DENVER – For one ballot measure facing voters in November, the question will come down to whether sunshine is a good government measure or a burden to the local control negotiating process.
Proposition 104 would require open meetings for school boards during collective bargaining or employment contract negotiations.
The ballot question comes amid a political backdrop in which tensions between school boards, parents, teachers and unions are dominating the landscape.
The most recent example comes with the Jefferson County School Board. The board recently approved a compromise that originally started as a proposal to evaluate history curriculum to promote patriotism and free markets.
School boards in Douglas and Jefferson counties have grown more conservative after recent elections. Also, Douglas County used executive sessions to conduct closed meetings, adding to the controversy
Jon Caldara, president of the libertarian-leaning Independence Institute who is pushing the ballot drive, said the goal of Proposition 104 is simply to shine a light on teachers’ contract negotiations.
“There seems to be the union saying they distrust what the board is doing, and teachers saying they don’t like that, well, let’s see what those open negotiations bring, and then people can make their own decisions,” Caldara said.
But opponents worry about an erosion of local control. Dr. Ranelle Lang, former superintendent of Greeley Public Schools and spokeswoman for Local Schools, Local Choices, said the statutory change is too broad.
“Colorado really prides itself on the notion that local people know best what to do for themselves,” Ranelle said.
She has negotiated on both sides of the table, pointing out that there are sometimes benefits to negotiating behind closed doors, especially when matters become heated and could be complicated through media attention.
“I always believe strongly that the best way we can make changes is at the policy level, and I have always known that making policy through a ballot issue is a very bad way of making policy,” Ranelle said.
“The voters and the taxpayers elect school board members. There is an elected board that is responsible for its constituents,” she added.
Issues such as the controversy in Jefferson County can be solved at the ballot box, Ranelle said.
“The board perhaps didn’t listen well on the local level,” she said. “Some political somebody gets an idea, and they try and apply it without really thinking of the local control context, and we see that so often. It’s time for us to take back local control.”
Opposition is coming from the Colorado Association of School Executives, the Colorado Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers Colorado, and the Colorado Association of School Boards.
Proposition 104 won’t go down as one of the more expensive races this year. Opponents have raised only $62,300, and proponents have seen only $20,100 in contributions.
Caldara acknowledged that the initiative won’t be the issue motivating voters to the polls this fall. But he said once voters learn about what the proposal does, they support the idea.
“(Voters) should pay attention to it because our kids are worth sunshine,” Caldara said. “This is the decision the school board makes which most impacts your child’s life, your tax money and how the teachers of that district are going to be compensated.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com
