School spending measures lose

Voters turn down 65% requirements for the classroom

Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 8, 2006 at midnight

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Voters soundly defeated Amendment 39, which would have required school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their budgets on classroom instruction.

Rejected by a similarly wide margin was Referendum J. It would also have required schools to spend 65 percent of their revenue on education, but defined expenditures differently than Amendment 39.

Referendum J would have altered state law, while Amendment 39 would have changed the state Constitution.

Bruce Caughey of the Colorado Association of School Executives said the proposal failed because the educators were united against it. About 100 school boards passed resolutions opposing it.

"That message became very clear to voters in the end," Caughey said. "The more they knew about this, the more they knew it was a bad idea."

Rep. Michael Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, the House sponsor of Referendum J, said, "I'm not disappointed" Referendum J went down.

Merrifield said he was "thrilled" Amendment 39 failed.

"It would have been a terrible thing for Colorado, a terrible thing for kids, a terrible thing for education," he said.

Amendment 39 was proposed by First Class Education Colorado. It is affiliated with the Washington, D.C.-based group, First Class Education, which has brought similar proposals in 18 other states.

Amendment 39 backers said the measure would shift resources out of administrative overhead and into classrooms. They predicted teacher salaries and test scores would rise.

"I'm glad that the debate talked about the administration expenses in our education establishment," said Rep. Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, a leader of First Class Education Colorado.

"Hopefully now people will look at the administration and the administrative side of the budget a little more closely. Whenever you have accountability and examination by people, that's always a good thing . . . We all need to look at how our money is spent."

Stengel said it's too soon to say whether he'll offer the idea again.

The proposal drew support from Gov. Bill Owens and Lt. Gov. Jane Norton. Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez backed the amendment.

Opposition came from groups that represent teachers, school boards and school administrators. They were joined by leading Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter.

Opponents feared school districts would have to cut professionals who deliver services outside the classroom, including counselors, nurses, psychologists and social workers. They work with the most troubled students.

Deborah Fallin, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Education Association, said, "We're pleased voters saw through this ruse and recognized this was an accounting gimmick that wouldn't help kids or schools."

Under Amendment 39, instruction included "activities dealing directly with interaction between students and teachers, or other classroom instructional personnel, special education instruction, tutors, books, classroom computers, general instruction supplies, instructional aid, libraries and librarians, and class activities such as field trips, athletics, arts, music and multidisciplinary learning."

Only 12 districts spent 65 percent of their budgets on those activities in the 2004-05 school year, according to an analysis by the Colorado Department of Education.

Referendum J was placed on the ballot by the legislature. It was sponsored by Democratic leaders of the legislative education committees in an effort to head off Amendment 39.

It required school districts to spend 65 percent of their revenue on "services that directly affect student achievement." That included counselors, nurses, psychologists and social workers, excluded under Amendment 39. It also included principals, assistant principals, bus drivers and lunchroom workers.

All but three districts would have met the spending standards set by Referendum J.

Groups opposing Amendment 39 also opposed Referendum J as an intrusion on control of schools by the state's 178 boards of education. Even legislators who backed Referendum J in the legislature have not campaigned for it.

Stengel argued during the campaign that schools have moved away from their core function of educating students and are now top-heavy with administrators. He said money that goes to administrators could go to teachers.

"I voted against both," said Elizabeth Haymes, 53, a registered Republican who voted at Corona Presbyterian Church in Denver. "I think the school districts are so diverse in Colorado that it might be to limiting to lock them into 65 percent." Haymes is a retail merchandiser who moved to Colorado a year ago from North Carolina.

"I voted no on both," said Adam Russell, 31, a registered Democrat and registered nurse who also voted at Corona Presbyterian Church in Denver. "I have a friend who is an assistant principal in Denver who recommended I go that way."

Linda Mitchell, 39, voted yes on both Amendment 39 and Referendum J, saying she was tired of seeing teachers have to send home lists of supplies kids need for class. "Instead of (spending the money) on all the guys in the corporate offices, I want to see it go to the kids," she said after casting her ballot at Mapleton School District administration building near Thornton.

Amendment 39 is similar to measures offered in 18 other states, according to a survey by the Bell Policy Center in Denver.

Legislatures in Georgia and Kansas adopted 65-percent measures, while Texas adopted the proposal by executive order.

Legislatures rejected the proposal in Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Proposals failed to make the ballot this year in Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington.

Amendment 39

Would have required school districts to spend 65 percent of their budgets on classroom instruction

• Winners: The amendment drew opposition from groups that represent teachers, school board members and administrators. They formed Coloradans for Excellent Schools. Main contributors were the Colorado Association of School Executives, $46,000; the National Education Association, $642,000; the Colorado Federation of Teachers, $80,000; and the Colorado Association of School Boards, $5,000.

• Losers: First Class Education Colorado, the group that placed Amendment 39 on the ballot, filed campaign disclosure statements with the Colorado secretary of state that contained only zeros. Leaders of the group argued that all finances were handled by an out-of-state parent group, called First Class Education, based in Washington, D.C.; the national group also filed forms that showed only zeros.

morsonb@RockyMountainNews.com or 303 954-5209

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