Colorado Education Legislation

*11/15/11 Durango Herald:Colorado among 1st states to seek an education waiver Plan still would measure schools for `adequate growth' By KRISTEN WYATT Associated Press
DENVER + Colorado is among the first states asking for federal permission to overhaul how it measures student achievement under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Education Commissioner Robert Hammond said the waiver application was sent Monday. Colorado argued that its state accountability system meets many of the federal requirements instead of having both a state and federal system to rate schools and districts.
"At the centerpiece is that all kids are college- and career-ready by the time they exit," Hammond said in a meeting Monday with other state school chiefs in Washington, D.C. Colorado's plan would still measure schools for "adequate growth," and students would keep the option to transfer out of struggling schools. Colorado's application lands it among the first states to apply for flexibility after Education Secretary Arne Duncan and President Barack Obama announced in September that they would let states get around unpopular parts of the federal law in exchange for better ways to measure student performance.
Applications for waivers submitted by Colorado and other states will be reviewed in December, and the Education Department is expected to announce which waivers will be granted early next year. Nearly 40 states have said they plan to apply for a waiver between now and February...
Click Colorado Department of Education waiver details to read more about the waiver details.

*11/11/11 Durango Herald:Wanted: CSAP replacement for Colo. schools Two multistate groups present options to State Board of Education By Joe Hanel Herald Staff Writer
DENVER + The standardized tests that every public school student in Colorado takes are in for a big change. The state Board of Education heard sales pitches Thursday from two groups that want to design a replacement for the Colorado Student Assessment Program, the standardized tests that a generation of Colorado schoolchildren has taken.
Two multistate groups are competing to offer the new Colorado exams starting in 2015, as part of a national overhaul of standardized tests. "We want to create high-quality assessments. It certainly means getting away from just the fill-in-the-bubble tests that we've been using," said Mike Cohen, a representative of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a group of 24 mostly Southern states.
A group of mainly Northern and Western states called the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium also made a pitch to the state Board of Education on Thursday. The new tests, ideally, will be given on computers, allowing questions that can't be given in a pencil-on-paper format, Cohen said. Unlike the CSAP, which focused on school-wide scores, the new exam results are supposed to predict how well individual students are prepared for future years of school. Scores will tell parents whether their kids are on track to meet high school graduation standards, Cohen said.
CSAP critics say the high-stakes tests created a school culture that sucked the joy and creativity out of learning while teachers would "teach to the test."...

*10/16/11 Durango Herald:"Bennet, Udall champion education reform"<+http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20111016/NEWS01/710169912/Bennet-Udall-champion-education-reform Senators introduce, co-sponsor Growth to Excellence Act By Rocío González Herald Staff Writer
WASHINGTON + A bipartisan bill to reform No Child Left Behind was introduced to the Senate last week, with several provisions introduced by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. Some of Bennet's proposals included in the bill are provisions that would "ensure that states can authorize teacher and principal training programs in exchange for setting up performance agreements regarding teacher effectiveness," according to the senator's office. Some of these provisions are similar to the changes in teacher-preparation programs that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Bennet announced last month.
In addition, other proposals from Bennet included in the bill would allow school districts to extend the length of the school day and would facilitate research about education issues for the Department of Education.
The bill is an effort from Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., to improve the school system while reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This act was last reauthorized by Congress as No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, in 2002. Bennet was a member of the negotiations for the new bill...

*6/22/11 Durango Herald:School district OKs budget Mill-levy increase helped avoid big cuts
Despite declining enrollment numbers and an almost $2 million reduction in funding from the state, the Durango School District 9-R School Board approved a budget Tuesday night that was far from the bare bones budgets most districts are facing right now.
In the $39 million budget, total cuts equalled about $300,000, and the district also will increase spending on teaching positions and salaries, technology and new programs in the schools, said Laine Gibson, the district's chief financial officer. It's all because of the $3.2 million property-tax increase voters approved in November, Gibson said. "Where other districts are making cuts, we didn't have to," he said...

2010-2011 Census Results

*8/1/11 Durango Herald:Colorado's poorest die younger By Erika Gonzalez Colorado Public News
For residents of COlorado's poorest counties, longevity nis in short supply. The state's lowest life expectancies often occur in the counties with the highest poverty rates, according to a recent study by the University of Washington and U.S. Cendsus data.
The disparity doesn't surprise health-care advocates serving low-income communities, where finances often influence health-care decisions...

*7/1/11 Durango Herald:Census report details housing, economic crash in county By Joe Hanel Herald Staff Writer
Anyone who runs a business or works for one knows 2009 was a very rough year. Census numbers released Thursday show just how rough it was: La Plata County workers lost more than $66 million in paychecks from 2008 to 2009, nearly a tenth of the county's private-sector payroll.
The county had 98 fewer businesses in 2009 than in 2008. The data shows the deep effects of the housing crash. Construction companies of all sizes accounted for about half of La Plata County's business losses and the loss of 513 jobs.
The biggest drop in income came in the real estate sector, where the county's annual payroll fell from 2008's level of $24 million to less than $13 million a year later...
Tough times:
Annual payroll
La Plata 2008 + $736,836,000 2009 + $670,477,000
Archuleta 2008 + $74,911,000 2009 + $66,566,000
San Juan 2008 + $6,689,000 2009 + $5,970,000
Montezuma 2008 + $199,978,000 2009 + $192,231,000
Dolores 2008 + $5,596,000 2009 + $5,063,000
Does not include most government and farm employees or self-employed people.
Number of businesses
La Plata 2008 + 2,472 2009 + 2,374
Archuleta 2008 + 547 2009 + 508
San Juan 2008 + 69 2009 + 69
Montezuma 2008 + 827 2009 + 784
Dolores 2008 + 52 2009 + 44
Source: U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2009

*7/1/11 Durango Herald:Census Bureau finds 300 same-sex couples in area Group: La Plata County 4th in state for proportion of families headed by same-sex partners By Joe Hanel Herald Staff Writer
When census forms arrived in early 2010, Laura Latimer eagerly filled it out and noted that she shares a household with her wife, Ellen Paul. They married in California, but the state of Colorado does not recognize the union. The Census Bureau, however, wanted to know about it. "It was really nice to be able to acknowledge my relationship in that way," said Latimer, a Durango resident.
Latimer and Paul were among the 300 couples in the Four Corners counties of La Plata, Montezuma, Archuleta, San Juan and Dolores who told the Census Bureau they are living with a same-sex partner, according to numbers released Thursday. A think tank that tracks same-sex census numbers placed La Plata County fourth in the state for the proportion of families headed by a same-sex couple. It's possible that the true number is higher, said Greg Weiss, chairman of the Four Corners Gay and Lesbian Alliance for Diversity...

*2/27/11 Durango Herald:Colorado's boomer population surges 65-and-older group growing fast By Catherine Tsai Associated Press
DENVER + Colorado isn't just gaining more people. It's gaining more people older than 65, and that could present challenges and opportunities for Colorado businesses.
From 2000 to 2010, Colorado grew an average 1.7 percent per year and now has about 5.03 million residents, according to new census figures. The number of Coloradans ages 55 to 64 grew by an annual average of 6.1 percent in that time, and now there are about 619,000 of them, state demographer Elizabeth Garner said last week.
By 2030, she predicts, there will be 1.35 million Coloradans older than 65, which would be about 1 million more than in 1990. While close to one in every eight Coloradans is 65 or older today, she projects that will start approaching one in five by 2040...

*2/24/11 Durango Herald:La Plata County population up 17% from 2000-2010 By Joe Hanel Herald Staff Writer
La Plata County followed a similar pattern, as did the state as a whole, according to U.S. Census numbers released Wednesday. The city, county and state are more diverse.
Durango's Hispanic population grew by 44 percent since the last Census in 2000. That's double the rate of the town's overall population growth.
and 300 more American Indians moved into Durango, an increase of nearly 40 percent...

*2/3/11 Population Reference Bureau: 2010 U.S. Census Data Machine Springs Into Action by Mark Mather
On Feb. 3, 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau released the first detailed demographic data for states and local areas from the 2010 Census. Racial and ethnic characteristics of the total and voting-age populations were released for geographic areas down to the city block level.
Four states were included in this initial release: Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia; data for the remaining states will be released in the coming weeks. State governments use these data to draw new congressional and state legislative district boundaries. But others will use the information to track key demographic trends during the past decade. An interactive map of the data from these four states is now available.

La Plata County Actions

*6/27/11 Durango Herald opinion:Regional Housing Alliance makes homeownership real
It is a great time to buy a home in La Plata County, and the Regional Housing Alliance of La Plata County can be an important partner throughout the process.
Condos and homes are now affordable for many of us who thought we could never own a home. If you have ever wondered whether you could afford to buy and have one hour to spare, United Way of Southwest Colorado encourages you to visit with the amazing staff at the Regional Housing Alliance to learn how the process can work for you and your family...

*7/17/11 Durango Herald opinion:District 9-R's interim leadership Signal stability by naming superintendent

*7/15/11 Durango Herald: Southwest Colorado chapter forming youth club
The American Red Cross has been saving lives for more than 148 years. In peace, in war, when disaster strikes, the Red Cross has always been there.
Throughout its history, volunteers have played an essential role in fulfilling its mission to help people prevent, prepare for and respond to disasters and other life-threatening emergencies. Today's American Red Cross strategic plan calls for encouraging a new generation of volunteers and supporters to participate, including youths. Through Red Cross volunteer work, youths can experience the joy of giving and improving and saving lives.
Youths ages 8-18 interested in joining the Southwest Colorado Red Cross Youth Club are invited to an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Southwest Colorado chapter office, 1911 Main Ave,, Suite 282. Potential youth volunteers will need to bring a parent or legal guardian with them and plan on spending about an hour at the office. For more information, call Cindi Shank at 259-5383 or email cindi@swcoloradoredcross.org>

*5/29/11 Durango Herald:Durango's schools get $200,000 donation Katz foundation to help district with key educational projects By Emery Cowan Herald Staff Writer
In a time of unprecedented cuts to K-12 education, Durango School District 9-R announced that it would be adding money to its coffers for a change with a $200,000 donation from the Marc and Jane Katz Family Fund. The district will receive $175,000, and the Durango Foundation for Educational Excellence will receive $25,000.
The money will allow the district to expand or speed up several projects, including concurrent enrollment and a school-based health center at Florida Mesa Elementary School, said district Superintendent Keith Owen...

*5/29/11 Durango Herald:"State near bottom in school funding"<+http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20110529/NEWS01/705299889/State-near-bottom-in-school-funding Data shows Colorado ranks 40th in U.S. By Joe Hanel Herald Staff Writer
DENVER + Colorado continues to rank well below the national average on public school funding, a new report from the Census Bureau shows.
The state ranked 40th in per-student spending, at $8,718 per pupil in 2008-09. The national average was $10,499 per student, and the highest state, New York, spent nearly $10,000 more per student than Colorado.
"The funding per pupil in Colorado is abysmal by any measure," said Bruce Caughey, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives. "We are funding our schools much lower than the national average."...

*5/20/11 Durango Herald:Region's nuclear family in decline Census shows the changing face of demographics in Southwest Colo. By Joe Hanel Herald Staff Writer
The numbers reveal striking changes in the way local family life has changed in the last decade. The archetypal family + married parents with children living in a house they own + now accounts for a much lower share of the population, especially in rural areas. Instead, more people rent. More live in multigenerational families. More live alone. And there are fewer children around, especially in the rural areas of Southwest Colorado.
In fact, the median age increased by nearly five years in Montezuma County and by 7.6 years in Archuleta County, and the population older than 65 increased by more than 20 percent in La Plata and Montezuma counties.
Durango, on the other hand, seems to be getting more middle-aged. The city saw drops in both its child and senior citizen populations, and its drop in the nuclear family population was lower than most other towns and counties in the region...

*3/25/11 Durango Herald: County comp plan enters final phase This is the community vision going forward, Commissioner Hotter said By Heather Scofield Herald Staff Writer
Keeping rural and urban areas separate is among the highlights of a visionary document that La Plata County will consider finalizing this summer, county officials said this week.
In a joint meeting with planning commissioners Thursday evening, Hotter and her fellow board members were updated on the progress of the county's comprehensive plan, which has been almost two years in the making.
The plan is the first of two detailed policy documents that will eventually lead the county's future growth decisions. After the comprehensive plan is complete and has been adopted by planning and county commissioners this summer, a zoning plan will be created.
Among its features, the proposed plan maintains separation between established communities and rural areas, said the county's long-range planner, Jason Meininger...

*3/23/11 NYTimes:Food: Six Things to Feel Good About By MARK BITTMAN
The great American writer, thinker and farmer Wendell Berry recently said, "You can't be a critic by simply being a griper . . . One has also to . . . search out the examples of good work."
I've griped for weeks, and no doubt I'll get back to it, but there are bright spots on our food landscape, hopeful trends, even movements, of which we can be proud. Here are six examples...

*3/22/11 Durango Herald: Charter gets hefty start-up funds Mountain Middle School secures $15K more than it asked for By Emery Cowan Herald Staff Writer
Durango's newest charter school didn't get the $180,000 per year it sought from the state + it got more. Mountain Middle School last week learned it had received a start-up grant of $195,000 per year for three years from the Colorado Department of Education.
Receiving the money was welcome news during a time when schools are experiencing drastic decreases in per-pupil funding, said Nancy Heleno, president of the school's board of directors...

*2/20/11 Durango Herald: Everyone's a winner at these Games Preparation, participation are rewards for Special Olympians By Patrick Young Herald Staff Writer
PURGATORY + Robert Mestas beamed with pride as the first-place ribbon was pinned to his jacket. Before stepping down from the podium, the Durango resident raised his right hand to his forehead and delivered a crisp salute to the roaring crowd.
The annual event at Durango Mountain Resort is a joint production of Special Olympics Colorado and the Durango Adaptive Sports Association, which has been a partner in training local Special Olympics athletes for more than two decades.

* The La Plata County community was moved to action this week by a four-day Durango Herald series about poverty here. The series also had a real impact on local charities and brought to light a change in circumstances in the lives of one featured family.
During the last few days, the Herald has received nearly 100 e-mail letters and dozens of calls from concerned residents. Many praised the series and thanked the Herald for bringing to light local families' struggles...

*1/16/11 Durango Herald The new face of poverty? It's your neighbor's Families much further up the economic ladder are struggling By Heather Scofield Herald Staff Writer
Poverty by the numbers

9.8 percent of the region's population holds down multiple jobs.

8.1 percent of the region's workers are unemployed.
2,757 of the region's jobs were lost from 2008 to 2009.
2,718 was the average number of La Plata County residents each month receiving federal food assistance in 2009.
3,375 La Plata County residents received federal food assistance in December 2010.
30 percent of children in Durango School District 9-R receive free or reduced-priced lunches.
17,000 meals were provided to local families by the Durango Food Bank during the first nine months of 2010.
1,600 households locally received food from the federal commodities program in 2010.
42,393 hot meals were served at Manna Soup Kitchen in 2010.
482 people were sheltered during the first 10 months of 2010 at the Durango Community Shelter.
1,210 families received Salvation Army assistance vouchers in the first 10 months of 2010. Sources: Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado, Manna Soup Kitchen, Durango Food Bank, Colorado Department of Human Services, Colorado Children's Campaign, Volunteers of America, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics...

Colorado Actions

*8/2/11 Durango Herald:Education funding gets day in courtMontezuma-Cortez among 21 districts suing By Joe Hanel Herald Staff Writer
DENVER - Colorado's education-funding system went on trial Monday, and the results could bring billions of dollars more into public schools and chaos for state government.
A group of parents and 21 school districts - including Montezuma-Cortez - is suing the state in a case called Lobato v. Colorado, claiming inadequate funding for schools. Opening arguments took most of the morning Monday.
"This case begins with the constitution and ends with children," said Kenzo Kawanabe, who made the plaintiffs' opening argument.
The plaintiffs are basing their case on Colorado's constitution, which requires a "thorough and uniform" system of education and local control of schools. They claim the state is violating both principles by not paying enough for schools, even as the Legislature passes more education-reform laws that school districts must follow...

*1/30/11 Durango Herald Opinion:School lunches Cuts a harbinger of tough years to come
When public funding is in jeopardy, defenders often threaten the demise of popular and very visible activities. A park will close, or a library will have its hours sharply curtailed. That tactic is sometimes known as the "Washington Monument ploy," an exaggeration used to attract attention and plenty of sympathy.
The possibility of the end of a portion of the elementary school breakfast program in Colorado is no such exaggeration. Colorado's revenue woes have thrown into question the $125,000 or so that will be spent between now and the end of March to extend the federal breakfast meal program to children in households with slightly higher family income.
The program costs 30 cents a day per student, an amount so small as to be insignificant in the marketplace. Yet in the aggregate, it is a sizable amount of money...

US Education

*12/18/11 Durango Herald Opinion:Great schools need society that values education By Ryan Montgomery who teaches 10th- and 11th-grade English at Durango High School. Reach him at r.montgomery@durangok12.co.us.
On Thanksgiving morning, while surrounded by friends and loved ones, one of those amazing people laid the Nov. 14 issue of Time magazine on my bed with a note. It read, "Ryan, I'd be interested in your opinion of this article," and the article is called, "When Will We Learn," written by Fareed Zakaria. I didn't get a chance to read it until I got back to Durango, but it gave rise to a voice and an opinion I've kept a bit silent over the years. So now you, Durangoans, get to hear my opinion about this article, thanks to Norma in St. Malo.
The article succinctly summarizes the problems with American education and offers a few solutions. The author says we are ranked "26th in the world" in terms of our overall educational system. Once, our system was the envy of the world. Now, most Asian and European students score far better their American counterparts. Why? There are a plethora of reasons, but mostly it's because students go to school longer and more consistently over the year, there is more responsibility laid at students' feet (there are significant carrots as well), and education is so highly valued that it is extremely well funded and resourced. Standards are high, but in Europe, for example, students go to college, trade school or vocational schools nearly free based upon their achievement...

*11/8/11 NYTimes:Obama Announces Stricter Financing Standards for Head Start By MARK LANDLER
YEADON, Pa. -- President Obama visited a schoolhouse in this suburb of Philadelphia on Tuesday to announce stricter financing standards for the government's Head Start program, which offers preschool training for children from low-income families.
Declaring that investments in early education are critical to the future competitiveness of the United States, Mr. Obama said that the government would, for the first time, require Head Start programs to meet certain standards to qualify for renewal of federal grants.
"If a program isn't giving children the support they need to be ready for school," the president told teachers and administrators, squeezed into a small auditorium on folding chairs, "then other organizations will be able to compete for the grant. We will take money from programs that don't work and put it into programs that do."

*11/6/11 Durango Herald:Government restores full funding for Navajo Head Start The Associated Press
FARMINGTON + The federal government has decided to continue full funding for the Navajo Nation's Head Start program. The decision by a division of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department was announced by the tribe Friday. It reverses an earlier decision by the agency to cut nearly in half the $29.3 million in federal funding the program receives every fiscal year by Nov. 1.
The program for prekindergartners on the reservation receives the grant funding to serve more than 4,000 children. But the program has only enrolled between 2,000 and 2,500 children for the last several years. The program could lose future funding if it can't fix deficiencies identified in a federal audit of the program in April 2010...

*10/30/11 Durango Herald Opinion:Obama and student loans At least he is thinking about real people's concerns
How many people actually lie awake at night worrying about the ratio of federal debt to GDP? How many really lose sleep over tort reform, farm subsidies, campaign finance or even immigration? The answer is probably not many + at least not compared with how many fret over personal financial situations. And student loans are some of the biggest and fastest growing contributors to those worries. How refreshing, then, that the president of the United States would notice that. Few of the others vying for his job have connected to anything so mundane.
In his 2010 State of the Union speech, President Obama proposed an income-based repayment plan for student loans, which Congress then enacted. It limits payments to 15 percent of borrowers' discretionary income. That is set to go to 10 percent in 2014.
Obama is now proposing to make those benefits effective in 2012 and to make it easier for borrowers to participate in the program. He also wants to offer a discount to borrowers seeking to consolidate existing student loans, about 6 million of whom have current direct loans and older, higher cost, Federal Family Education Loans...

*9/30/11 NYTimes editorial:Improving No Child Left Behind
The 2002 No Child Left Behind Act focused the country's attention on school reform as never before, but the law is far from perfect. The Obama administration is wise to address its flaws, since Congress is four years overdue in updating the law.
The Department of Education's plan gives states that agree to several reforms -- including stringent teacher evaluation systems and new programs for overhauling the worst schools -- an exemption from many of the law's requirements. It would permit the states to change the way they evaluate most schools for the purpose of compliance, allowing indicators other than just reading and math scores to be considered. And it would lift the law's provision that all students be proficient in math and reading by 2014, which was never going to happen anyway because there were so many loopholes.
The administration, however, must not allow the new waiver system to become a way for states to elude the purpose of the act, which is to raise student achievement across the board...

*9/20/11 Durango Herald:SAT reading scores slip to their lowest level By Justin Pope AP Education Writer
SAT reading scores for the high school class of 2011 were the lowest on record, and combined reading and math scores fell to their lowest point since 1995.
The College Board, which released the scores last week, said the results reflect the record size and diversity of the pool of test-takers. As more students aim for college and take the exam, it tends to drag down average scores.
Meanwhile, other tests taken by more representative groups of high school students have shown reading skills holding steadier. And in the context of the 800-point test, the three-point decline in reading scores to 497 may seem little more than a blip.
Still, it's just the second time in the last two decades reading scores have fallen as much in a single year. And reading scores are now notably lower than as recently as 2005, when the average was 508. Average math scores for the class of 2011 fell one point to 514 and scores on the critical reading section fell two points to 489...

LWVUS-CO Positions

LWVUS Reference Materials

Colorado and US News

*9/12/11 NY Times OpEd Columnist:If It Feels Right . By DAVID BROOKS
During the summer of 2008, the eminent Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith led a research team that conducted in-depth interviews with 230 young adults from across America. The interviews were part of a larger study that Smith, Kari Christoffersen, Hilary Davidson, Patricia Snell Herzog and others have been conducting on the state of America's youth.
Smith and company asked about the young people's moral lives, and the results are depressing. It's not so much that these young Americans are living lives of sin and debauchery, at least no more than you'd expect from 18- to 23-year-olds. What's disheartening is how bad they are at thinking and talking about moral issues...

*6/26/11 Durtango Herald:New York allows gay marriage By David Crary AP National Writer
NEW YORK + Many obstacles still lie ahead for supporters of same-sex marriage, and eventually they will need Congress or the Supreme Court to embrace their goal. For the moment, though, they are jubilantly channeling the lyrics of "New York, New York."
"Now that we've made it here, we'll make it everywhere," said prominent activist Evan Wolfson, who took up the cause of marriage equality as a law student three decades ago.
With a historic vote by its Legislature late Friday, New York became the sixth + and by far the most populous + state to legalize same-sex marriage since Massachusetts led the way, under court order, in 2004.
With the new law, which takes effect after 30 days, the number of Americans in same-sex marriage states more than doubles. New York's population of 19 million surpasses the combined total of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa, plus the District of Columbia...

*5/9/11 Durango Herald:Observers analyze Hispanic population increase in Durango By Emery Cowan Herald Staff Writer
...Over the last decade, hundreds of other Hispanic people have followed paths similar to Diego's, coming to La Plata County because of work, friends or family living here, or a sense that the community is welcoming toward immigrants.
Census data show that between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic community has increased 44 percent in Durango and 32 percent in La Plata County. Statewide, the Hispanic population increased by 41 percent, said State Demographer Elizabeth Garner...

*3/23/11 NYTimes:Food: Six Things to Feel Good About By MARK BITTMAN
The great American writer, thinker and farmer Wendell Berry recently said, "You can't be a critic by simply being a griper . . . One has also to . . . search out the examples of good work."
I've griped for weeks, and no doubt I'll get back to it, but there are bright spots on our food landscape, hopeful trends, even movements, of which we can be proud. Here are six examples...

*3/5/11 Durango Herald:9-R cuts A chance to improve education DH editorial
Despite voter approval of a local tax increase, Durango School District 9-R is looking at further budget cuts. The state's fiscal crisis is such that its spending cuts are more than local taxpayers can offset.
Those cuts will inevitably hurt. But at the same time, they present an opportunity to reinforce what matters and reassert our priorities. Done right, the result could be improved schools...

Letters from our members

Past Events

<b*>Attend the Virtual National Conference on Citizenship (Sept 17-21)
Please join League leaders and other national and regional partners in the 66th Annual National Conference on Citizenship! Entitled "Redefining America's Social Compact," this year's Conference will delve into the revised roles of the citizenry, business, nonprofits, and government in a 21st Century democracy. The 2011 Conference will include a series of online forums to be held during Citizenship week Sept. 17-21. Register now

*2/27/11 Durango Herald:Calling all budget whizzes in community 9-R to hold work session for 2012 budget By Emery Cowan Herald Staff Writer
Durango School District 9-R will host a budget and mill-levy work session at Miller Middle School from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday.For more information, visit durangoschools.org.

References

*Colorado Department of Human Services Our commitment to the people of Colorado is to serve the State's most vulnerable populations by providing the right services to the right people in the right setting at the right time and to daily live our mission of being "people who help people."

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: February 3, 2012 11:27 PST.

© Copyright League of Women Voters of La Plata County, Colorado. All rights reserved.