The Colorado Index

Friday Cartoon

My boss sent this cartoon to me this morning. While it is over 50-years old, this cartoon, entitled "Make Mine Freedom", seems even more relevant in these times.  Share and enjoy!

by Civil Sense

A Day at the Fair

For something like 15 years, I have been a science fair judge.  It is a fun thing to do.  It doesn't take much time and it helps the community and the schools.

Friday, I had the pleasure of doing it once again.

How does a guy with two business degrees qualify to be a science fair judge, you might ask.

I come from an era where education was affordable.  When I graduated,I had been going to school year round for 4.6 years.  I had nearly 200 hours of undergraduate credits.  I had a math minor, was just short of a chemistry minor, and came close to having a physics minor.  There wasn't such a thing as a computer science minor, but I had taken every course in that discipline that the university had to offer.

Unless you are from a very wealthy family, you couldn't possibly get that kind of education today.  What cost me less than $250 a year as a full time student at a state university in the 1960's costs about 40 times that amount today. 

Part of the acceleration in costs comes from overly generous student loans.  Those loans do directly what politicians have been doing covertly for generations.  They foist the costs of government on the next generation.

One of the requirements Colorado territory had to meet to become a state was the establishment of a state university.  At that time, no one thought to require that it be affordable.

Now, we have the ugly prospect of the legislature shifting another $300 million away from higher education so that it can pay for more waste elsewhere.

I met some very bright kids Friday.  I asked the brightest of the group if he planned to go to college.  He is from a lower middle class family.  While he aspires to go, I wonder if it will be affordable when he gets there seven years from now.  I wonder if he will really go.

The Denver Public School Experiment

There is a guest editorial in today's Denver Post describing the new union led science school in Denver.

We Republicans are quick to criticize teachers unions, criticism that they usually deserve.  We should have an open mind when they do something that has the potential to improve their product.

High School Diploma Not Equal To College Preparedness

The Rocky Mountain News published an interesting analysis of the college-readiness of high school graduates.  The results show that college preparedness does not come from a high school diploma alone.

More than half of all Denver Public Schools graduates who enroll in a state college or university must take at least one remedial course, according to a Rocky Mountain News analysis, and in most cases, that class is math.

For graduates of high-poverty schools such as North, the remediation rate shoots even higher - up to nearly 70 percent. That means two out of every three graduates have to pay for and complete a basic skills course that does not count for college credit before they can enroll in a class that will count toward a degree.

Even Denver's higher-performing schools don't fare so well in the Rocky analysis of three years' worth of data. At the Denver School of the Arts, one of two DPS high schools rated "excellent" by the state, the remediation rate is 36 percent.

In the face of these abysmal results, the Colorado Charter Schools blog asks what a high school diploma actually means.

What does it mean to give a high school diploma to a student? Especially, in a school like DPS's North HS where 71% of the students need remedial courses, does their diploma mean that the students have satisfied "seat time" requirements over a four-year period? What about the students and families who thought they were working towards a diploma that meant they had learned everything they needed to in high school?

Not long ago, ACT's "Forgotten Middle" report [ link in original post ] found that students who are not on target in eighth grade do not attend and succeed at college. This means that before North HS even gets these students, they're not ready to succeed in high school. So again, the question begs to be asked, "What does a high school diploma mean?"

Another facet of the problem could be the English language learners.  One charter school in the Denver area is in the process of testing all of its students in English language proficiency. If one does not know English, it is difficult to achieve at or near grade level in school.  The school currently shoves some of these underachievers into special education classes instead of English language classes.  Either way, bringing these English language learners up to par in English skill will likely improve grades and college-preparedness immensely.

The truth is that a high school diploma merely means that the student achieved the bare minimum of high school requirements.  Through diluted standards over the years, graduation from high school did become merely a seat-warming exercise.  However, even eighteen years ago when I began high school, the school prepared two coursework maps: one containing the bare minimum graduation standards and one containing the standards for college preparatory work.  The college prep standards required a minimum of three years of math, science, and social studies, and two years of foreign languages.

Perhaps the largest problem is that the students do not care. After all, the lede from the Rocky article conveys a flippant attitude toward math.

Amber Mendoza is a freshman at Denver's North High School who is slogging through algebra and looking forward to the day when, diploma in hand, she can say goodbye to high school math forever.

I hate to burst Amber Mendoza's bubble, but one really never says goodbye to high school math, especially algebra.  Perhaps her teacher did not explain the uses of math in everyday activities such as shopping (calculating percentage discounts and sales taxes or comparing the unit prices of items).  How can one expect to grasp the complex workings of the economy without using math?

How do we solve this problem?  Not with platitudes (but here are some anyway).  Schools and teachers need to encourage high school students to set educational goals and assist the students in preparing the necessary coursework plan to achieve these goals. Parents and teachers should encourage students to take ownership of their education and understand that the students' work in high school needs to prepare them for college (where the bare minimum is unacceptable).  For the less academically inclined, schools should promote a vocational education option where students can learn valuable work skills (even if it is outside of the school district). And, of course, stress the importance of math and English to success in the real world.

by Civil Sense

Denver Post on Education Reform

The Denver Post has an excellent editorial on education reform for those of you who like education reform.

Supreme Court Allows Government To Collect Tax Revenues

Governor Bill Ritter is one step closer to keeping his illegal property tax rate freeze.  Similarly to the District Court ruling that originally judged the tax freeze unconstitutional, the Colorado Supreme Court ruling came late on a Friday afternoon, thus guaranteeing it to be buried during the weekend dead news cycle.  The media helped cover for the court when the Rocky Mountain News buried its story on page 4 of the dead tree edition (and did not blurb the story at all on the cover).

A law that funnels more tax money to schools is still in force for now, allowing local school districts to raise taxes in 2009, the state Supreme Court said Friday.

But the court refused to say whether the law is constitutional, and it gave no hint when that decision will come. (snip)

In a two-page order, the judges lifted an injunction by Denver District Judge Christina Habas, who held the law unconstitutional. The unsigned Supreme Court order allows the 178 school districts to set tax rates, which are due at the state Education Department by Dec. 15.

It is disappointing (but not surprising) that the Colorado Supreme Court lifted the injunction.  What is odder is that the court did not yet decide the case though it took testimony last September.  Perhaps the delay helps the court's political position better.  If the court delays its decision until after school districts send bills and collect taxes at the higher rate, the state will acquire the additional revenues, de facto legalizing the matter.  Perhaps the court will try the Solomonesque approach where they judge the law unconstitutional yet allows the state to retain the illegal funds.  The delay would allow Governor Bill Ritter and the legislature to come up with a law or referred initiative that would pass Supreme Court review.

It is obvious why Governor Bill Ritter does not want a vote of the people on his illegal tax increase.  Coloradans voted down every statewide tax increase on the November ballot.  Governor Ritter knows that the mood is not rightfor tax increases (especially during a recession), so he is happy that the partisan Colorado Supreme Court can run interference and keep his increased tax revenue.  As for the Colorado Constitution and TABOR, well, the ends justify the means.

by Civil Sense

Are Republicans the Party That Helps Business?

Vince Carroll is one of my favorite Denver editorialists.  He has a way of stating the obvious in a way that makes sense.  On rereading that sentence, it sounds like a put down.  It isn’t intended to be one.  Too many writers, including yours truly, can’t always reach that level of clarity.

Yesterday, he wrote about businesses always having to play defense.  He thought it would be smarter for them to put their money up front to help politicians who would help them.

When their interests are directly threatened, in other words, industries readily jump into the political fray to defend themselves. Meanwhile, ironically, political candidates who are interested in promoting economic activity in this state rather than merely taxing and regulating it are now routinely outspent when they run for the legislature.

Just imagine what effect business people could have if they chose to spend more of their money on the front end of the political process instead of waiting until the next grenade is lobbed into their tent.

There is a problem with that logic.  Republicans have very little interest in helping business.  Nearly all of the issues that Republicans have fought hard for in recent years, both at the state and national level, are anti-business.  Some of it is viciously anti-business.

I recently visited with my former business partner of six years. When he and I were partners, our political views were closely matched, but not any more.

His name had appeared on a Tim Gill paid for “Republicans for…” advertisement just before the election.  I was curious to know why.  He said “I’m still a registered Republican but I don’t vote for very many Republicans any more.”  Barack Obama and Mark Udall got his vote.

When I mentioned the power to appoint judges, he said “The only judges that Republicans talk about as being bad judges are those who favor abortion.” 

I had to be elsewhere, so our conversation ended there.

From the business perspective, we’ve lost the judge issue.  This last spring, when Republicans could have made a stand against an obnoxious judicial performance commission law, or voted against putting a former judge on the Commission on Judicial Discipline, they meekly supported the Democrat position without dissent.

The immigration issue was framed in a way that was never intended to do anything but harm businesses in need of labor.  I doubt that you could do a Lexus-Nexus search and find a single Republican who talked about ensuring that an adequate labor supply was available to businesses that needed it, either at the high education end or the low education end.  Instead of working to provide a legal source of labor, Republicans wanted to put the cost and responsibility for unworkable immigration enforcement on businesses, and punish those who didn’t comply.

Businesses depend on a well educated work force.  When was the last time you heard a Republican say anything positive about public schools?  Anyone who takes an honest look at CSAP knows that its major purpose wasn’t to fairly grade public schools as much as it was to provide a rationale for dismantling them. 

Businesses want good public schools, and they want the public to pay for them.  Republicans spend so much time attacking public education that they are perceived to want the opposite.

The Republican Party claims to be a party of limited government.  At the same time the dominant segment of the Republican Party wants to regulate the lives and lifestyles of certain classes of people in the most intrusive way possible.  Some businessmen, especially those who depend on Colorado having a reputation that draws visitors and business, don’t see that as helpful.

While Vince Carroll would have been right if he were writing about the Republican Party of 20 years ago, the Party has morphed.  It has wandered so far away from fighting for business interests that he appears out of date and out of touch. 

It is a problem that the Republican Party needs to fix, and fix quickly. 

And I Thought 21 Year Olds Could be Legislators

I don’t do this very often, but I do try to do it whenever it happens.

I was wrong!

I recommended in my voters guide that Ref L be passed.   It would have lowered the minimum age at which someone could be elected to the legislature from 25 to 21. 

If you want an example of how immature people are at that age, you need not look farther than our own University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. 

The duly elected President of the UCCS student body, David Williams, has been sanctioned for choosing not to approve an expenditure for a gay event.  He didn’t veto it.  The gays got their money.  They want him to endorse what they are doing, not just allow the money to pass to them without endorsement.

He wouldn’t sign so they hauled him before the student Judicial Board.

This blog is not a gay bashing blog.  We seldom write about the issue in any context.  The poor judgment of those who decided to bring charges against David Williams is beyond belief.  Given that these students are the same age as those I was willing to allow to legislate for real, they make me look really stupid.  I don’t like to look stupid.

UCCS is going to suffer for this.  Higher education in Colorado needs more funding.  I voted for Ref C in an effort to make that happen.  Our dishonest Democrat majority legislature took the money away, but that isn’t my fault.

This kind of misconduct, this trampling of David Williams’ basic rights makes it very hard for me to justify, to myself and others, any additional spending for higher education.

Allow me to say it again.  It takes maturity to be a legislator.  I was wrong to support this harebrained scheme to lower minimum age for legislators from 25 to 21.

TABOR-Gutting Measure To Propell Romanoff To Secretary Of State

Term-limited House Speaker Andrew Romanoff is busy preparing his post-legislative career.  Face The State had an interesting report on Friday about the future of Democrat Andrew Romanoff.

If Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman prevails in his November bid to replace retiring Congressman Tom Tancredo, as he's expected to do, Gov. Bill Ritter will have the opportunity to appoint Coffman's replacement. Speculation has long prevailed that Ritter would pick Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, but an insider speaking off the record to Face The State now says that Ritter's selection of House Speaker Andrew Romanoff is a "done deal."

While Gordon, an attorney, has long held an interest in election law and only narrowly lost to Coffman in their 2006 Secretary of State contest, Romanoff is seen as a "choice for the future of the [Democrat] party," according to the source. After being term-limited from his Denver House seat earlier this this year, Romanoff is working on finishing his law degree at the University of Denver, where he is currently enrolled in an election law course.

Why would Governor Bill Ritter choose Andrew Romanoff as Secretary of State?  In addition to Romanoff's compliance on Bill Ritter's illegal property tax freeze, Romanoff is busy campaigning for the TABOR-gutting Initiative 126--Colorado SAFE.

Over the last few years, Romanoff has staked strong positions relating to Colorado's initiative and referendum process, opposing 2006's failed Petition Rights Amendment, a ballot initiative that would have expanded greater petition access to citizens. After a tax increase proposal he championed during this year's legislative session failed to garner adequate support from his fellow lawmakers, however, Romanoff utilized the initiative process himself, hitting the streets with petitions in support of his proposal to repeal the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Earlier this month, Romanoff's Initiative 126 campaign submitted more than 164,000 signatures to the Secretary of State's office. The signatures are currently being reviewed with a decision expected within the next week about whether the measure will be on this November's ballot.

Ritter and Romanoff really want this initiative to pass.  As I wrote when Andrew Romanoff began his signature drive, "A hypothetical issue could arise where the government maxes out its contributions to the fund, transfers money to CDOT, and still spend general funds like a drunken sailor due to the removal of the spending limits."

This is the purpose of this initiative.  Never again will the government return unused tax revenue to the taxpayers.  Instead, all this money pours into the SAFE slush fund.  As there is a balance limit, the legislature must spend all the money that falls into this pot.  This frees up general funds for Governor Ritter and the legislature to use as play money to their political pet projects.

One way to gauge which politically favorable groups will receive additional taxpayer dollars is to look at Initiative 126's endorsement list.  The rent-seekers include the AARP, the American Institute of Architects (Colorado), numerous health care foundations (dreaming of additional state health care funding), the Colorado Bankers Association (some member bank will get a very large government slush fund out of this), the Colorado Contractors Association (fishing for government construction contracts, no doubt), and the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association (hoping for government tourism dollars).

The TABOR timeout enacted via Amendment 23 will be gone in 2010 if this is passed.  However, Colorado SAFE is merely a shell game to remove the restrictions on government spending and repay its political allies with further government contracts at taxpayer expense.  Andrew Romanoff's legislative legacy is this initiative.  If it succeeds, Governor Ritter will hand Romanoff the Secretary of State job on a silver platter. 

It is interesting to note that this initiative will provide plenty of government plunder to the "winners" if Initiative 126 is successful.  Unfortunately, the only "losers" will be the diffuse interests of the actual taxpayers of Colorado.

by Civil Sense

Increase in Childhood Poverty Not Related to Government Spending

The top story in this morning’s Denver Post is about the jump in child poverty throughout the state of Colorado. While Governor Bill Ritter plans to release this report during a morning press conference, the Denver Post received a leaked copy of the report.

Allison Sherry, the Post reporter who authored this story, found a typical canard to shoehorn this news: low per capita spending.

Experts say there are several reasons why Colorado could be faring worse than other parts of the country.

Among them: The state's discretionary expenditures on services — from highways to higher education to health care — ranks 44th nationwide. The state spends a little more than $4,000 a person, according to the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute.

New Mexico and Wyoming spend far more, $6,541 and $7,860 respectively, the report shows. Wyoming ranks second in the country, and New Mexico ranks seventh in overall per-capita spending. Both states have fewer children, as a percentage, living in poverty, and both states have improved their percentages since 2000.

This is a silly way to analyze this information (but typical of the Denver Post). Taking a quick look at the US Census figures helps to debunk this theory. The 2006 population estimate for Colorado is 4.753 million people. The estimates for New Mexico and Wyoming are 1.955 million and 0.515 million people respectively. Those two state’s populations combined are barely half of the population of Colorado!

Simple multiplication shows that “discretionary spending” is significantly higher in Colorado. Using the Post’s figures Colorado’s total discretionary spending is approximately $19.0 billion! New Mexico’s and Wyoming’s spending are approximately $12.8 billion and $4.0 billion! As an aside, Colorado’s land area is approximately 104 thousand square miles versus approximately 121 thousand square miles and 97 thousand square miles for New Mexico and Wyoming. Finally, Colorado’s 2004 median family income is $50,105 versus $37,838 and $43,785 for New Mexico and Wyoming. 

All else aside, Colorado appears to spend more money than other states of similar land area. However, these state dollars are less per capita due to the larger population with higher median incomes.

Allison Sherry’s story continues with the following reasons for poverty, and these seem to be more realistic than the lack of government spending.

Other factors could include Colorado's low graduation rate: Roughly 72 percent of the state's high school students finish. The situation often is referred to as the "Colorado paradox" because of the higher-than-average number of people in the state with advanced degrees.

In Jefferson County, for example, the number of people with less than a high school degree has pushed up since 2002 to 10 percent of the population. In Denver, only 51 percent of those in high school finish with a diploma.

Experts also point to the shifting nature of the state's demographics. The number of children living in single-parent families has increased 13 percent.

It will be interesting to see what demographic differences occurred between 2000 and 2006. The increase in immigrant populations and the idea of the Colorado promise brought many people to the state. However, when only 1 in 2 Denver high school students (1 of 4 high school students statewide) finish with a diploma (1 of 4 statewide), it is no wonder that so many people live below the poverty line.

The increase in single-parent households only exacerbates this problem. When marriages end, both parents and the children have severe income and emotional ramifications. From Allison Sherry’s article:

"Moms without a good education are really going to struggle, so it doesn't surprise me when there are so many single moms . . . that we're seeing more and more kids in poverty," said Honoria "Honey" Niehaus, director of Family Star, a preschool Montessori program under Early Head Start.

Ms. Niehaus should also mention single dads, who also struggle in the event of divorce. In any event, this issue is a huge public policy issue that merits larger discussion, but merely increasing funding willy-nilly will not solve the problem.

by Civil Sense