Lawmakers unveil classroom-support plan

Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 18, 2005 at midnight

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Colorado voters could be asked next year to mandate that 65 cents of each education dollar go to the classroom or athletics, leaving 35 cents for everything else.

Republican lawmakers outlined their plan Tuesday for the ballot measure, saying it is the best way to boost school achievement without raising taxes. They said it would redirect $400 million statewide back to the classroom.

Under the plan, football coaches would be considered "in classroom," but counselors wouldn't.

Currently, Colorado schools spend about 58 percent of their School Finance Act dollars on direct classroom costs, ranking 47th highest in the nation for such spending, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

House Minority Leader Joe Stengel, R-Littleton, said the state can do better.

"We want taxpayers to know how little of their education dollars go to the classroom," he said at a state Capitol news conference. "When they find that out, they're going to be very unhappy."

A Democratic lawmaker said the GOP plan is "disingenuous," deceptive and a political ploy.

"Low-income school districts have to provide additional services outside the classroom to ensure academic success," said Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver. "There are counselors, mental health professionals, nutritionists, tutors."

The plan to categorize coaches as "in classroom," but not counselors, "is so far out of the loop, I don't know what to say," Carroll said.

Several states are considering the so-called 65 Percent Solution, championed by Internet millionaire Patrick Byrne, founder of Overstock.com. Just seven of Colorado's 178 school districts reach or exceed the 65 percent mark. Cherry Creek school district is just below it at 64 percent, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

But Cherry Creek spokeswoman Tustin Amole argued that "Every dollar school districts spend supports the classroom.

"Without maintenance, there's no heat and lights for classrooms," she said. "Without transportation, students must find their own way to school. . . . Without food services, many children would go without the only hot meal they get all day."

Rep. Debbie Stafford, R-Aurora, said that transferring money from administration could enable smaller class sizes, one of the keys to success in the early grades.

And Stengel said the transfer could allow districts to pay teachers more.

He wants "in classroom" to include athletics, the arts and electives because those programs keep a lot of kids in school who otherwise might drop out. Counselors would be considered "out of classroom" along with janitors, bus drivers and security personnel.

Teachers are the key, because they already act as everything from marriage counselors to academic guides, he said. If their pay or ranks are boosted, achievement will improve, and many of the ancillary support programs will be less important, he said.

Backers will spend the next several months collecting 68,000 signatures to get the measure on the November 2006 ballot.

The measure would require school districts to boost the money that goes to direct classroom instruction by 2 percentage points a year until it reaches 65 percent. If not, the governor could impose sanctions, including a loss of state funds.

Denver Public Schools spends a lot of money on after-school programs and other out-of-classroom experiences that help "each student become as effective a learner as he or she can," spokesman Mark Stevens said. DPS values the parents' right to choose a school for the students, but "choice is a function of access," so money must be spent on transportation, he added.

In Aurora Public Schools, 75 cents of each dollar goes directly to classrooms, but that figure includes office staff and counseling as well as textbooks, computers and teachers, spokeswoman Georgia Duran said.

Carroll said that when Democrats were in the minority, they "constantly fought" for more money for schools and classrooms, but were rebuffed by the GOP.

The Colorado Education Association, the union of teachers, views the proposal as more political than educational, spokeswoman Deb Fallin said.

"What is valuable for kids is a lot bigger than what Rep. Stengel is proposing," Fallin said. "It includes counselors, school nurses, teacher training and curricular development.

"School counselors are very key to student achievement and success and to reducing the dropout level."

How they stack up

Percentage of school districts' dollars spent in the classroom

More than 25,000 students:

• Cherry Creek 64%

• Boulder Valley 64%

• Aurora 60%

• Northglenn/Thornton 60%

• Douglas County 58%

• Denver 54%

• Jefferson County 51%

• El Paso 51%

Highest ratios:

• Aspen 69%

• Branson (Las Animas) 66%

• Cripple Creek 66%

• Granada 65%

• Gilcrest 65%

• Greeley 65%

• Estes Park 65%

Lowest ratios:

• Rangely 41%

• Vilas (Baca) 45%

• Centennial (Costilla) 46%

• Hinsdale 46%

• Sierra Vista 47%

• West End (Montrose) 47%

• Silverton 47%

• Campo (Baca) 49%

• Parachute 49%

• Plainview (Kiowa) 49%