Thompson School District MLO “facts” don’t add up

by Amy Oliver | 10:49 pm, September 6, 2011

The Thompson School District in Loveland, Colorado will ask voters to give up an additional estimated $12.8 million annually for the next 12 years to fund schools. In August the school board voted unanimously to put the Mill Levy Override on the November 2011 ballot.  In a press release the board stated: The district is [...]

Ref C money: Who knows where it went

by Amy Oliver | 6:24 am, August 11, 2011

Legislative Council staff member Kate Watkins confirmed what the Independence Institute has said all along. Because money is fungible, no one really knows how the Referendum C money was spent. The Colorado News Agency reported that Watkins recently appeared before the Transportation Legislative Review Committee.  Committee member State Rep Randy Fischer (D-Fort Collins) asked Watkins what [...]

Teachers’ union fights transparency…again

by Amy Oliver | 5:12 pm, July 8, 2011

No shock that the Colorado Education Association is fighting new rules designed to bring more transparency to school district. The CEA worked hard to prevent financial transparency in K-12 education; with the passage of HB10-1036, the union ultimately lost that battle. Now, it is fighting to prevent public disclosure of teacher arrests. According to the [...]

Unimaginative recommendation for Thompson School District

by Amy Oliver | 3:35 pm, June 17, 2011

As the Thompson School District “studies” how to get more cash from taxpayers, this might be a good time to remind the Loveland school district that more money does not equate to better education as Transparency Czarina Amy Oliver Cooke wrote in a 2009 guest editorial when her school district sought a $16 million mill [...]

If it’s for the children, please explain…

by Amy Oliver | 4:33 pm, May 16, 2011

Yawn. Another press conference with State Senator Rollie Heath, chairman of the “Unimaginative Failure” (a.k.a. the Long Term Fiscal Stability Commission), promoting another tax increase for the takings coalition.
This time Heath plans to collect enough signature to put a temporary K-12 education tax increase on the ballot that would raise the state’s income tax rate [...]

If it’s for the children, please explain…

by Amy Oliver | 4:33 pm, May 16, 2011

Yawn. Another press conference with State Senator Rollie Heath, chairman of the “Unimaginative Failure” (a.k.a. the Long Term Fiscal Stability Commission), promoting another tax increase for the takings coalition. This time Heath plans to collect enough signature to put a temporary K-12 education tax increase on the ballot that would raise the state’s income tax [...]

Hickenlooper wakes up Pace: Businesses pay the bills

by Michael Sandoval | 1:38 pm, February 17, 2011

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
Colorado state Rep. Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, was rebuffed by Gov. John Hickenlooper in a way that made the Democratic governor look like a model of fiscal austerity, versus the whining entitlement sentimentality of his fellow Democratic party members. But what does Hickenlooper do if the entitlementistas in his own party don’t accept his budget plan?

A high price for access

by Amy Oliver | 2:03 pm, January 15, 2011

Denver Post political investigative reporter Chuck Plunkett asks a thousand dollar question: Is $1,050 an unreasonable amount to pay for access to public records? As a diehard proponent of open, transparent government obviously I think the cost is out of line.
In my experience with open records request, I have found that charges vary from agency [...]

“Fishy” Practices in Adams County as Superintendent Splashes Out on Hotel Upgrades, Late Fees

by Michael | 9:11 am, December 8, 2010

Cash-strapped Adams County School District–in a school year that featured salary freezes and a three percent budget reduction among other cost-cutting measures–could ill-afford to waste precious resources and yet, it appears that was the case, as CBS 4 in Denver revealed:
Adams County School District 50 squandered precious taxpayer dollars month after month by not [...]

A citizen hero

by Amy Oliver | 7:00 pm, June 17, 2010

Natalie Menten is a hero (heroine to be accurate) to COST.  Her hobby is to make government accountable to the citizens it serves. On her Web site you will find numerous databases on government employees’ salaries, government credit card spending and fees.
She recently added Jeffco School District salaries. This is important information to have when [...]

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