CO’s Prop 101 Will Hurt Every Colorado Student

Right-wing extremists in Colorado would love to see public education fully defunded so they could force families to send their money to private corporations instead. Are they truly concerned about the state of education? Of course not. Like every other policy issue, they’re much more interested in tranferring the middle class’ wealth (what remains of it) toward amoral, unaccountable entities that have more rights than people.

Heading up this year’s public-vs-private entity battle will be Proposition 101, one of three potential ballot initiatives that will show up this November 2nd. In a nutshell, Prop 101 would cut income taxes 0.1 percent a year until the rate was 3.5 percent – down from the current 4.63 percent – and reduce ownership taxes on used vehicles to $1 and to $2 for new vehicles. It would also repeal FASTER, enacted last year to begin work on billions of dollars worth of failing roads and bridges. How does that relate to education? Every school district in the state gets a share of those taxes.

The Bell Policy Center is analyzing the effects of Prop 101 on a county-by-county basis. More on that below.

Science Debate 2008 Update 6/20/08

It’s been a couple of months since I last wrote about a possible Science Debate in this election cycle. Unfortunately, no debate focusing exclusively on science policy has been scheduled between the two remaining presidential candidates.

Efforts have been underway however to push the relevance of science policy and the need for a national discussion thereof to not only presidential candidates but Congressional candidates as well. As such, 12 national science organizations have taken thousands of potential science policy questions and are working to come up with questions that will be presented to candidates: 14 for presidential candidates and 7 for Congressional candidates. The list of 7 questions has been provided and, courtesy of Scientists and Engineers for America, are presented below:

1. Innovation. Science and technology have been responsible for half of the growth of the American economy since World War II. But several recent reports question America’s continued leadership in these vital areas. What policies would you support to ensure that America remains the world leader in innovation?
2. Climate Change. The Earth’s climate is changing and there is concern about the potentially adverse effects of these changes on life on the planet. What is your position on the following measures that have been proposed to address global climate change—a cap-and-trade system, a carbon tax, increased fuel-economy standards, and research? Are there other policies you would support?
3. Energy. Many scientists and policymakers say energy security and sustainability are major problems facing the United States this century. What policies would you support to meet the demand for energy while ensuring an economically and environmentally sustainable future?
4. Education. A comparison of 15-year-olds in 30 wealthy nations found that average science scores among U.S. students ranked 17th, while average U.S. math scores ranked 24th. What role do you think the federal government should play in preparing K-12 students for the science and technology driven 21st Century?
5. Water. Thirty-nine states expect some level of water shortage over the next decade, and scientific studies suggest that a majority of our water resources are at risk. What policies would you support to meet demand for water resources?
6. Research. For many years, Congress has recognized the importance of science and engineering research to realizing our national goals. Given that the next Congress will likely face spending constraints, what priority would you give to investment in basic research in upcoming budgets?
7. Health. Americans are increasingly concerned with the cost, quality, and availability of health care. How do you see science, research, and technology contributing to improved health and quality of life?

These questions are wide-ranging and I suppose by necessity pretty general. By that, I mean there is a considerable amount of wiggle room for a potential candidate to wave their hands around instead of proposing a policy. That said, I do encourage candidates to take these questions seriously and provide thoughtful answers when asked.

Speaking of which, wouldn’t it be nice to know how your candidate has answered? You’re darn right it would be. You can use SEA’s website to send a request to candidates to address these important issues.

I will continue to provide updates regarding responses to these questions by candidates, including my own once I get them.

Miscellaneous Stories 4/14/08

Gov. Ritter’s Energy Office continue to back up Ritter’s energy campaign promise with action: statewide residential and commercial energy code training workshops across Colorado.

Training will be delivered by a nationally recognized code training organization, International Code Council (ICC), and be offered at no cost to Colorado code officials, homebuilders, developers, architects, engineers and other building industry professionals. Additionally, all attendees will receive official code books, work book resources and continuing technical assistance from ICC. [emphasis mine]

Well, Republicans can’t complain about Ritter being anti-business about this, can they?

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How much are major U.S. corporate CEO’s making? The AFL-CIO takes a look via a cool new tool.

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This tool might be even cooler than the one above: how would you spend the $3 TRILLION that the Iraq occupation will cost the U.S.? A group of progressive organizations put the $3 Trillion Shopping Spree together. You can buy wild stuff like finish repairing damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, achieve universal literacy, achieve the millenium development goals, or provide universal health care for all americans. Or you can go out and add your own products: all the Sony PS3s you can think of, wicked new cars that don’t run on gas and oil, whatever you want. Go give it a try!

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Gov. Ritter sees education as a *gasp* alternative to prison. Like everything else, Republicans want to privatize the prison industry. Hence, higher incarceration rates for minorities and excessive sentences for things like marijuana possession. What would happen if we viewed prison (or war & occupation) as a last resort instead of the first choice? As the Guv points out, money not spent on prisons is money available for education.

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Barack Obama’s campaign had 1,299,166 different people listed as donating earlier today.  They’re trying to get to 1.5 Million by May 6th.  Given their success at achieving the 1M person goal, I have no doubt they’ll succeed at this as well.

Random Pieces 3/25/08

The Denver Post issued a second editorial regarding the cut in funding for the science building at Auraria in Denver. They even correctly identify the real culprit behind Colorado’s budget woes: “Of course, the larger issue at work is the current tangle of constitutional spending restrictions that make the state budgetary process a convoluted exercise. This is another example of how worthy projects get shoved aside when revenues are projected to dip and mandated spending rules make a mockery of representational government.”

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I’m not really into college basketball. College hockey? That’s a different matter. DU, CC and Air Force all made it to the NCAA tournament. The bracket. The action moves to the Pepsi Center in Denver on April 10th and 12th for the Frozen Four.

Decent Bill Name

The best example I’ve seen thus far in the CO legislative session of naming a bill well: The B.E.S.T. (Building Excellent Schools Today) plan – House Bill 1335 (authored by Rep. Andrew Romanoff)– will address health and safety issues by providing funds to rebuild, repair or replace our most dangerous and most needy K-12 facilities. The BEST plan calls for a statewide needs assessment, an expert-guided process for the selection of schools and projects, and leveraging up to $1 billion in funds without raising taxes or fees.

Now, it’s not immediately clear from the bill’s acronym what BEST is all about, but it’s a much better title than most others I’ve seen this year.