focus on our neighborhood schools as well,” she said. “I don’t think it needs to be an either/or.”
A new advocacy network
Speakers on Thursday repeatedly hammered DPS for failing to listen to parents and community members.
“No one returns phone calls,” said Lisa Bailey Martin, a parent and DPS employee who sought help with a student discipline issue.
“No one from downtown” – DPS headquarters – “has found the time to meet with parents,” said Roxana Witter, one of a dozen parents who showed up to complain about the lack of rigorous algebra classes in city middle schools.
Members of the Denver Education Advocacy Network, or DEAN, complained the district’s response to their request for data on the charter school applicants was incomplete.
“We want transparency,” said Ortega, a former Denver City Councilwoman. “We want data-driven decision-making.”
Evan Icolari, one of the founders of DEAN, said DPS’ perceived lack of attention to parents and community members is one reason the group was launched. That feeling intensified after the district announced charter programs would be placed within existing neighborhood schools.
“We started just brainstorming about what we could do,” he said of the founding trio of dads in Northwest and Southeast Denver, “how could we take all this energy out there that was really sort of screaming into the wind as individual voices and make it a stronger, louder, more cohesive voice.”
The idea is that DEAN will serve as an umbrella for parent groups across Denver, from the Northwest Parents for Excellent Schools to individual parent clusters at schools such as Smiley Middle School.
Icolari said DEAN also wants to build a web site and serve as a repository for documents and research that parents and others can tap into.
“People who are taking a stand for a certain thing at their school or within their quadrant can use the information that others have gathered in their efforts to make change,” he said.
While some speakers raising concerns about charters identified themselves as DEAN members, Icolari said the group isn’t necessarily about taking a stance on any particular issue.
“We really, really want to stay focused on data-driven decision-making and process-driven decision-making,” he said. “We aren’t simply about passionate arguments. We want to assist and encourage DPS to make decisions that are based on verifiable data.”
Nancy Mitchell can be reached at nmitchell@pebc.org or 303-478-4573.

School groups approved Thursday for opening in fall 2010 or later:
1. Denver Green School, ECE-8, 442 students, one school opening in 2010, Southeast quadrant
2. Denver Language School, K-8, 550 students, one school opening in 2010, Northeast quadrant
3. Denver School of Science and Technology, 6-12, 850 students per school, four schools, opening 2010 to 2013, Far Northeast for 2010 school
4. West Denver Prep, 6-8, 300 students per school, two schools opening in 2010, Northwest quadrant
5. KIPP Academy Middle School, 6-8, 380 students, one school opening in 2011, Northeast or Far Northeast quadrants
6. SOAR, K-5, 428 students, one school opening in 2010, Far Northeast quadrant

Schools scheduled to open this fall:
1. Envision Leadership Prep Charter, co-located in Smiley Middle School in Northeast Denver.
2. Cesar Chavez Charter Academy, to be located in former DATA Charter School building in Northwest Denver.
3. Manual Martinez Edison Charter, co-located in West High School in Central Denver.
4. West Denver Prep Charter, co-located in Kunsmiller Middle School in Southwest Denver.
5. Justice High School Charter, located at 4760 Shoshone in Northwest Denver.
6. KIPP Collegiate Academy Charter High School, co-located in Rishel Middle School in Southwest Denver.
7. Math and Science Leadership Academy Innovation School, co-located in Rishel Middle School.
8. Kunsmiller Academy of Creative Arts, Kunsmiller Middle School.

Distributed by Colorado Capitol Reporters

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