Professional journalists chose the following as the top article in the Capitol Hill Press Conference news story contest:
Cuts inevitable for education
Jessica Zook and Sam Katzman, reporters for Conifer High “Lobo Legend”
School districts across Colorado will likely fall victim to one of the largest budget cut programs since the start of the recession. During his first month in office, Governor John Hickenlooper recently proposed budget cuts estimated at $300 million in K-12 and higher education.
Restrictions on cuts regarding health care and prison funding have left law makers with the heavy task of reforming public education finances. Legislators on both sides of the aisle agree slashing education resources isn’t favorable; however, necessary to prevent similar or worse deficits in the future.
Some democrats like Senate president Brandon Shaffer (D), hope to compromise with the governor to reduce cuts in half. Many republicans like Speaker of the House Frank McNulty (R) are demonstrating bipartisanship by agreeing Hickenlooper is “dead on” but with necessity of reformulating the proposed bill.
State lawmakers are struggling to find balance between maintaining a strong education system while trying to recover from over a $1 billion state debt. “It’s unfortunate over the past years we’ve seen these cuts, but reductions will have to be made. Making the tough decisions today will benefit us tomorrow,” said McNulty in a Capitol Hill press conference regarding the state budget and education on Feb 18.
Colorado is facing its share of difficulties, but the deficit is top priority in politics. Senator Bob Bacon (D) said, “There are other issues present in Colorado, but I think the economic problems are most pressing.”
McNulty is a supporter of ridding teacher unions in hope of turning the focus from political power to students’ performance. Though the education budget bill is not likely to pass as written, realistically cuts have to be made. As a result, teachers could potentially lose their jobs.
According to Shaffer, mechanisms including the Teacher Effectiveness Bill and other assessment programs are being developed to ensure enthusiastic instructors remain employed. Lawmakers are weary to put this bill into effect too quickly as to ensure its success. The public will likely see the program a few years down the road.
Some proposals to balance the budget include, letting teachers go, resulting in larger class sizes, eliminating non-essential courses and closing under performing schools. “Every teacher I know is not worried about the size of the class. We need to encourage teachers and parents to make sure students are getting the best education they can,” said McNulty.
Government officials are aware cuts can only last so long before backlash. “The number one thing we can do is invest in kids’ education,” said Shaffer. “If we’re going to compete on an international scale, we must eventually devote more attention and money towards education.”
Though a sizeable budget cut plan, many lawmakers speculate more to come because of record low state revenue. According to deputy communications director Jack Wiley, “It’s difficult to predict. It’s very likely we will see cuts in the future.”
Financial experts agree the only way to earn revenue and turn the tides of financial woes is to attract new businesses as lawmakers understand increasing taxes is not beneficial at times of recession. “If we aren’t investing in our education systems, it’s hard to attract businesses,” said Shaffer.
House and Senate members have evaded education cuts in the past, resulting in higher cuts today; forcing schools to do more with less. According to Shaffer, it is better than the alternative of “reaching a threshold of doing less with less.” McNulty said, “We can’t keep passing down this debt.”
Broadcast Video
Two Englewood HS journalists, Rebecca Erickson and Jordan Fricke, took first place in the broadcast video contest, judged by Mike Hooker of Channel 4, CBS. We hope to be able to put a link to their video on this site soon.
