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Pulling us out of the mainstream

GREAT DEPRESSION II
grandcountyuncensored.com

Former Superintendent Responds || Page 2

Letter To The Editor:

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September 4th, 2011 || Volume 1, Number 9 || Free

TRYING FOR A SEQUEL

Opinion and commentary by reggie.paulk@gmail.com

For over three years, our government and media have been calling the ongoing economic contraction we're in The Great Recession. Although it's suppose to have ended two years ago, many are still referring to our current situation as a recession. I'm not going to call it a recession because it's actually a depression. What's a depression? For many economists, a depression is defined as any contraction in gross national product (GDP) of 10 percent or more. Currently, government borrowing accounts for nearly 12 percent of GDP. If we were to bring

government spending in line with revenues and stop borrowing 42 cents of every dollar spent, our nation would face an immediate 12 percent decline in GDP. We had first quarter growth of 0.4 percent. Cut 12 percent from that and you have negative 11.6 percent real GDP growth in the first quarter of 2011an economic depression. If you'd like to argue that point, I'd be more than happy to do so. The reason I point out the above is because our 'leaders' are trying to repeat the same mistakes made during the last Great Depression. Faced with revenue shortfalls, governments statewide are trying to find 'sustainable' funding sources to fill their dwindling coffers. The only problem? Their predecessors beat them to the punch during the depths of the Great Depression drastically altering how state and local governments collect taxes. In a familiar theme, these 'emergency measures' became permanent and we are now faced with the mess that, and subsequent legislation, created. A study just completed by the University of Denver's Center for Colorado's Economic Future (CCEF) summarizes what Colorado did back then: "The first statewide retail sales tax was an emergency measure in 1935, enacted to supplement declining property tax revenues and to raise money for welfare programs. Lawmakers optimistically set the sales tax to expire within two years, but it effectively became a permanent part of Colorados tax structure in 1936, when an initiated constitutional amendment froze 85 percent of sales and other excise tax revenues for oldage pensions. Voters in 1936 also approved the states first individual and corporate income taxes, with the levy on individual income originally intended to replace local property taxes as the funding source for public schools. The use tax followed in 1937, closing a loophole in the sales tax law by applying the rate to the retail price of tangible personal property purchased outside of Colorado and brought into the state for use, consumption or storage." In one fell swoop, the State of Colorado went from being entirely funded by property taxes then to being almost entirely funded by income, sales and use taxes, fees and fines today. From the CCEF: "Income, sales and use taxes now provide about 95 percent of the revenue deposited into the General Fund, the $7 billion account that supports the core operations of state government. The remaining five percent comes mainly from excise taxes on liquor and tobacco and a tax on insurance premiums. Money from the federal government is the third major category of funding for state government. Of the total $19.5 billion state budget for FY 201011, nearly $5.3 billion was expected to come from federal sources. Most of these dollars are tied to specific programs, such as Medicaid and K12 education." In Colorado, local governments have extraordinary power over the purse. According to the CCEF, Colorado is one of only six states in the nation that collects less taxes than its combined local districts. Whenever a local taxing authorityespecially a school districtcomplains to you about their lack of state funding, you might want to remind them of this fact.

The Center for Colorado's Economic future concludes that even if Colorado were to experience a strong recovery from the current economic doldrums, both K12 and Medicaid funding will outstrip any potential revenues by orders of magnitude: "Our projections show state K12 education costs growing at a compound annual rate of about 6 percent and Medicaid expenditures growing more than 8 percent annually. But General Fund revenues will grow at a compound annual rate of only 5 percent over that period. From this we conclude that the state budget faces a persistent structural imbalance." In household budgets, persistent structural imbalances lead to bankruptcy. Think of it as spending more than you earn until the bank comes and kicks you out of your house and you can see where this leads. Nearly all of the programs we're trying to fund now didn't even exist in 1935. We hadn't created the giant bureaucracies with their myriad acronyms. The social programs we now take for granted were still on the drawing board, and Americans lived much simpler lives. The IRS and income taxes were in their infancy. Even though the country was in a depression, there was a much greater capacity to extract people's wealth than exists today. The bill for the unsustainable financial tricks and gimmicks used to buy votes over the last 76 years is finally coming due, and it's going to be a long, rough road out of the hole we've dug for ourselves. One of the main problems facing America today is an almost total ignorance of the emergent and dire fiscal situation facing governments at every level. Our local, state and federal representatives seem to have no clue as to why we are where we are today, and what we can do to extricate ourselves from this mess. They think, "If you tax it, they will pay." True leaders would acknowledge the facts as they are and begin to formulate a plan to deal with the realities we face. I contend our revenue problems are far outstripped by our spending problems. There is literally no way we're going to finance education, Medicaid and our myriad other government programs for even a couple more years without major restructuring of those programs along with our tax structure both nationwide and locally. What's even more frustrating is that our local officials appear to have no impetus to do anything about it. It doesn't mean there aren't excellent solutions sitting on the table, waiting for someone to take notice. Grand County has spent $3 million on the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement an effort that could easily fail if any number of important milestones aren't reached. From my perspective, Grand County and the state of Colorado face much greater challenges than water issues in the coming months. I can't possibly lay out our problems and their solutions on one page, but I intend to begin laying out a framework for tackling these problems from a local perspective. The very first hurdle to overcome is denial. I've paid into Social Security my whole life. I've known for the majority of those years I won't see a dime of itespecially on the trajectory we're currently on. That's just too bad. I'm not ignorant enough to plan my life around something that mathematically can't happen. Sure, there are ways to fix the problem, but it's not going to look anything like what's been promised. I refuse to deny reality and 'hope' for our representatives to fix it before I retire. And I sure as hell am not going to crow about how I was promised this benefit, so they better well pay up. There simply is no money sitting in a trust fundthey're I.O.U.'s worth the paper they're written on. No more denial.

The Grand County Uncensored logo and grandcountyuncensored.com are trademarks of Uncensored Media, LLC. All content copyright 2011, Uncensored Media, LLC.

Dear Friends and Neighbors: EE Farms makes seasonal sales of grassfinished beef shares and eggs.We're guided by the philosophy of good animal husbandry, sound agricultural practices and community food sufficiency. Our animals are antibiotic and hormone free and treated humanely in a clean, uncrowded environment. University studies show grassfed beef is lower in total fat, higher in betacarotene, Vitamin E, B Vitamins, minerals, and Omega 3s. Similar studies show that homegrown fresh eggs, where the birds are cage free and have space to roam in a clean environment, have more Vitamins A, D, and E, more Omega 3s, and less cholesterol and saturated fat than commercially produced eggs. Give us a shout. When the time comes, youll get a mailing so you can place your order. We do our best to accommodate everyone, but were a small operation and it's first come, first served. Ask for Elena: 7269807, or drop a line to: brelena@consolidated.net Thank you, and take care.

Last week, I received a lettertotheeditor from former East Grand School Superintendent Robb Rankin. I am printing the letter in full, and will respond throughout in order to further the debate. His letter is in bold, and my responses are italicized. Reggie After reading Volume 1, Number 7 of "Grand County Uncensored" I need to respond. The issue may be "Uncensored" but it is also filled with inaccuracies, false statements, and rambles on about the "Nightmare" on multiple, disjointed fronts. Your initial contention that organizations which are Commercial Affiliates in the Colorado Association of School Boards are "trying to influence our school district's key financial decision makers" is without merit. Without merit? The exact quote from the CASB website says, "Commercial Affiliate membership is a great way to expand your influence with school board members and superintendents, the key financial decision makers for school districts." Here's the link: tinyurl.com/3gzvtyy Many organizations that do business with school districts selling furniture, curriculum materials, technology, buses, professional development services, investment bankers, architects and construction firms and such are Commercial Affiliates of CASB. They support CASB as part of their marketing strategy, trying to get their message out to potential clients. They are not "companies who focus on taxpayer dollars for their getrichquick style of business." What basis do you have for that statement? You just gave the basis, Robb: "They support CASB as part of their marketing strategy, trying to get their message out to potential clients." They market to school districts to turn them into clients. See below. Individual school districts make decisions among vendors based on matching need with product or service, not if the vendor is a CASB Commercial Affiliate. CASB not only provides legal counsel for the District, but training and assistance for board members and policy updates necessary from legislative action. The Commercial Affiliate

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

CPST is the Collaborative Problem Solving Team, comprised of two board members, the superintendent, and teacher representatives who meet on a monthly basis to informally address salary, benefits, and working conditions of the staff. It is internal, no dues or fees are involved. You were way off base listing this one. So an internal goup whose sole focus is salaries, benefits and working conditions is going to reduce the district's expenses? The Northwest Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) is one of numerous BOCES throughout the state which provide cooperative educational services to member districts through legislation passed in this state in 1965. East Grand is one of six districts belonging to the NWBOCES and contracts the administration of federal programs and special education services (some special education providers are district employees and some are BOCES employees). No organization does more to help children in this District than the NWBOCES. None of these organizations are close to the statement you made: "In organizations like these, it's easy to see the line between helping the children and making money would be an easy one to blur." You are wrong in every sense. Millions of dollars in contracts awarded to commercial affiliates of an organization that provides legal counsel to the district, including our board and administration, and I'm wrong to point out a conflict of interest? The content of your article goes from the "alphabet soup organizations set up specifically to extract money from school districts," to trying to decide who is in charge, to the District's financial situation and your proposed ideas on "giving back," to an ending that raises the issues of what type of degree a college graduate should have for success. The attack nature, false statements, and being alloverthemap make it all difficult to swallow. But not difficult to comprehend. I love a good debate, even an argument if the other party is prepared, knowledgeable, and rational. I found very little of any of those elements in your piece. I think you can do better. Robb RankinFormer Superintendent of East Grand Schools, 19962008 Principal, Granby Elementary, 19811990

component is minor in its scope of services. I'm glad you said that. While perusing the CASB website, in addition to Honeywell, I found Neenan on the list of Commercial Affiliates. According to Neenan's website, they completed a 60,700 square foot project for East Grand Schools in 2008, while you were superintendent. So you think millions of dollars in projects are minor? You crossed the line when you attacked other "alphabet organizations." Unfortunately, alphabet soup organizations are part of our lifeUPS,PTA, ASPCA, NASDAQ, AKC, etc.but hardly all of them threaten our existence at the federal and state level. I'll hand it to you, UPS certainly doesn't come to mind when I think of societal threats. You listed private organizations, while most people might deduce I meant public ones such as the Department of Education or the Department of Homeland Security with their unsustainable budgets and dubious mandates. Your statement that the four organizations listed are "structured to extract dollars out of school districts in the form of dues, fees and, I'm sure, kickbacks," is slanderous. Would it be more palatable if I were to call kickbacks 'contingencies'? The Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) is comprised of administrators superintendents, principals, and other district administrators. The District pays the dues of our administrators as part of their benefit package, and receives professional development for the administrators. CASE is nonprofit no kickback. The Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) controls all secondary activities contestsathletics, band, and debate primarily. They set rules for participation, conduct events, certify officials, everything necessary to run activities program. The dues the District pays helps cover the costs of these operations. Again, CHSAA is nonprofit no kickbacks. In fact, at times part of the dues are returned if CHSAA finishes in a financailly positive position due to corporate sponsorships. Maybe I'm missing something... The district pays the dues and fees, but that's not extracting dues and fees from the district? Your premise that nonprofits don't give kickbacks because they're nonprofits is circular reasoning. Adams County (a government nonprofit) is currently enduring a scandal where one of their sitting commissioners allegedly accepted $10,000 from a paving company for favors in granting contracts. Kickbacks, otherwise known as bribes or contingencies, are generally illegal, and key financial decisionmakers in any organization are particularly vulnerable to them.

Robb's letter highlights what is wrong with the education edifice. We have a system that's obviously broken, and the only action taken by the very people we've paid to make sure this didn't happen is to criticize the voices who point it out. In the meantime, teachers, students and the citizens who pay the bills are getting less as the system consumes ever more of their fruits. Because they are taxing authorities, school districts have massive power over the populations who reside in them. When a business becomes broken, can't pay its bills and generally makes its customers angry, its patrons can vote with their wallets. If the business doesn't shape up, it goes bankrupt and other, better businesses spring up in the void that's left. Public entities have no such meritbased success mechanism with which to hold them accountable. They take your taxes whether they suck or not. If the problem weren't ubiquitous throughout our nation, we could vote with our feet and move to areas that better serve our needs. Unfortunately, we in the U.S. have managed to standardize mediocrity. This has resulted in a ratcheting down of the quality of education all Americans receive, and is one of the largest problems we face as a nation. Our teachers are not the problem. They are completely capable of providing the level of education most children need to be successful adults. The public education system istelf is the root of the problem. One person who sums it up perfectly is Karin Hodgin Jones in a blog entry to the Washington Post: "...the horror that is No Child Left Behind. Or, as many of my K12 teacher friends call it, No Excellent Child gets My Time or No Teacher Left Unpunished. The idea of minimum basic standards is the embodiment of the idea of mediocrity. As a college professor, in the past year, I began to have freshman classes of students who had all been products of the "teach to the test" curriculum adopted by too many schools as a fear based reaction to the NCLB program. The students demonstrated notably very poor reading comprehension, poor critical thinking skills, inability to begin selfdirected projects and extreme difficulty synthesizing arguments from multiple sources by comparison to the previous 4 years of students I had taught at this level. It was a remarkable difference." (Source: tinyurl.com/3frohsh) The documentary Waiting for Superman points out that, out of 30 developed nations, American kids rank 25th in math and 21st in science but they rank 1st in confidence. How's that working out?

Contact the editor: reggie.paulk@gmail.com (303)5527963