Wickerdale Walkers meeting

The date had changed for the below post, from the 22nd to the 19th, as there will be a school board meeting on the 22nd. All other information is the same.

Thanks,

dd

Wickrdale Walkers Meeting Feb. 19th @ Dewey's

Friday February 19th 7pm the Wickerdale Walkers are meeting at Dewey’s in Highlands Ranch @ 52 West Springer Drive Highlands Ranch, CO 80126 Dewey's #720.348.0101. We will have guest speakers including Douglas County School board member Cliff Stahl as well as other who I will announce as so as they confirm. Appetizers are being graciously provided by the Douglas County Federation. This will be ...a very worthwhile event and will no doubt provide a lot of information that cannot be attained in the more formal settings. It is also designed to be interactive, mingling is greatly encouraged, get to know each other and the speakers in a relaxed friendly atmosphere. Please let us know if you would like to attend. Email, "wickerdalewalkers@yahoo.com"

Where to cut?

What opinions are out there as to where cuts should be focused? If you are a parent are you willing to pay for transportation? I am!!!!

Budget cuts

Does anyone know how much the state is actually cutting from education (state wide)?

"Crayons 4 Education"

As promised below is a sample letter for use in the "Crayons 4 Education" campaign.

Mail with your Red Crayon to:

Governor Bill Ritter and Joint Budget Committee Members
136 State Capitol
Denver, CO. 80203-1792


Dear Governor Bill Ritter and Budget Committee members,

You are in receipt of 1 red crayon; courtesy of "Crayons 4 Education".
Please take note it is red; this is to symbolize the debt in which the state is passing onto our children. The cuts purposed in regards to education this fiscal year and next are completely out of line. The Crayon itself symbolizes Education. We must ensure that this generation is better equipped to meet the challenges of the wider world that they live in. We cannot accomplish this by crippling education year after year. We are demanding that this body review the purposed cuts and find alternate methods of funding. Our wish is that you look at the Colorado State Lotto, which currently provides money for Colorado States Parks and helps farmers on the Western slope from selling their land to developers. We appreciate the nice parks but in time of recession and extreme cut backs we are asking you what is necessary?...The luxury of parks or The education in the lives of our Children NOW! If you would like to be better educated about our plan for redirection of the Colorado State Lotto funds please visit the following web site:

wickerdalewalkers.blogspot.com

The education of children is serious business and we can ill afford to jeopardize their (and our own future) with a culture of cuts and fiscal irresponsibility!

Sincerely,

"Wickerdale Walkers"
A group of concerned parents....
See us on Facebook as Wickerdale Walkers
wickerdalewalkers@yahoo.com
Call 303-906-2269 for Brad Wann
Call 602-363-6368 for David DiCarlo

Douglas County Survey

Make sure your opinions are counted take the Community Survey on Douglas County Schools. Your feelings need to be known!

Be Heard!!!! Douglas County School Board Meeting

On Tuesday January 19th there will be a Douglas County School Board Meeting. This meeting is a far more relaxed forum than traditional school board meetings. Interaction between the board and community is not only encouraged but expected. This is your chance to have your voicxe make a difference. I will be presenting on behalf of the Wickerdale Walkers and would love feedback prior to the 19th for incorporation into my thoughts. Please feel free to give us your thoughts.

The Colorado Lotto

Does anyone out there know where the Colorado State Lottery profits are spent? (Yes this is a rhetorical queston, but please feel free to answer lol).

School Funding Crisis

School funding is as nebulous as it is boring, with that said, it is one of the most important topics facing our community. As a group we are seeking to fix this issue. The way we want to achieve this is to build broad nonpartisan support for agendas and actions. There are six groups that are involved in this ordeal, parents, community members, teachers, teachers unions, school boards and lastly the children. The children have the most riding on this issue and yet have next to no voice. The five other groups need to get past political rhetoric and opinion and realize that we are all here for these kids. The problem is not the teachers or the school board it is the financial mess the state of Colorado has created. The state has greatly over spent and the shortages will be coming out of K-12 education. It is our job to stop pointing at one another and galvanize as one, pointing the combined finger at the state. The message is that the luxury of over spending and moving the zero line in the checkbook forever lower is at an end. There is a constitutional obligation to fund education, the state will already be passing along huge debts to our children the least we can do is make sure they are properly educated and prepared for the challenges that the mess they inherit will require. A bond or Mill Levy is a temporary solution, we do need to raise this capital, but also need to focus on real, tangible and long term solutions. Schools should have to go with hat in hand and on knees begging for the money they need to carry out not only daily operations such as meeting pay role, but to comply with the multitude of state and federal mandates whose yoke they endure. A mandate means that the school districts must comply, but often that ordered compliance comes with no funding. Federal one size fits all programs erode the ability of the school districts to be creative and personalized in their approach to meeting challenges. Our children and the people we rely on to educated them deserve better. It is up to us to make it happen.
Our group has gone to state legislatures to ask for a referred measure (this is legislation that the representatives introduce on behalf of the people) that would redirect lotto profits from land investment to our schools. The proposal we made was for a trigger to the current formula. When unemployment reaches 5% the trigger activates and diverts funds from lotto to education for a period of not less than 24 months. This measure would keep secure the current funding and would be additional money. The idea is that when unemployment surpasses 5% property values begin to dwindle, in turn decreasing the amount of taxes collected. When tax revenue falls a Mill Levy becomes necessary to cover the gaps in the general fund (the coffers that pay for teachers). The Mill Levy is usually accompanied by a bond, which in turn hurts the general fund more. How is this you ask? It is simple; let’s take an average yearly property tax assessment of $3000of this amount 50% goes towards education ($1500) of that amount 20% is paying off the old bonds. Bonds do not benefit the general fund; they are used for capital purchases, buses and buildings, etc. But they are paid for out of the general fund, thus decreasing that money by $300. These are current figures from my own tax bill. Remember the $300 is paying old bonds instead of going to work in the classroom. Now I may be wrong, but it seems to me that if government is going to issue mandates, it had best to find a way to pay for them. Citizens and school districts do not have the luxury of a bottomless checkbook, teachers expect and deserve to be compensated and mortgage companies are not interested in IOUs. The power to change this is ours, but we must flex combined muscle and tell the state that we foreclose on them. If they cannot properly manage the money they collect then we won’t send it. I fully realize that this is strong and possible arrogant language, but this is a strong and offensive problem that we as combined groups have chose to ignore. The finger has been pointed at one another and as we slave away on Animal Farm covering the states short comings with more bonds and as levies the storm gathered on the horizon. To sit and do what you have always done, will get you what you have always gotten. This time around it may be even less.