Monday, October 9, 2006

Amendment 39 and Referendum J The Denver Post editorial staff is urging voters to reject Amendment 39. From the opinion piece, "We were tempted to support Amendment 39 because we think school districts can and should do a better job of pushing more resources into classrooms. Plus, there's no specific penalty if school districts don't comply with the 65 percent threshold, and it could open up school district budgets to more public scrutiny. Even top school leaders admit there's not enough transparency in their budgets. However, we don't believe the Colorado Constitution is the proper place for a state-mandated school funding formula that may or may not produce better-educated students and higher test scores." The Post is OK with Referendum J, "Voters also will see a Referendum J on their ballots, which calls for schools to spend 65 percent of their operating budget on classroom instruction but includes principals, support staff (counselors, nurses, bus drivers, food service workers), teacher training, college placement services and medical services as part of the definition. With that prescription, all school districts will meet the mandate and nothing will change." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 7:02:20 AM

Gubernatorial campaign managers profile The Denver Post is running profiles of John Marshall (Bob Beauprez's campaign manager) and Greg Kolomitz (Bill Ritter's campaign manager). Category: Denver November 2006 Election 7:00:00 AM

Amendment 38 The Rocky Mountain News editorial staff is urging voters to reject Amendment 38. From the article, "We first came out against Amendment 38, the Petition Rights Amendment, shortly after it made the ballot last December. Further reflection has not caused us to change our minds. The amendment has some good points, but it's a very dense document and tries to cram in too many extraneous, even wrong-headed, elements. Yes, we still believe in the initiative process as a vital citizen right (even if we are increasingly convinced that it should be harder to pass a constitutional amendment than a statute). But we see no reason to make it much easier to get issues on the ballot." Category: Denver November 2006 Election 6:53:05 AM

© Copyright 2006 John Orr. Last update: 11/1/06; 7:46:07 AM.