I can’t take credit for the title.  It comes from Poudre School Board member Patrick Albright who, along with fellow Director Barbara Schwerin, had the courage to stand up against the prevailing majority that voted to use taxpayer money to fund Lobato v. Colorado, a class action lawsuit to sue taxpayers for more K-12 funding.

In an email to me, Director Albright described how he called out the school board for its hypocrisy.

The school funding system they seek to overturn is codified into law by the school finance act–this year it was HB10-1369. I asked “What did the Board due to oppose this supposedly unconstitutional legislation that you seek to overturn?” Well, here is what the Board did: We paid a lobbyist (Fofi Mendez) to lobby the legislature in favor of, among other things, passage of HB10-1369.

I asked them “Do we really want to spend taxpayer money to fund a lawsuit to overturn an act that we spent taxpayer money to lobby in favor of?”

The answer?

Yes.

Despite having eliminated 139 full-time employees and offered early retirement to another 63 in order to cover a $12 million budget shortfall, the PSD board decided to give $25,000 to the cause of suing parents and taxpayers in Colorado.

In addition to the cost, Albright cited his concern of an unelected judiciary deciding “adequate” K-12 education funding and the lawsuit’s “unspoken” purpose to further weaken the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Director Jim Hayes won’t lose any sleep over destroying the only line of defense between parents’ pocketbooks and the education lobby. Albright provided what he called the “quote of the evening.” After Albright defended TABOR, Hayes explained how the voters were duped into voting for it:

You say the public has spoken. Well, I disagree. I think the public is naive and easily swayed and the money has spoken.

Poudre School District residents can take some comfort in knowing they aren’t alone.  While crying poverty, the school bullies in Greeley Evans School District 6 voted to do the same thing with nearly $18,000 of parents’ and taxpayers’ money.

Cash-strapped Colorado school districts have ponied up nearly $245,000 in taxpayer dollars to fund a class action lawsuit to sue taxpayers for more money for K-12 education according to a recent Face the State article.

The Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) and the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) are championing the suit, Lobato v. Colorado. In January of this year a letter signed by both organizations (and linked to on Face the State) urged every school district to donate $1 per student to pay for legal expenses.

Greeley Evans School District 6, which suffered an electoral shellacking last November when it asked voters for an enormous mill levy override, acquiesced and gave $17,856 to the cause of demanding more from taxpayers.

The letter also reveals the true intent of the lawsuit: to get rid of the popular Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).  Talking points that accompanied the letter stated:

…this lawsuit is a powerful lever to move forward fixing the constitutional restrictions that prevent Colorado from adequately funding its public schools. This will be the catalyst for funding reform that has been needed for years.

“Constitutional restrictions” is a code phrase for TABOR.  What the education/industrial complex and those who make their living off it find most annoying is having to ask taxpayers for more money. They would rather just lobby the legislature, where they enjoy a lot of influence, to raise taxes.

Learn more on Monday, when Brad Jones, managing editor of Face the State joins me at 9:30 am on the Amy Oliver Show on News Talk 1310 KFKA.

The article below is from my friend Nancy Rumfelt who witnessed the assault on the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.  There is a feeling that this is the progressive left’s last hurrah so their coalition is trying to ram through the legislature as much as possible and HCR 10-1002 is no exception.

HCR10-1002 is Educational Trojan Horse for TABOR

Today at the Capital was a hearing on house bill HCR10-1002 which if passed will ask voters in November to decide if TABOR should be thrown under the school bus so the legislature can be given all power, responsibility and authority to raise revenue (taxes) to fund education without any further voter approval.

If voters pass in November, the bill will allow the legislature to raise revenue for education that will not be subject to voter approval, any spending limits and can be used for anything labeled education. There are no safeguards in the bill that will prevent any future legislature from going on a spending spree and saying: “oops no money left for the children – guess we will have to raise taxes to buy the lil urchins some school books”. This makes as much sense as when President Obama said we have to spend more to reduce our debt!

I listened to three hours of testimony at the Capital today most of which was in support of this bill and the supporters truly believe that government is here to help and that education will NEVER have cuts again. I am a person who does try to understand differing positions but today even after 3 hours of listening to “their side” I could not find logic to support their beliefs.

There was much talk of needing to invest in education but no one could define invest in what or invest how much, we just need to invest lots of money and passing this measure means education will never do without ever again. I would like to applaud Rep. Frank McNulty who tried several times to get someone, anyone to explain, what is an adequate level of funding for education but no one could answer. When Rep. McNulty pointed out that legislators are expected to know what is adequate you could almost hear everyone’s thoughts of: “well duh you are the all knowing all powerful legislator Gods that takes care of us”.

As a Mom of two beautiful teenage girls, I understand parents wanting the best for their kid’s education but what I don’t understand is bankrupting their kid’s future. The desire to fund education and to never have to worry about money again blinds them all to the true nature of this bill which is to annihilate TABOR. It is naïve to believe that government will not mismanage general funds and then use education as a justification for raising taxes to back fill the deficit created. Supporters of this measure lament that Colorado has one of the strictest revenue limits in the country without understanding that TABOR is what has stopped the state from becoming the next California, New York, New Jersey and so one.

All one has to do is look to Amendment 23, Ref C, Mill Levy Freeze, Vehicle Tax and know that it is never a good idea to give the government a blank check without requiring the taxpayers to be a co-signer on the account! The government whether state or federal is like the space creature from the classic movie The Blob – whatever it consumes it destroys and the more it consumes the larger it becomes until nothing is left.

Where is Steve McQueen when you need him?

Nancy Rumfelt

Co-Founder Loveland 912 Project & Accidental Activist

The resolution passed out of the House Education Committee along a party line vote.  It faces a tougher vote in the full House where it needs two-thirds support to pass.

If you are wondering how much this will cost Colorado families, that’s a good question.  No one knows because no one knows how much the legislature would raise taxes. The fiscal note reads “unknown increase.”   Make no mistake, this would mean a lot more money from taxpayers’ pockets.  And it  would give the Colorado Education Association, the teachers union, enormous power to raise taxes for members’ benefit.  A recent Denver Post editorial warned of the union’s power to persuade.

The teachers union has far more influence with lawmakers, many of whom depend upon the CEA’s support and manpower during election season.

HCR10-1002 is not for the children, it’s for the school bullies who profit at the expense of our children.  Like Nancy Rumfelt, I’m a mom who is sick of my children being exploited as cash cows for K-12.

The Joint Budget Committee, which is responsible for drafting the infamous “long bill” or appropriations bill, has a new member.  The Denver Post reports that staunch TABOR supporter and principled fiscal conservative Kent Lambert, representative from Colorado Springs, replaces TABOR critic Don Marostica.  

The Colorado Union of Taxpayers awarded Lambert a 100 percent rating for the 2009 legislative session, making him the highest rated Colorado House member and a great friend to taxpayers.  In comparison, Marostica consistently has been one of the lowest scoring Republicans in the House.

Two things about House Minority Leader Mike May’s pick:  First, Northern Colorado will no longer have an elected official on the JBC for the first time in a long time.  Both Senator Steve Johnson and Representative Dale Hall  preceeded Marostica on the JBC.  Second, the JBC’s long standing tradition of consensus on the long bill is in jeopardy.  My guess is that Representative Lambert won’t tow the JBC line just because it’s tradition to do so.

The JBC may be fun to watch this year!

The person selected to replace Don Marostica in HD 51 says he will defend the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.  Marostica has been  openly hostile to TABOR, the popular constitutional limit on the growth of government.

With Marostica serving as Governor Ritter’s new economic development director, the vacancy committee selected political newcomer and Domino’s Pizza chain owner Brian DelGrosso to replace him.

According the Loveland Reporter Herald, the 37-year-old DelGrosso beat four other candidates including Tom Buchanan, Kevan McNaught, Kari Koppes, and Jeanni Barnthouse.  He ran on a platform of defending TABOR and the “elimination of fees on businesses.”  DelGrosso intends to run for re-election in 2010.

I’ve never met him, but his support of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights indicates the district will be better served.