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  • HB 1072: Empowering Union Leaders, Not Workers0

    • January 24, 2007

    House Bill 07-1072 threatens to unsettle the balance of power between employers and unions established by the 1943 Colorado Labor Peace Act. The Act requires a majority vote of secret ballots cast to approve union representation. But the bill would eliminate a second election in which employees decide whether to force dissenting co-workers to pay union dues or agency fees. Under HB 1072, workers could only reject a coercive all-union agreement by also rejecting the entire negotiated union contract. Because it limits choices both for union members and for non-union member workers, the bill is at odds with basic fairness.

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  • Controversial Issues: They Belong in the Classroom0

    • April 8, 2006

    The recent national attention given to a classroom recording of Colorado teacher Jay Bennish reinforces the need for school districts to implement a controversial issues curriculum. Controversial issues are not to be avoided but to be embraced, if done properly. To ensure objectivity and balance, the author proposes teachers engage students with a seven-step analytical process known as Issues Analysis. The author further advises that schools use an “opt-in” communication to persuade parents of the importance of student participation in the Issues Analysis process.

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  • Counting the Cash for K-12: The Facts about Per-Pupil Spending in Colorado0

    • March 5, 2006

    Selected statistics often are cited to argue for more funding increases to Colorado’s K-12 public schools. Yet evidence from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and other reliable sources adds needed clarity to the discussion. Most notable is the lack of a relationship between total spending and academic outcome, as witnessed by the following facts:

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  • Nullifying the Probationary Period: Extra Job Protection for Many New Jeffco Teachers Takes Priority over Kids0

    • September 27, 2005

    The three-year probationary period for teachers is enshrined in Colorado Revised Statutes and serves to make sure teachers who are unable to fulfill professional qualifications can be removed before they receive their tenure rights. However, Colorado’s largest school district—Jefferson County R-1 (Jeffco)—has a negotiated policy that nullifies the purpose of the probationary period:

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  • Adams 12 School District Increases Subsidy0

    • March 1, 2005

    While renegotiating its collective bargaining agreement in 2004, Northglenn-Thornton School District No. 12 (Adams 12) agreed to allow more paid leave days to teachers’ union representatives and more extended leave to union officers. Adams 12 thus increased the taxpayer subsidy to the union by nearly 17 percent in one year. Many other Colorado school districts that already subsidize union activities through paid release time are bargaining their open agreements in 2005. Both local district policy makers and state legislators should work to prevent any diversion of taxpayer funds to the union’s private purposes.

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  • Opportunity for Conflict of Interest on Colorado School Boards0

    • June 6, 2004

    As of 2004, among Colorado’s 38 largest school districts, four district employees serve on the local board of education. Adams County 14, Harrison 2, Fort Morgan RE-3, and Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 each have one school board member who is also employed by the district.

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