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Thursday I ventured to Buena Vista to see Gov. Roy Romer tell 500 people he wanted to take money out of their pockets. Despite what you hear about a strong anti-tax sentiment upon the land, our governor was not led to a tar barrel.
Nor did I hear anyone who flatly opposed a tax increase. Instead I heard people say that the state should examine all the ways it spends money -- like lottery profits and mineral-impact grants -- and see whether some of that money could go to education.
After all, if they can divert lottery money, supposedly dedicated to parks, to build prisons, then maybe they could betray voters again and use it to run schools.
But we in the boondocks may suffer a total misunderstanding of our state government's priorities. Those who teach hardened felons at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility make considerably more money than those who teach innocent children in the public schools.
Obviously, our state government deems criminals far more
worthy of its limited resources. Those kids who tote guns
to school may be applying Colorado logic: If I behave
myself, I get an overcrowded classroom with a
$25,000-a-year teacher. Pack a piece, and I'll get into
small classes taught by a $40,000-a-year teacher.
Romer eloquently summoned numbers, spoke of international competitiveness, admitted to some blame, and sidestepped the main issue.
Romer tours the hinterlands to build public support to pressure the legislature into keeping its word. The legislature has stalled, with some legislators saying they want reforms -- why pour more money into a system that isn't working all that well?
But when asked about reforms, Romer said some were underway, such as decentralized administration and standardized testing in Denver. That may be good, but it doesn't explain where the money goes.
Suppose a school district spends $4,000 per year per student. Take 15 students, and that's $60,000. Give that money to a teacher; he could rent space and other facilities, purchase books and supplies, and he'd still make $40,000 while teaching a small class, 15 students.
But instead, we've got 30 students to a room and a teacher making $25,000 a year. Certainly all enterprises incur overhead costs, but even United Way might be embarrassed if 80 cents of every dollar went to administration, buildings, support staff, lobbyists, consultants, propaganda, sports facilities, etc.
Romer should try to build an educational system that we will want to pay for, the same way we willingly pay for cars, computers or campgrounds. Instead, he tries to persuade us to spend more dollars when each dollar produces about 20 cents of result.
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