Today, as expected, Attorney General John Suthers filed the state’s notice of appeal of the decision in the Lobato case.  In that decision,  the trial judge ruled that Colorado is not complying with the Constitutional right of every child to a “thorough and uniform system of free public schools.”

Last month Great Education Colorado and Colorado PTA submitted a letter with over 1,900 signatures from over 180 communities to state officials, calling on them to enforce rather than appeal Lobato.

Great Ed’s statement in response to today’s appeal is below.  Comments from the plaintiffs’ attorneys follow.

NEWS RELEASE

January 23, 2012

Great Education Colorado Statement on State’s Appeal in Lobato

Now that the appeal is filed, we hope and trust that the parties will expedite the process as much as possible.  Colorado’s students don’t get do-overs.  For them, justice delayed is education denied.

This appeal comes just as the Colorado Department of Education released its estimate of cuts that each district can expect under current budget proposals.  Funding for schools is currently slated at $327 million below what it would take to maintain current services and $1.1 billion below what schools would be receiving if the state were still honoring Amendment 23.  Put another way, although CDE expects 8,990 more students in Colorado schools next year, funding will be $48 million lower.

The State’s appeal presents one more delay on the way to a school funding system that provides the resources necessary to meet the State’s own vision: that “[a]ll students in Colorado will become educated and productive citizens capable of succeeding in a globally competitive workforce.”

In light of the Lobato decision and the damage that a fourth year of deep education cuts will do to Colorado’s students, to our constitution, and to jobs and our economic recovery, the legislature should waste no time in working to honor our students’ right to a thorough and uniform education system.

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MEDIA RELEASE
December 21, 2011 1500+ Public Education Supporters Call on State Leaders to Reconsider Decision to Appeal Lobato Decision:“Please stop wasting our tax dollars defending an indefensible school funding system”

DENVER — Great Education Colorado, a nonpartisan, grassroots, statewide organization that advocates for improved public education through increased, wise investment in Colorado’s schools, colleges, and universities issued the following statement:

“We are disappointed that the state has decided to appeal the Lobato decision before seeking and receiving more input from the people of Colorado.   Nonetheless, with today’s decision by the State Board of Education to delay their action on the appeal, we are hopeful that our leaders will reconsider this decision to spend even more taxpayer dollars defending an indefensible school financing system.

“We encourage every state elected official – every legislator, every State Board of Education member – to read the entire Lobato opinion and to make their own decision about whether the state is meeting its constitutional duty to maintain a ‘thorough and uniform system of free public schools.’”

“We applaud the governor’s interest in starting the process of determining how to create a sustainable remedy.

“There is simply no time to lose when it comes to providing quality education for our children.  We hope and trust that the state will not use this appeal as yet another delay on the road to adequate investment in our schools.  Our kids don’t get do-overs.  For them, justice delayed is education denied.”

At the time of the announcement, Great Education Colorado and the Colorado Parent Teacher Association were in the midst of gathering signatures for a letter to the governor, attorney general and members of the State Board of Education, asking them not to appeal the decision.

The letter appears below.  To date it has been signed by over 1550 Colorado citizens, representing over 160 cities throughout the state (cities represented are listed below).

Dear Governor Hickenlooper, Attorney General Suthers, and Members of the State Board of Education:Now that the trial judge in Lobato has ruled that Colorado’s public education system is “irrational, arbitrary, and severely underfunded,” you have a critical decision to make:

You can either work with the legislature in the interest of Colorado students to make the system constitutional as soon as possible, or you can make the problem even worse by kicking it down the road a year or two.

As Colorado taxpayers and public education supporters, we ask you to stop wasting our tax dollars defending an indefensible school funding system.

We ask that you take into consideration those whom you represent: the children, parents, businesses and citizens of Colorado who all depend on a quality public education system.

Please do not appeal the Lobato decision. Enforce it. Our children have already waited far too long for a school funding system that makes it possible for every child to succeed.

Sincerely,

Cities represented include: Aguilar, Alamosa, Alma, Arvada, Aspen, Aurora, Avon, Bailey, Basalt, Bayfield, Berthoud, Black Forest, Blackhawk, Blanca, Boone, Boulder, Boyero, Breckenridge, Brighton, Broomfield, Buena Vista, Byers, Calhan, Campo, Canon City, Carbondale, Castle Rock, Centennial, Center, Colo Springs, Commerce City, Conifer, Cortez, Creede, Crested Butte, Crestone, Cripple Creek, Del Norte, Delta, Denver, Divide, Dolores, Durango, Eagle, Eaton, Eckert, Edgewater, Edwards, Elbert, Elizabeth, Englewood, Erie, Evergreen, Fairplay, Federal Heights, Firestone, Florissant, Fort Collins, Fort Lupton, Fowler, Franktown, Fraser, Frederick, Frisco, Fruita, Gardner, Glenwood Springs, Golden, Grand Junction, Grand Lake, Greeley, Greenwood Village, Gunnison, Gypsum, Henderson, Highlands Ranch, Hooper, Hotchkiss, Howard, Idaho Springs, Ignacio, Indian Hills, Johnstown, Kiowa, Kittredge, La Junta, La Veta, Lafayette, Lakewood, Lamar, Larkspur, Leadville, Littleton, Lone Tree, Longmont, Louisville, Loveland, Lyons, Mancos, Manitou Springs, Manzanola, Mc Coy, Mead, Meeker, Milliken, Minturn, Monte Vista, Montrose, Monument, Morrison, Mountain Village, Nederland, Niwot, Northglenn, Norwood, Norwood, Nucla, Oak Creek, Pagosa Springs, Paonia, Parker, Peyton, Pine, Pitkin, Platteville, Pueblo, Pueblo West, Red Cliff, Rico, Ridgway, Rifle, Rockvale, Rocky Ford, Roxborough, Rush, Salida, San Luis, Silver Cliff, Silverthorne, Steamboat Springs, Sterling, Strasburg, Superior, Swink, Telluride, Thornton, Twin Lakes, Vail, Victor, Walsenburg, Westminster, Wellington, Westcliffe, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Widefield, Wiggins, Windsor, Winter Park, Woodland Park, Yampa

“Leaders Reaction will Determine the Quality of Education and Future of our State and Economy”

MEDIA RELEASE

DENVER — Great Education Colorado, a nonpartisan, grassroots, statewide organization that advocates for improved public education through increased, wise investment in Colorado’s schools, colleges, and universities issued the following statement:

“This decision is great news for Colorado’s students — as well as for our communities and our economy.  After conducting the most thorough review of Colorado’s public education system in decades, Judge Rappaport came to the inescapable conclusion that Colorado is failing to provide the resources necessary for our children to succeed.  Anyone who believes she could have come to any other conclusion needs to read the facts laid out in her opinion.

“This decision is a wake up call for Colorado.  The future of our state and economy depend on whether our state leaders heed that call or bury their heads in the sand.  The fact that this decision was issued on the same day that Jeffco Schools announced it would have to shed almost 600 employees in the next two years proves that our children cannot wait another day for state leaders to roll up their sleeves and find a way to stop shortchanging the future.

“The judge’s decision makes it clear that underfunding education is not just bad policy for our students and our economy — it’s unconstitutional.  We hope and trust that our legislators will rise to the occasion and will focus on our children and future, rather than delay with pointless appeals.”

Click here to read the Judge’s ruling.

Early Media Coverage:

Fox31 News:

9 News: Judge: Colo. education funding unconstitutional

KKTV (Colorado Springs):

Call it coincidental or ironic: this year, the governor was statutorily required to propose his budget on election day.

Proposition 103 provided Colorado with its only opportunity to avoid a fourth year of cuts to K-12 and continued cuts to higher education. The polls hadn’t even closed by the time Governor Hickenlooper’s budget unveiled the concrete implications of not passing Proposition 103.

Ed News reports:

The plan proposes an $89 million reduction in total program funding, the combination of state and local revenue that pays for basic instructional operations. That’s about $160 a student. Current total program funding is about $5.2 billion, down some $228.9 million, about 4.2 percent, from 2010-11. Current average per pupil funding is a little under $6,500.

Direct state support of state colleges and universities would drop 9.7 percent, taking it to $563 million from the current $619 million, which includes $519 million for institutions and $100 million from financial aid. Next year institutional support and financial aid each would take $30 million cuts.

To put the governor’s proposed cuts in perspective:

Between a statement by Governor Hickenlooper and a new study by the Bell Policy Center, fatal holes have been shot through the two chief arguments that Proposition 103 opponents have been pushing over the past several months.

Myth #1: There is no guarantee that the revenues raised under Prop 103 will go to education.

Truth: The language of the initiative has always made it clear that the dollars would go to preschool, K-12 and higher education:

ALL REVENUES RAISED BY THE INCREASE IN TAXES IMPOSED PURSUANT TO THIS MEASURE SHALL BE APPROPRIATED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ONLY FOR THE COSTS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION FROM PRESCHOOL THROUGH TWELFTH GRADE AND PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND SHALL BE IN ADDITION TO AND NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR MONEYS OTHERWISE APPROPRIATED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR THE COSTS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION FROM PRESCHOOL THROUGH TWELFTH GRADE AND PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION . . .

Now, Governor Hickenlooper has closed the door on any possibility that the dollars could be directed elsewhere.  On Monday, the Governor told reporters:

“If it passes, I would certainly veto an effort to take that money away from education. If the voters of Colorado say they want something, my job is to make sure they get what they voted for.”

Bottom line: Every dollar will go straight to education.

Myth #2: Proposition 103 will result in job losses.

Truth: The study that opponents have been citing for this proposition has been debunked already.  Now, the Bell Policy Center has issued a report that summarizes academic research on taxes and economic growth and presents data on the effects of tax increases enacted by other states:

In fact, analysis of more than 100 academic studies ….finds that spending on public services has a positive effect on economic growth….[I]ncreases in spending for infrastructure and education, in particular, were most consistently correlated with economic growth.

The report concludes:

[C]ontinued cuts in education spending will cost us jobs and, over the long run, will likely hurt the quality of our workforce, making Colorado less attractive to businesses and individuals looking to relocate.

Passing Proposition 103 is good for Colorado’s students, their families and schools.  It helps protect against future cuts in education spending, adds to our long-term economic competitiveness and does so without harming our economy.

Now to focus on the central question presented by Proposition 103: should Colorado voters take action to prevent a fourth year of education cuts and start reinvesting in our students, our economy and our future?

NEWS RELEASE

October 20, 2011

DENVER, Colo. – Reminding state leaders that “kids can’t afford [a] fourth year of short-sighted and irresponsible cuts to our schools, colleges and universities,” over 1200 Colorado citizens today called on all legislators and the governor to support Proposition 103.  That citizens’ initiative provides the only opportunity to prevent hundreds of millions in cuts to education in next year’s budget.

The letter, signed by individuals from more than 140 communities, was coordinated by Great Education Colorado Action, a statewide, nonpartisan, grassroots organization that advocates for improved and wise investment in Colorado’s education system, preschool through higher education.

With the submission of the letter, state leaders are being asked two questions:

First, will you support Proposition 103?

Second, regardless of your position on the initiative, will you pledge that, if Proposition 103 prevails, you will implement the statute as enacted by the voters and oppose any effort to overturn it?  We ask because Proposition 103′s very specific requirement that the new revenues be used for education could only be changed if the General Assembly (i.e., you and your colleagues) actively seek to reverse the will of the voters.

Responses to the inquiry will be posted on Great Education Colorado Action’s website: http://www.greatedaction.org.

You can view the letter and signatures here.

Dear Governor Hickenlooper and members of the General Assembly:

We are parents, grandparents, students, educators, concerned citizens and business people and we write today to encourage each of you to endorse Proposition 103, regardless of the position you have taken to date.

Our message is simple: if you want to support Colorado families during these tough economic times, then you must support public education.  If you want to rebuild our economy, then you must support public education.

This November, supporting public education means supporting Proposition 103.

Our kids can’t afford the fourth year of short-sighted and irresponsible cuts to our schools, colleges and universities that will result if Proposition 103 does not pass.  With each year of cuts, individual attention shrinks, educational opportunities dwindle, tuition and fees skyrocket, children fall through the cracks, and Colorado’s competitiveness declines.  These cuts are foreclosing on the future of our children, of our communities and of our economy.

Over the past three years, the poor economy made education cuts virtually inevitable.  But that changes with Proposition 103.  If it fails, next year’s cuts will be a matter of choice, not necessity.  Elected officials who oppose this very moderate measure will bear direct responsibility for those cuts.

For us, Proposition 103 is not political.  It is not partisan.  It is simply the right thing to do.   We hope you’ll join us in voting YES.

Sincerely,

Signatures

Communities represented:

Aguilar, Alamosa, Allenspark, Arvada, Aspen, Aspen Park, Aurora, Austin, Avon, Bailey, Basalt, Bayfield, Berthoud, Beulah, Black Hawk, Boone, Boulder, Breckenridge, Brighton, Broomfield, Buena Vista, Byers, Calhan, Canon City, Carbondale, Cascade, Castle Pines North, Castle Rock, Centennial, Center, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado City, Colorado Springs, Commerce City, Conifer, Cortez, Crawford, Crested Butte, Crestone, Dacono, Delta, Denver, Dolores, Durango, Eagle, Eaton, Eckert, Edgewater, Edwards, Elbert, Elizabeth, Englewood, Erie, Evergreen, Florence, Fort Collins, Fort Lupton, Fort Morgan, Fowler, Franktown, Fraser, Frederick, Frisco, Glenwood Springs, Golden, Granby, Grand Junction, Greeley, Greenwood Village, Gunnison, Gypsum, Henderson, Highlands Ranch, Holly, Hygiene, Indian Hills, Jamestown, Keenesburg, Kersey, Kiowa, Kirk, Kittredge, La Junta, La Veta, Lafayette, Lakewood, Larkspur, Littleton, Lone Tree, Longmont, Louisville, Loveland, Lyons, Manitou Springs, Manzanola, Mead, Milliken, Monte Vista, Montrose, Monument, Morrison, New Castle, Niwot, Northglenn, Nucla, Pagosa Springs, Palisade, Palmer Lake, Parker, Peyton, Pine, Pueblo, Pueblo West, Redstone, Ridgway, Rifle, Rocky Ford, Rush, Salida, Sheridan, Silverthorne, Steamboat Springs, Sterling, Strasburg, Superior, Tabernash, Telluride, Thornton, Trinidad, USAFA, Vail, Walsenburg, Wellington, Westcliffe, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Whitewater, Wiggins, Windsor, Winter Park, Woodland Park.

A standing room only crowd gathered at the Denver Athletic Club last month for the First Annual Great Education Colorado Luncheon honoring Cary Kennedy.

The diverse audience included activists, philanthropists, parents and grandparents, superintendents, both the Colorado House and Senate Education Committee chairs and numerous legislators, former Governor Bill Ritter and former Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff.

Great Ed Executive Director Liane Morrison and luncheon honoree Cary Kennedy.  See more photos here

The Luncheon was emceed by Channel 9′s Gregg Moss.  Governor John Hickenlooper made a surprise entrance to welcome guests.  They also heard from Senator Michael Johnston about the need to match critical education reforms with resources necessary to make them successful, and from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock about his plans to focus on education as the key to long-term economic vitality and community strength.

Mayor Hancock also praised Cary Kennedy, whom he recently appointed as Denver CFO and Deputy Mayor, and introduced this video:

As the honoree and keynote speaker, former Treasurer and Denver CFO Cary Kennedy told the audience that Colorado’s future depends on education reform, budget reform and renewed investment in the education of our children.

Great Ed thanks all those attending for a unique and spectacular event!  We’re looking forward to next year!  

Six years after it was first filed, the five-week Lobato trial came to a close last week.  In Lobato, plaintiff parents and school districts are challenging the state’s failure to meet the Colorado constitution’s mandate of a “thorough and uniform system of free public schools” — a system that enables every child to become engaged, effective members of their communities and of the workforce.

Not surprisingly, there were frequent clashes between the State’s and the plaintiffs’ attorneys.  The questioning of witnesses and the legal wrangling got intense and heated at times.

But the real story of the trial is not about the differences in testimony.  It’s about the similarities.  Ultimately, witnesses on both sides agreed on this fundamental truth: well-targeted resources make a difference in student achievement and success.

Consider these statements (defense (state) witnesses are in bold):

• Kenzo Kawanabe, plaintiffs’ attorney in closing: “Plaintiffs do not argue that resources equal student achievement. There is no guarantee. But not funding schools guarantees failure.”
• Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia: Resources are a “necessary but not sufficient” condition for improved student achievement.

• Jeffco Superintendent Cindy Stevenson: “More dollars in the right places makes a difference” for student achievement.
• Former Colorado Commissioner of Education William Moloney praised the accomplishments of KIPP schools, the website of which states: “Public funding does not cover all costs of running KIPP Colorado Schools, leaving a significant shortfall that must be covered by private philanthropy. . . . On average, $1600 per student must be raised in order to ensure that KIPPsters will receive art, music, daily PE, and end-of-year field lessons – vital programs that these students would not have access to in their neighborhood public schools.”
• Harrison School District Superintendent Mike Miles noted “I believe we have significantly reduced our resources and we are going to have a hard time meeting our goals.”
• Even the state’s star national witness, Eric Hanushek of the Hoover Institution, acknowledged that well-targeted resources will improve achievement:

Q.  If a school district in Colorado efficiently spends its money, then do you think that additional funds for education could lead to higher student achievement?

A. Yes, if they’re spending money, it implies that more money would lead to higher achievement, if they’re efficient at it.

Also notable was the overwhelming amount of plaintiffs’ testimony that the state did not dispute.  Over the three-and-a-half weeks that they presented their case, plaintiffs painted an uncontested picture of a system that is so under-resourced that it leads to the academic failure of many children and impedes the achievement of most.  Among the stories told from the witness box that were uncontested by the state:

• A teacher in Cortez works three jobs in order to afford supplies for his classroom;
• In Creede, the sole math teacher for the upper grades teaches two separate courses to two classes of students durng the same period;
• In Jefferson County, graduation requirements were reduced, in order to avoid layoff of teachers in earlier grades;
• A national expert noted that Colorado has among the largest achievement gaps in the country between children in poverty and those not in poverty.
• A state witness admitted he had no reason to dispute one finding that ranked Colorado 51st among all states and D.C. in special education contribution.

Ultimately, the state had little to argue, other than that it is not the court’s place to make a determination of whether the state’s system is “thorough and uniform” — an argument that the Supreme Court had already dismissed almost two years ago:

To be successful, [plaintiffs] must prove that the state’s current public school financing system is not rationally related to the General Assembly’s constitutional mandate to provide a “thorough and uniform” system of public education. . . . If the trial court finds the current system of public finance irrational and thus unconstitutional, then that court must permit the legislature a reasonable period of time to change the funding system so as to bring the system in compliance with the Colorado Constitution.

The case is now in the hands of Judge Sheila Rappaport, who patiently listened to almost two hundred hours of testimony and will apply the facts she heard to the Court’s test.  (In about six weeks, the parties will provide her with their “Proposed Findings of Fact,” and her decision will follow.)

In pretrial rulings, the Judge Rappaport described her role and the issue before her:

In the name of the Education Clause, the General Assembly has established a comprehensive system of educational goals, methods, and measures, all of which it requires school districts to implement successfully. A system intended to finance a constitutional mandate cannot be rationally related to that purpose if it is created and funded without reference to the costs of providing the mandated services. . . .

. . . The Supreme Court held that if this Court finds the school finance system unconstitutional, it would be the task of the General Assembly to bring it into compliance. Therefore, the remedy should permit the General Assembly an “appropriate period of time” to enact a constitutional system.

And so it is that the Judge will decide the case by determining whether there is a “rational relationship” between the system of mandates and the system of funding that the General Assembly has adopted.  As plaintiffs’ attorney Kathy Gebhardt noted, the evidence demonstrated that there is, in fact, a relationship between those two systems: unfortunately, it’s not a “rational” relationship — it’s an inverse one “that ratchets up the standards, ratchets up the expectations and diminishes the resources.”

The uncontested testimony in the Lobato trial demonstrated the gaping chasm between what is demanded of our schools and the resources provided to accomplish those demands.  Indeed, with the case so clear, the legislature doesn’t need to wait for a court decision to act. That chasm is a problem that doesn’t need to be studied any more; it needs to be fixed, for the sake of Colorado’s children and its economic future.

And, as the Supreme Court made clear, it’s the legislature’s job.

Back in May, the Denver Post reported that

Supporters of an initiative that would ask voters in November to raise taxes for education are using an online, grassroots strategy to gather signatures that could revolutionize the petition process.

“It is the first time that I have seen this kind of tactic,” said veteran ballot-issue consultant Rick Reiter. “I’m watching it closely because I could learn a lot.”

On Wednesday, the Secretary of State announced that the supporters of the Bright Colorado initiative got enough signatures to qualify for the ballot — and then some.  It will appear as Proposition 103 on the ballot.

From the Post:

[Bright Colorado proponent, Senator Rollie Heath] said getting the initiative on the November ballot was another indication of the effort’s momentum. Heath needed the valid signatures of 86,105 voters, and a random sample determined he had 98,369 signatures.

“My dad always said, “Son, you’ve got to earn your spurs every day,” Heath said. “People were justified in not taking our initiative seriously, and so we had to prove there was sufficient support out there in the general public.”

Proposition 103 qualified for the ballot because of the hard work and dedication of hundreds of volunteers statewide, who who were able to find tens of thousands of petition signers who have had enough of short-sighted, irresponsible education cuts.

Time to earn the next set of spurs.  Sign up here.

It’s not just a bad idea.  It’s unconstitutional.

Learn more and sign up for updates here.